Alternative heart therapies - chelation/ EECP

[YLSF]

Hello,

Anyone here have any direct experience with alternative heart therapies? One of my relatives is getting worse by the day and the cardiologist he sees doesn't seem to be doing much for him except for changing his "cocktail" of meds around on a regular basis.

I had heard about chelation before but there doesn't seem to be any solid 'studies" to support it even though through various sources (friends of friends,etc) I had heard it is effective....

Heard about another procedure (trying to find the name) where they hook up cuffs on your legs and arms and between heart beats they "squeeze" ... The process sends blood back to the heart and creates new blood vessels... or something to that effect. I am trying to get more details on it now.

Both these procedures aren't covered under ohip though.


Any feedback/thoughts?


EDIT - Found the details on the other therapy...http://www.vasomedical.com/

Reading up on it now

[gnunn]

Chelation IMHO is a waste of money, it is the standard treatment for heavy metal poisoning but I have not seen any studies that show it being effective in removing other blockages from cholesterol or other things. Wikipedia has a good summary on the topic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelation_therapy

I'm not personally a fan of alternative therapies, I would think the best thing he can do if his treatment is not working is see another doctor who specializes in the field and get a second opinion. One benefit is that this should be covered under OHIP.

[65505201]

It may be helpful to know what is actually wrong with his cardiovascular system first. Some of the alternative therapies that you're looking at claim to be "treat-all" solutions that actually don't do squat.

[vladislav]

My father had heart problems, one of the valves was broken. He tried different holistic approaches, nothing helped. The pills doctors prescribed didn't help much either. After years of pain he decided to go for a surgery. He is still on a major regiment of pills but he is doing much better than he did before surgery. In this case surgery was really the only viable option, it sucks but I believe in the end it was worth it over any possible medication.

[YLSF]

Ok, this is the other threatment. I just got the link and haven't read through it in detail yet...

http://www.eecp.com/


More background info, he has a faulty valve. He has had a heart attack (like 15 years ago) before, had bypass surgery, and also got a portable defibulator put in last year.

His main problem now is trouble breathing, and really poor sleeping at night. He just recently got a CPAP machine which seems to be helping with sleeping a bit but his lungs have issues with getting "water" accumulating when he lies down. He tends to have to sleep in a chair to get any sleep at all...

I read about this experimental surgery where they were able to implant another valve inside the heart valve or something to that effect. It is being done in Canada a lot but still "experimental". I guess he isn't a great candidate for traditional surgery/valve replacement because his heart is already pretty week.


A client of my bro-in-law went for this ECCP and he was able to reduce his 6 nitro pills a day down to just using the patch. ABle to be more active as a result also. I will do some reading on it also but if anyone has more details please post

[bikechick]

To be honest, it depends on the cardiologist. I was 26 when I saw my first one, and he basically stated "I don't know what's wrong with you, come back in a year or if something happens". Less than 2 months later, I was meeting my 2nd doctor and he was telling me I needed a pacemaker. Because of that surgery, I was off of all the medications I needed to prevent my heart from stopping.

If your relative is in the GTA/Toronto area, see if you can get into Southlake Hospital in Newmarket and see Dr. Zaev Wulffhart. He's amazing and saved my life. They have one of the best cardiac centers there and are even focusing on heart health, nutrition, and rehab.

I hope that everything turns out ok with your relative. It doesn't sound right that they aren't getting the support that they need. A change in doctors would definately help.

[Chr1s]

To be honest, it depends on the cardiologist. I was 26 when I saw my first one, and he basically stated "I don't know what's wrong with you, come back in a year or if something happens". Less than 2 months later, I was meeting my 2nd doctor and he was telling me I needed a pacemaker. Because of that surgery, I was off of all the medications I needed to prevent my heart from stopping.

If your relative is in the GTA/Toronto area, see if you can get into Southlake Hospital in Newmarket and see Dr. Zaev Wulffhart. He's amazing and saved my life. They have one of the best cardiac centers there and are even focusing on heart health, nutrition, and rehab.

I hope that everything turns out ok with your relative. It doesn't sound right that they aren't getting the support that they need. A change in doctors would definately help.

I agree with bikechick, Southlake Hospital is one of the best places for cardiac care. I know of a few people that had ICDs implanted there, and the cardiac team there is great.

Trouble Sleeping/Breathing/Water in Lungs: Have you tried elevating the head of the bed (3-5 inches), so that your relative's head will be elevated when he sleeps?



Some other therapies to look into:

For chelation, Dr. Fred Hui (http://www.drhui.com/) has a few offices in the GTA. He is a MD and is trained in Chelation. IIRC, there is currently a HUGE clinical trial going on to determine the effectiveness of this treatment for heart patients.

Dr. Linus Pauling - Mega doses of Vitamin C. He believed heart disease is an internal scurvy of the arteries.

Dr Stephen Sinatra (an American Cardiologist) - CoQ10+ L-Carnitine + D-Ribose An interviewhere (http://www.drpasswater.com/nutrition_library/Sinatra_1.html)

Herbal: Hawthorn Berries + Motherwort + Cayenne

Dr. Jacobus Rinse Breakfast - A cocktail of nutrition for the heart (http://www.doctoryourself.com/dr_rinse.html)




Your relative needs doctors and family that are supportive and want him to enjoy and have a better quality of life. You're doing a good job :)

[YLSF]

Hi,

Yeah, he does have one of those beds that can bend up but it doesn't help that much. Right now he can't even walk up the stairs without difficulties (breathing) so he is looking into getting a lift....

He is west side of GTA so too bad it is a bit far to that cardiac care spot.