Heart disease is the leading cause of death in men and women over 50, but is something that can often be avoided by adopting a healthy lifestyle. As for how heart disease develops, it begins when the proper flow of vital nutrients and oxygen to the heart are hindered, either due to an impediment/defect or a blockage. That is, heart disease is usually caused by an accumulation of harmful plaque, which restricts blood flow in the heart vessels and arteries.
Furthermore, if you suffer from high blood pressure then you may be more susceptible to developing heart disease in the future, and the same applies if you are a smoker and/or if you have high cholesterol levels in the danger zone. Being a diabetic will also increase your risk of heart disease, but there are certain lifestyle changes that you can make to help reduce your risk of heart disease, such as practicing acupuncture. Here, we will discuss how acupuncture treatments can actually improve your heart health and help reduce the risk of cardiac arrest.
Can Acupuncture Improve Your Heart Health?
When you undergo acupuncture therapy opioids are released: These opioids will actually lower your risk of heart disease, as they will reduce your heart’s need for oxygen, and will also help lower your blood pressure. In fact, when practiced regularly, acupuncture treatments will also help reduce your risk of heart disease in many key areas.
High blood pressure, as mentioned, is a very high-risk factor for developing heart disease. As such, when you have blood pressure you will not only have to deal with an elevated risk of developing heart disease at some point in your life, but your risk of developing kidney disease, or having a heart attack or stroke, will also rise exponentially.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in women, despite advances in medical technology as well as public education. The good news is that acupuncture can improve heart health by reducing the heart’s need for oxygen, and by also reducing blood pressure thanks to the release of benevolent opioids.
Smoking is yet another high-risk factor, as long term smoking will increase the risk of heart disease, breathing problems, and many different forms of cancer; including, but not limited to, lung, pancreatic, liver, stomach, and esophageal cancer. Moreover, 1 in 5 deaths from heart disease is caused directly by smoking, and smoking is also the leading cause of coronary artery disease.
Fortunately, acupuncture can also help smokers quit smoking, as it actually helps smokers deal with their horrible withdrawal symptoms when they are trying to quit. Given the fact that most smokers have trouble quitting due to unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, such as stress, anxiety, irritability, nausea, headaches, insomnia, and an upset stomach, getting rid of such symptoms can help smokers quit for good and start living long and fulfilling lives.
Obesity is yet another leading cause of death in North America, and it is estimated that about 33% of North Americans are obese, with two-thirds being overweight. In fact, being obese has been scientifically proven to elevate the risk of developing coronary artery disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure, all of which will increase the risk of developing heart in the not too distant future.
Acupuncture improves the efficacy of other physiotherapy modalities. Physiotherapists will use acupuncture before manual therapy and/or myofascial techniques to make the second treatment technique easier to perform and to have longer lasting results.
Source: Physio Now
The good news is acupuncture can help people who are obese or overweight lose weight, as it helps assist in the absorption of vital vitamins and minerals, helps increase energy levels, and also helps people manage their anxiety. Acupuncture is also often used to help suppress appetite in order to prevent overeating. As such, when people feel less anxious and stressed, and have higher energy levels and a higher level of satiety, then they will be less likely to overeat and more likely to exercise.
In addition, the stress in itself can actually increase the risk of heart disease. In fact, stress can cause an irregular heartbeat, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, and other conditions that can lead to heart disease. Fortunately, acupuncture can help improve mental health and reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. There are also alternative medicines from the Orient that have also been shown to help improve mood and reduce stress, such as acupressure, meditation, herbal medicines, and Qi Gong exercises.
Cardiac rehabilitation sessions have been shown to be very effective and worth. Physiotherapists play a major role in such programmes.Physiotherapy can help the blood flow more easily through the heart, can help open up vessels, and overall strengthens the muscles in the heart. They have been shown to reduce length of hospital stay as well as number of cardiovascular related admissions. Cardiac rehabilitation classes include exercise, education and support. Physiotherapists will create a physiotherapy routine with exercises that begin with stretching out the muscles. While the resulting decrease in mortality rate is clearly good news, this also means that an increasing number of people live with heart disease. They need help to manage their condition and optimize their quality of life in the long term. This trend has led to the need for cardiac rehabilitation. Working on breathing techniques is one of the simple steps towards better heart health. Doctors and researchers have demonstrated that cardiac rehabilitation is effective for women as well as men and also for older people.
Lack of sleep can also, when left untreated, lead to many adverse health conditions, such as obesity, stroke, heart attacks, diabetes, atherosclerosis, heart failure, and high blood pressure. The good news is that acupuncture has been shown to help people sleep easier and stay asleep for longer, which will lead to improvements in both mental and physical health and wellbeing.
Also, if you or someone you know is currently suffering from heart failure then acupuncture can help immensely. That is, acupuncture has been shown to improve exercise tolerance in people who have recently developed heart failure. For instance, acupuncture can help augment skeletal muscle strength, which can help chronic heart failure patients to walk longer distances and exercise for longer periods of time, which will help accelerate the recovery process.
