Bradycardia

IBIS:

Definition:
a sinus rate of < 60 beats/min. and an EKG that indicates the impulse begins from the upper right region of the atrium. Treatment is not required for asymptomatic patients. In symptomatic patients, conventional physicians use drugs or pacemakers to regulate the heartbeat.

Etiology:
Most cases of bradycardia are a result of increased vagal tone (seen in athletes, and healthy people) and is also common during rest, sleep, meditation and visualization. Non-cardiac conditions that are associated with bradycardia include myxedema, jaundice, and overdose of conventional drugs designed to lower a tachycardic heartbeat

Nutrition:
eating principles: • low sugar, low fat diet • diet high in whole complex carbohydrates • protein 12-15% diet • low cholesterol/cholesterol foods • low sodium/sodium-restricted diet • vegetarian cleansing diet or short fasts • Fasting, General Sample Diet, General Guidelines for Eating, Sample Vegetarian Diet

therapeutic foods: • foods that tonify the Heart, nourish the Xue (Blood) and Yin (tachycardia), Yang (bradycardia), calm the Shen (Spirit) • flax seed oil, okra, hawthorn berries, millet, buckwheat, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, bananas, potatoes, asparagus, apples, honey in small amounts (Airola, p. 101)

avoid: • meat, alcohol, hot sauces, spicy foods, fried foods, fatty foods, rich foods, salty foods, sugar

Acupuncture
after assessing the person and palpating, consider these patterns: Heart Xue Yu (Blood Stasis); Heart Xue Xu (Blood Deficiency); Heart Yin Xu (Deficiency); Kidney Yin Xu (Deficiency); dysfunction of the Chong Mai (Penetrating Vessel); Obstruction of the Xu Li channel

» illustrative combinations: • Ht-5, GV-25 and xing fen for bradycardia (Shanghai, p. 252) • Ht-8, Ht-5, PC-6 and PC-7 for cardiac arrhythmia (Shanghai, p. 254) • UB-15, Ht-7, PC-6, GB-34 joined to Sp-9 for cardiac arrhythmia (Shanghai, p. 253) • Ht-7, Ht-3 and UB-15; PC-6; Kd-24 and Kd-25; CV-12 and Lv-13; UB-10 and GB-20 for palpitations (Mann, p. 118) • PC-6, Ht-7 and Sp-6 for palpitations due to Xue (Blood) and Qi Xu (Deficiency) (Jirui and Wang, p. 73) • UB-14, UB-20, PC-6 and St-36 for palpitations due to Heart Xue (Blood) and Qi Xu (Deficiency); add Ht-7 and Sp-6 if insomnia is present; add CV-6 and CV-17 if with breathlessness (Qiu and Su, p. 28) • CV-4, PC-7, UB-15, Ht-5 and St-36 for palpitations due to Xu (Deficiency) of Yin and Xue (Blood); consider Ht-7, PC-6 and/or CV-7 (McWilliams, et al, Lesson 31, p. 171) • UB-17, CV-17, PC-6, UB-14 and Sp-6 for palpitations due to Stagnant Heart Qi and Xue (Blood) (Qiu and Su, p. 31) • Ht-7, Kd-3, UB-15 and UB-23 for palpitations due to Yin Xu (Deficiency) causing Heat (Qiu and Su, p. 30) • Ht-7, PC-6, Ht-5, UB-15 and UB-23 for palpitations due to Kidney Yin Xu (Deficiency) with Heart Fire Blazing; consider PC-7, St-36, GB-35 and/or St-41 (McWilliams, et al, Lesson 31, p. 171) • UB-15, UB-23, GV-4, CV-4 and St-36 for palpitations due to Heart Yang Xu (Deficiency) (Qiu and Su, p. 32) • St-41 and GB-35 for a strong treatment for "fright palpitations and racing of the heart" (Ellis, et al, 1988, p. 133) • Xu Li ashi (tender) points on left chest, including St-18, upper Kd points, PC-1, togther with CV-12, CV-17, PC-6, Ht-7, St-40, St-43; esp. with an overworked person who is flushed above the diaphragm and has a reddened face (Seem, p. 52) • CV-14 and CV-15 (+): pacify the Shen, esp. with anxiety and restlessness • PC-4 with Ht-7 (-): tranquilizes source of Heart Yang to reduce palpitations • PC-5 and/or PC-6: clear Heart Fire and Heat; regulate and tonify Heart; calm Shen; relax and expand chest; dispel Wind

