Cardiac Arrhythmia
From our book
Bypassing Bypass, published in 2002 |
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Cardiac Arrhythmia, sometimes
called palpitations of the heart, is an irregular heartbeat.
Normally, one cannot feel one’s heart beating, until something goes
wrong. During palpitations you most certainly can feel your heart
pounding, fluttering, or as some describe it, a flip-flop sensation.
Beating can be irregular or steady and it might come on slowly or
suddenly.
Tachycardia is a very rapid
heartbeat, racing up to 240 times per minute. This can last a few
seconds or a few days.
Most often, arrhythmia such as
this does not indicate serious disease. There could be myriad
factors causing these occasional palpitations such as decongestants,
diet aids, caffeine, alcohol, strong sudden emotions or fright, and
prescription medications.
In cases of stubborn arrhythmia,
it can be hard to track down the cause or causes. Because of this,
modern medicine in its sub-infinite wisdom has created the term
paroxysmal arrhythmia meaning it comes and goes. However, since nutritional therapies can reverse arrhythmia, the
cause is once again, and in most cases, malnutrition.
One major cause of arrhythmia is
a damaged heart muscle. After a heart attack, many patients
experience arrhythmia. One form of arrhythmia, where the heart slows
considerably with longer periods between beats is handled by
implanting a pacemaker. Treating the symptoms only, physicians
prescribe a slew of anti-arrhythmic drugs, calcium antagonists, and
beta-blockers.
We will mention here, and repeat
towards the end of our work on cardiovascular care, that any patient
who wants to get off the drugs prescribed by a physician must
coordinate this with the physician as nutritional methods are
incorporated. It is extremely dangerous to simply stop
taking a drug prescribed for a heart disorder. Always keep
in mind that nutritional therapies do not act as quickly as modern
medicines. This is one reason why modern medicine is so attractive.
You take a pill and poof, the pain is gone; works in an instant.
Nutritional therapies can take a month to two months to six months
to a year to two years. Let’s face it: we did not get sick
overnight. It has taken a lifetime of poor nutrition to arrive at
this illness. Don’t expect the cure to take overnight, unless you
are taking conventional drugs. These will work overnight, but they
won’t cure the problem. They treat the symptoms only. Nutritional
therapies go to the cause of the problem.
Before we jump into the
nutrition we need to reverse chronic arrhythmia (caused by
malnutrition), let’s take a look at other factors than can cause
arrhythmia.
The adrenal glands produce
adrenaline during periods of shock. This increases the heart rate so
that we may “fight or flee” depending on the situation. However, did
you know that too much insulin in your bloodstream could also induce
the adrenal glands to release adrenaline? A diet rich in
carbohydrates will cause your pancreas to release insulin. In this
case, a low carbohydrate diet is recommended and all wheat products
eliminated. Dr West recommends to add Drenamin from Standard Process
Labs (3-9/day) to the diet, and most will get better within a month
though it could take up to ninety days. To order Drenamin, and any
other products from Standard Process Labs, you must find a health
care practitioner who handles their products, or contact Immune
Systems, at 800.231.8063.
Dr West has discovered that
hormonal imbalances can be the cause of arrhythmia. He especially
found this in his patients who were on birth control pills. So if
you suspect this to be your problem, you might want to try a
three-month test without birth control pills. You can order Symplex
F for women and Symplex M for men (3-6/day). These are hormone
protomorphogens (the tiniest specks of life made specifically by
your body for each kind of tissue and control factor) that will help
to normalize your hormones.
A great heart tonic for cardiac
arrhythmia and tachycardia is the Motherwort herb. It is used
throughout Europe and Asia as a general heart tonic, but its
reputation is best as a heart regulator. Again, this is a wonderful
tonic, but not a cure. It is to be used to help stabilize your
heartbeat while you incorporate dietary changes to permanently
reverse heart disease.
Finally, as the Chinese tell us
in their most ancient medical literature, we cannot affect the
energies needed for proper health (in acupuncture) if the nerves
aren’t right. Thus, they invented chiropractic. A very good
adjustment in your spine can help to put an end to your arrhythmia.
It might take more than one adjustment and it could take just one
simple adjustment, depending on your condition.
Nutritional Therapies for
Cardiac Arrhythmia
Over a period of time
nutritional deficiencies will result in failure to create or conduct
the electrical impulses necessary to trigger the heart to beat. We
know this because of thousands of studies in malnutrition and
because when proper nutrition is regained, heartbeats return to
normal.
The nutrients that are missing
are Vitamin C, L-carnitine, and magnesium. For treatment, some
studies show Coenzyme Q10 to be helpful too, however, let’s first
discuss an alternative to supplementation.
