Acupuncture
& Angina
Acupuncture has been traditionally used to
treat a wide variety of cardio-vascular diseases (1), and recent
controlled studies have demonstrated that it is particularly beneficial
for angina (pain in the chest caused by insufficient blood supply to heart
due to arterial disease) offering a proven option to drug therapy.
In one study (2) at the
Human College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chansha, forty patients
with stable type of angina pectoris were assessed during and after
acupuncture treatments and compared to a control group. After only one
acupuncture treatment, 15 (37.5%) of the patients were already noticing a
marked improvement in degree and area of pain, but after 7 treatments 25
(63%) of the patients recorded significant reductions both in extent and
area of pain, and they also experienced a reduction in the number and the
duration of attacks. Furthermore the patients in the acupuncture group who
did get angina attacks recovered much faster than the patients in the
control group.
Similar findings were
reported in another study, this time in Sweden (3), where 21 patients with
stable effort angina pectoris were treated with acupuncture. All of the
patients had a history of at least five anginal attacks per week despite
intensive conventional medical treatment. They were given three
acupuncture treatments per week which led to a 40% reduction in the number
of anginal attacks and the researchers also observed that the patients
were able to exercise for longer before the onset of pain. All the
patients completed a life quality questionnaire which confirmed that they
all felt better as a result of the acupuncture treatment. The report
concluded that acupuncture should be considered a beneficial treatment
even for those patients with severe, intensively treated angina pectoris.
Other studies have come to
the same conclusion(4)(5) in the treatment of angina. In one
research project at the Nanjing Medical College involving 267 patients
(all suffering from angina pectoris) acupuncture treatment was shown to
have a 93.3% success rate with no harmful side effects (6).
Chinese herbal medicine has
also been shown to be a valid alternative treatment for angina sufferers.
In one very large study assessing over 400 angina patients, saponin of the
herb Tribulus Terrestris, was found to have an extremely high success
rate, alleviating the symptoms in over 80% of angina patients (7).
And the Chinese herb, Kuo Guan Qu Yu Ling, has also been shown, after a 30
day trial to offer substantial relief to over 60% of angina patients(8).
There can therefore be
little doubt that acupuncture, acupressure and Tradit
onal
Chinese herbal medicine should be seriously considered as alternatives
and/or complements to other forms of treatment for angina sufferers.
Footnotes
(1) Acupuncture for cardiovascular disorders. Smith FW Jr Cardiopet, Inc.,
Floral Park, New York.
(2) Probl Vet Med Mar 1992, 4 (1) p125-31
Metrological analysis for efficacy of acupuncture on angina pectoris] Zhou
XQ; Liu JX Human College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changsha. Chung
Kuo Chung Hsi I Chieh Ho Tsa Chili (CHINA) Apr 1993, 13 (4) p212-4,196
(3) Effect of acupuncture in patients with angina pectoris. Richter A;
Herlitz J; Hjalmarson A Wallenberg Laboratory for Cardiovascular Research,
Sahlgren’s Hospital, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Fur Heart J Feb
1991, 12 (2) p175-8
(4) Acupuncture in severe, stable angina pectoris: a randomized trial.
Ballegaard 5; Jensen C; Pedersen F; Nissen VH Acta Med Scand 1986, 220 (4)
p307-13 [Acupressure on the zhiyang point in patients with acute anginal
attack] Wang WT; Wei WL; Liu DG Chung Hsi I Chieh Ho Tsa Chih Apr 1987,
7(4) p206-7, 195
(5) Acupuncture in severe, stable angina pectoris: a randomized trial.
Ballegaard 5; Jensen C; Pedersen F; Nissen VH Acta Med Scand 1986, 220 (4)
p307-13 [Acupressure on the zhiyang point in patients with acute anginal
attack] Wang WT; Wei WL; Liu DC Chung Hsi I Chieh Ho Tsa Chih Apr 1987, 7
(4) p206-7, 195
(6) Acupuncture in angina pectoris: does acupuncture have a specific
effect? Ballegaard 5; MeyerCN; Trojaborg W Department of Internal Medicine
P. Rigshospitalet, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Denmark I Intern Med
Apr 1991, 229 (4) p357-62
(7) 406 cases of angina pectoris in coronary heart disease treated with
saponin of Tribulus terrestris] Wang B; Ma L; Liu T Research Unit of
Cardiovascular Disease, Jilin Medical College. Chung Hsi I Chieh Ho Tsa
Chih Feb 1990, 10 (2) p87-7, 68
(8) Observations on the treatment of coronary heart disease by kuo guan qu
yuling. Guan M; Ni J; Zhao C; Zhai Y; Fu C; Hong M; Wang B Department of
Pathology, Shenyang Military Medical School. J Tradit Chitt Med Mar 1990,
10 (1) p49-53
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Astragalus
& Angina
A study conducted at the Affiliated Hospital of Jinzhou Medical College,
Liaoning monitored 92 patients suffering from angina who were given the
Chinese herbal medicine Astragalus membranaceus compared with a control
group of patients who were given the drugs Nifedipine and Tab. Salviae
miltiorrhizae. The data revealed that group treated with Astragalus
membranaceus experienced far better results.
After having administered the herbal medicine,
the patients were markedly relieved from the symptoms associated with
angina attacks. Furthermore, the improvement of clinical objective index
such as electrocardiogram (EKG) and impedance cardiogram had also improved
can also be observed. The effective rate of EKG improvement was 82.6%. The
treatment of ischemic heart disease with AM was significantly more
effective in comparing with control group (P< 0.05).
Li SQ; Yuan RX; Gao H [Clinical
observation on the treatment of ischemic heart disease with Astragalus
membranaceus] .Chung Kuo Chung Hsi I Chieh Ho Tsa Chih (CHINA) Feb 1995,
15 (2) p77-80
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Acupuncture
Vs Shiatsu & Lifestyle &
Angina
Sixty
nine patients with severe angina pectoris were treated at the Acupuncture
Centre, Klampenborg, Denmark with acupuncture, shiatsu and lifestyle
adjustments, and were monitored for a period of two years. Forty-nine
patients were classified as candidates for coronary-artery bypass grafting
(CABG), whereas bypass grafting was rejected in the remaining 20 patients.
The researchers compared their findings with
those of a large prospective, randomized trial comparing CABG with
percutaneous translurninal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). The incidence of
death and myocardial infarction was 21% among the patients undergoing CABG,
150o among the patients undergoing PTCA and 7% among our patients.
Although no significant difference was found
concerning pain relief between the three groups. Invasive treatment was
postponed in 61% of our patients due to clinical improvement, and the
annual number of in-hospital days was reduced 90%, bringing about an
estimated economic saving of $12,000 (US) for each of the patients in the
study.
Despite the fact that the men, when compared to
the women, had significantly lower expectations towards the outcome of the
treatment, their less than positive beliefs and negative attitudes did not
influence the beneficial effects of the treatment.
The researchers concluded that their findings
suggest that the combined treatment with acupuncture. Shiatsu and
lifestyle adjustment may be highly cost effective for patients with
advanced angina products.
Ballegaard S; Norrelund S; Smith DF. Cost benefit
of combined use of acupuncture, Shiatsu and lifestyle adjustments for
treatment of patients with severe angina pectoris. Acupunct Electrother
Res (United States) Jul-Dec 1996, 21 (3-4) p 187-97.