Homeopathy
• Abies nigra: heart's action heavy and slow • Bryonia: pulse weak and irregular when heart muscle coaffected • Cannabis sativa: sensation as if drops of water were falling from heart; pressing pain and anguish at heart, with dyspnea at night • Digitalis: at puberty; pulse slower than beat of heart; pulse weak and quickened by least movement; pulse intermits, weak • Gelsemium: slow pulse; alternating with rapid; weak, slow pulse of old age • Kalmia: with neuralgia; weak slow pulse; fluttering of heart with anxiety; palpitation worse leaning forward • Opium: with lethargy and constipation • Sepia: tremulous feeling with flushes; beating in all arteries; violent intermittent palpitation • Stramonium: pulse slow, small, irregular; pressure about heart • Veratrum viride: pulse slow, soft, weak, irregular, intermittent; heart beats violently with slow pulse

Subtle Support
• notes: A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F#, G, G#

• chords: dominant 7th, diminished 7th, A Major, A# Major, C Major, G Major, G# Major (Gimbel, p. 116)

cardiovascular: • The Barcarole • The Blue Danube • Chopin's A minor Waltz • Tango music • Humoresque • Cui's Orientale • Song of India • Donna e Mobile • Oley Speak's Sylvia (Heline, p. 18)

Mind/Body
• Associated with anxiety and grief. (Epstein, p. 77) • Associated with severe psychological disturbances in the 24 hours preceding the arrhythmic episodes. (Gentry, p. 47) • Heart represents center of love and security. (Hay, 1984, p. 168)

Chinese psychophysiology: • Heart ~ Xin houses the Shen (Spirit) and reveals itself through the brightness in the eyes; governs Fire and Heat; rules the Xue (Blood) and its vessels and directs the circulation; and relates to the integration of the organs and the personality. » Healthy expressions are warmth, vitality, excitement, inner peace, love, and joy. » Heart Xu (Deficiency) signs include sadness; absence of laughter; depression; fear; anxiety; shortness of breath (Seem, p. 28); cold feeling in the chest and limbs; palpitations; cold sweat; inability to speak; memory failure; nocturnal emissions; and restless sleep. Chronic Yin Xu (Deficiency) predisposes to Empty Fire, acute and chronic. Heart Xue Xu (Blood Deficiency) predisposes to Heart Xue Yu (Blood Stasis). » The Heart is the Emperor of the bodily realm so that when the Heart is disturbed all the other organs will be disrupted.

• Kidney ~ Shen stores Jing (Essence) and governs birth, growth, reproduction, development, and aging; houses the Zhi (Will); expresses ambition and focus; governs Water to regulate body fluids; provides the "Fire of Life" through its Yang functions; provides the nourishing and stabilizing qualities of Yin and Water that balance the Yang and the Fiery qualities of the Heart; relates particularly to chronic conditions because it carries the constitutional endowment from the parents; and displays the effects of overwork, aging, chronic debilitation, and extreme stress. » Healthy expressions are gentleness, groundedness, and endurance. » Kidney Xu (Deficiency) signs include indecisiveness; confused speech; dreams of trees submerged under water; abundant sweating (Seem, p. 28); fearfulness; apathy; chronic fatigue; discouragement; scatteredness; lack of will; negativity; impatience; difficult inhalation; low sex drive; lumbago; sciatica; and musculoskeletal irritation and inflammation, especially when worse from touch. As always, chronic Yin Xu (Deficiency) predisposes to Empty Heat. » Intense or prolonged fear depletes the Kidney. Often chronic anxiety may induce Xu (Deficiency) and then Fire within the Kidney. (Maciocia, p. 250) Overwork, parenting, simple aging, and a sedentary or excessively indulgent lifestyle all contribute significantly to Kidney Xu (Deficiency).