What is Cardiology?

Cardiology is a medical specialty and a branch of internal medicine concerned with disorders of the heart. It deals with the diagnosis and treatment of such conditions as congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, electrophysiology, heart failure and valvular heart disease. Subspecialties of the cardiology field include cardiac electrophysiology, echocardiography, interventional cardiology and nuclear cardiology.

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Cardiology vs Cardiovascular, what is the difference?

Cardiology and cardiovascular are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they have different meanings. While both terms deal with the heart and its function, they have different scopes and applications.

Cardiology focuses specifically on heart diseases and abnormalities, while cardiovascular encompasses the entire circulatory system.

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Integrative cardiology and integrative cardiovascular care:

American Board of Integrative Medicine® (ABOIM®) Diplomate Vivian A. Kominos, MD, Explains Integrative Cardiology
Vivian A. Kominos, MDIn simple terms, integrative cardiology is good cardiology. It applies the tenets of integrative medicine to pick the most appropriate treatments for a person’s individual health benefits and disease risks. It employs conventional therapies such as percutaneous coronary interventions and pharmacotherapy when necessary, while including the less conventional treatments such as mind-body medicine, acupuncture, nutrition, exercise and spirituality. It looks for less costly and less risky treatments where appropriate and emphasizes healing and prevention.

Conventional cardiology is wonderful at treating acute cardiac problems such as myocardial infarctions or heart failure. But it falls short when it comes to preventing and healing heart disease. According to the CDC, approximately 80% of premature heart attacks and strokes can be prevented with appropriate lifestyle changes. Although the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology have many well researched and evidence proven lifestyle guidelines in place, most cardiologists have little, if any, training in this modality of medicine. As an example, cardiologists agree that nutrition is one of the backbones of prevention and treatment for atherosclerosis. Yet in a survey of 930 cardiologists who were asked about nutrition training:

90% received little or no training during fellowship
59% had little or none during residency
One third little or none during medical school
Only 8% described themselves as experts in nutrition
But most believed that they need to provide recommendations to their patients.
AM J Med. 201; 130 (11): 1298-1305

This survey indicates that most cardiologist feel ill-equipped to provide adequate care for their patients. It is therefore time for cardiology, and for all medicine, to delve into the root causes of disease rather than treating the downstream effects of sedentary lifestyle, high stress, poor nutrition, lack of safe environments and inadequate sleep. Integrative medicine training provides the tools that prevent heart disease, mitigate cardiovascular risk factors, and allow for healing from heart disease.

Integrative medicine understands the innate healing power of the human body and spirit. Studies of heart disease prove that it is never too late to heal. Physical activity, for instance, is a recommendation that can be given to almost anyone. In a worldwide study of coronary artery disease that looked at over 15,000 participants who were followed for 3.7 years, walking just 10 minutes a day was associated with a 30% reduction in all-cause mortality in those who were sickest (JACC. 2017;70(14):1689-1700). Exercise has far reaching benefits that exceed those from statins and aspirin, yet most cardiologists readily offer the latter and often forget to talk to the patient about physical activity.

Cardiology is therefore ripe for integrative medicine. The first Chinese medical textbook was written approximately 5000 years ago. A translation reads: superior doctors prevent disease; mediocre doctors treat the disease before evident; inferior doctors treat the full blown disease. Integrative medicine fellowships are now educating physicians from all primary care and specialty areas and can provide physicians with the tools they need to become superior healers.

— Dr. Vivian A. Kominos has practiced cardiology for 30 years and has concentrated on integrative medicine and integrative cardiology for the past 12. She is Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Dr. Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine and is a practicing cardiologist in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

 

What is cardiac rehabilitation?

Cardiac rehabilitation is a supervised program. The supervised program is designed to improve health in those with heart disease. It's often recommended after a heart attack or heart surgery. Cardiac rehabilitation includes: Physical activity. Education about healthy living, including how to eat healthy, take medicine as prescribed, and quit smoking. Counseling to find ways to relieve stress and improve mental health. The five main components of cardiac rehab are: exercise training; cardiac risk factor changes; heart health education; diet and nutrition counseling; emotional support.

 

Does acupuncture has beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system?

Acupuncture is a standardized treatment of Traditional Chinese Medicine that has been shown to have beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system via a neurohumoral pathway known as the long-loop pathway.

Research proves acupuncture benefits the cardiovascular system. Acupuncture has been proven to benefit the heart by improving HRV. Acupuncture treatment activates the autonomic nervous system to control the heart rate by increasing vagal activity. Acupuncture combined with aerobic exercise can improve the cardiopulmonary exercise ability, increase fatty acid oxidation, decrease blood lipid, and ameliorate anxiety and depression symptoms of patients with coronary heart disease as cardiac rehabilitation. A systematic review suggested that acupuncture was a good complementary and alternative therapy for CVD complicated with depression. Study showed that Shenmai improves the exercise tolerance in the early stage of the cardiac rehabilitation for patients received coronary artery bypass grafting.

RUI acupuncture is an integrative care for cardiovascular diseases and cardiac rehabilitation. RUI acupuncture is part of the comprhensive cardiovascular care. RUI integrative cardiology and cardiovascular program is serving Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton, NY.

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* Do not stop your conventional western medicine care during acupuncture care! RUI Acupuncture care is only part of your comprehensive medical care, and is integrated with your conventional western medicine care.

* Contact us to schedule a professional evaluation and consultation appointment first, before you decide to have acupuncture care.