Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women, the leading threat for men, and is more deadly than all forms of cancer combined, according to health organizations. People of all ages and population groups are affected.
There may be symptoms of cardiovascular disease such as shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, back or jaw pain, dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting, pain in the lower chest or upper abdomen, and extreme fatigue, but in about 64 percent of women who die suddenly of coronary heart disease, there were none.
For that reason, when it comes to cardiovascular health, the focus is on prevention. For heart health, it’s important to avoid systematic harm by managing high blood pressure and cholesterol, reducing stress, improving sleep quality, maintaining a healthy weight, increasing physical activity, and smoking cessation. If you are having issues in any of these areas, acupuncture and Chinese medicine can help.
5 Ways Acupuncture Helps Heart Health
1. Manage High Blood Pressure
Acupuncture has been found to be particularly helpful in lowering blood pressure. By applying acupuncture needles at specific sites along the wrist, inside the forearm or in the leg, researchers at the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California, Irvine, were able to stimulate the release of opioids, which decreases the heart’s activity and its need for oxygen and as a result lowers blood pressure.
2. Maintain a Healthy Weight
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine are excellent adjunctive tools when it comes to losing weight. They can help to energize the body, maximize the absorption of nutrients, regulate elimination, control overeating, suppress the appetite, and reduce anxiety.
3. Reduce Stress
Numerous studies have demonstrated the substantial benefits of acupuncture in the treatment of stress, anxiety, and mental health. In addition to acupuncture, Chinese medicine offers many techniques that can be integrated into your life to keep stress in check.
4. Improve Sleep Quality
Poor sleep has been linked with high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, heart failure, heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, and obesity. Acupuncture has shown great success in treating a wide array of sleep problems without any of the side effects of prescription or over-the-counter sleep aids. Acupuncture treatments focus on the root disharmony within the body, assisting it to achieve better sleep and an overall improvement of physical and mental health.
5. Smoking Cessation
Smoking is a major cause of coronary artery disease. In fact, about 20 percent of all deaths from heart disease are directly related to cigarette smoking. Acupuncture has shown to be an effective treatment for smoking cessation. Treatments focus on jitters, cravings, irritability, and restlessness–symptoms that people commonly complain about when they quit. It also aids in relaxation and detoxification.
By integrating acupuncture and Chinese medicine into a heart-healthy lifestyle, you can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. One obvious way to keep your heart in tip-top shape is by maintaining an acceptable blood pressure level. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine provide treatments that will work directly to reduce high blood pressure and mitigate the symptoms of stress.
