Heart

Heart Disease

Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in Canada and the United States. There are many different types of heart problems that fall under the category of Heart Disease. These can be coronary artery disease (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (heart attack), but may also be stroke, heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, heart arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis. An estimated 90% of these conditions are preventable.

PEMF and Heart Disease

PEMF therapy offers heart disease patients a noninvasive and nonpharmacologic way to treat their ailments. It is an effective treatment with no side effects.
The benefits of PEMF therapy can come directly or indirectly. Direct benefits would mean that the cardiovascular system is the primary recipient of the benefit. An indirect benefit means that the cardiovascular system only benefits due to positive effects elsewhere in the body. Some of the indirect benefits include: stress reduction effects, positive emotional responses, more effective endocrine system, improved immune system and autonomic nervous system.

PEMF’s can help lower vascular resistance which in turn will help optimize normal heart function. For patients with hypertension or ischemic heart disease, this means improved circulation as well as lipid metabolism.

A study conducted in Russia shows that 66 elderly patients suffering from hypertension and ischemic heart disease underwent PEMF treatment. All of them saw a marked improvement in microcirculation, myocardial reactivity, central hemodynamics reducing biological age of cardiovascular system and even inhibiting the aging process all together.

There is an animal study on this subject which was performed on rats. Animal studies are often done before human studies. The data demonstrates that PEMF treatment significantly inhibited cardiac apoptosis and improved cardiac systolic function. Moreover, PEMF treatment increased capillary density, the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hypoxic inducible factor-1α in infarct border zone. Furthermore, the number and function of circulating endothelial progenitor cells were advanced in PEMF treating rats. In vitro, PEMF induced the degree of human umbilical venous endothelial cells tubulization and increased soluble pro-angiogenic factor secretion (VEGF and nitric oxide). In conclusion, PEMF therapy preserves cardiac systolic function, inhibits apoptosis and trigger postnatal neovascularization in ischemic myocardium.

References:

Vopr Kurortol Fizioter Lech Fiz Kult. 1999 Sep-Oct;(5):7-9. The characteristics of the geroprotective action of magnetotherapy in elderly patients with combined cardiovascular pathology. Abramovich SG, Fedotchenko AA, Koriakina AV, Pogodin KV, Smirnov SN.

Pulsed electromagnetic field improves cardiac function in response to myocardial infarction. Chang-Ning Hao, Jing-Juan Huang, Yi-Qin Shi, Xian-Wu Cheng, Hao-Yun Li, Lin Zhou, Xin-Gui Guo,Rui-Lin Li, Wei Lu, Yi-Zhun Zhu, and Jun-Li Duan