Prevention is always
better than curing. As Ben Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure.” We acknowledge that vitamin C, because of
the toxic world we live in, must be supplemented today. In a cleaner
world with fewer poisons in our water, food, and air, 500 mg of
vitamin C is probably all that is needed per day, and perhaps even
less, 300mg or 200mg. The RDA, which most nutritionists laugh at,
are set so ridiculously low as to make sure that everyone in the
America stays on the edge of disease. As for magnesium, yes, we can
get this from our diet.
One cup of brown rice has 265mg
of magnesium. Spinach is high, as are all leafy green veggies; pinto
beans and black beans (95mg and 121mg per cup) are high also. Meats,
nuts, whole grains and wheat bran, legumes, nuts, bananas, apricots,
dry mustard, curry powder all contain enough magnesium to obviate
the need for supplementation. We’ve discussed already the role of
magnesium in cardiovascular care, and its importance cannot be
overemphasized: it aids in absorption of potassium which will
prevent cardiac arrhythmia in addition to dilating (expanding) blood
vessels and preventing platelets from clumping and forming clots
(thrombosis). In prevention, we can get enough magnesium in our diet
to live long and healthy lives. For an existing disorder, we might
have to supplement.
As for L-carnitine, you’re not
going to get much from your diet if you are a vegetarian. There is
no RDA for carnitine, but there should be. It is found in Dr
Schulze’s superfoods (also available through www.healthfree.com),
but one of the best ways to get enough carnitine and coenzyme Q10 is
through, believe it or not, exercise. Nowhere in this publication
will you ever hear us tell you that you need a tough, physical
workout like Tae Bo, or any other aerobic exercise, mainly because
aerobic exercise has never proven itself to be better for your heart
than yoga (or the more subtler forms of exercise such as Tai Chi and
Qigong) or even meditation. For a healthy heart, any exercise is
better than none. Your heart muscle is never “out of shape”
(compared to our other muscles, that is). It can be undernourished,
and after a heart attack parts of it can be damaged with cardiac
myopathy (wasting of the tissues, and in some cases, dead tissues),
but if it is not damaged, your heart is hardly ever out of shape.
Making it beat 200 times a minute as opposed to 70 times per minute
is not going to make it that much stronger. Feeding it the proper
nutrition, sending it healing energy in yoga, qigong, tai chi, or
meditation, or loving your work and finding happiness and joy in
your life will make it as strong as it’s ever going to be.
We will, however, recommend
aerobic exercise for your well being. People who work out feel
better than people who don’t work out. Personally, I find aerobics
and jogging boring and time consuming. Even that “runner’s high”
doesn’t do it for me. But give me a rousing tennis match in which I
can compete, and laugh at some of the crummy shots I make or nearly
make, or at that tennis ball we’re never going to find cuz I hit it
so far, then panting at the side of the court, pouring water over my
head while lapping some up and having a great partner to laugh with;
now that, to me, is the best exercise in the world. Laughing and
exercising and having a good partner to compete against. Whether
handball, racquetball or tennis, these to me are just plain fun. We
will always inspire you to find an exercise you like, one that
stimulates you to perform, and one that makes you happy. Just get
off your duff and do something you like.
It is during your exercise
period in which your body will create all the L-carnitine and
Coenzyme Q10 you need for prevention of cardiac arrhythmia. Note
that the amounts fabricated by your body are not therapeutic
amounts, but rather they are your daily requirements. For
therapeutic amounts you will have to supplement.
Dr West states: “For cases of
arrhythmias with high blood pressure, I use the product
Cardio-Plus from Standard Process Labs at a dose of two to five,
taken three times daily with food. If your blood pressure is
naturally low (without drugs), you must think about possible adrenal
weakness and a deficiency of B vitamins. In this case, the product
Vasculin would be more appropriate at the same dose as
Cardio-Plus. In either case, Drenamin may also be needed at a
dose of one to three, three times daily with food. Use these
products, combined with proper mineral nutrition and the correct
diet and exercise, and you will be on your way to treating the cause
of your health problems.”
To reverse cardiac arrhythmia,
most certainly exercise: walk. This is the best exercise for people
with heart trouble. Walk.
We’ve discovered many sources
claiming that Hawthorne Berry extract is a wonderful heart
treatment. The berry is rich in certain flavonoids that help to
dilate coronary and peripheral blood vessels and reduce the
frequency and severity of angina attacks. It also seems to
regularize blood pressure. We also found that the berry is an
abundant source of certain chemicals called proanthocyanidins, which
have antispasmodic effects. Thus the hawthorne berry might be an
effective treatment for irregular heartbeat and arterial spasms,
including Raynaud’s Syndrome. A standardized hawthorne berry extract
should contain approximately 2% vitexin-2”-rhamnoside, which is
normally extracted through a dry, hydroalcoholic process. Treatment
with the hawthorne berry can be a good palliative (something that
eliminates the symptoms) until your nutritional therapies kick in.
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