Complementary Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine

Chapter 10 / Massage Therapy and CVD 153
10 Massage Therapy
and Cardiovascular Disease
Patricia Cadolino, LMT, CIMI
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CLINICAL RESEARCH
THE EFFECTS OF MASSAGE ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
THE EFFECTS OF MASSAGE ON THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
THE EFFECTS OF MASSAGE FOR THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
CARDIAC MEDICATIONS
THE EFFECTS OF MASSAGE FOR THE URINARY SYSTEM
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR MASSAGE
MANUAL HEALING TECHNIQUES: A BRIEF DESCRIPTIVE
GLOSSARY
SUMMARY
STATUS OF THE PROFESSION
REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION
Manual therapy, such as massage therapy, is one of the oldest forms
of treatment in the world, probably older than that of recorded time.
Massage was referred to in ancient Greek and Roman texts and was also
mentioned in the writing of Asclopiades and Herodicus. Dating back to
at least 1800 BC. Hippocrates defined medicine as “the art of rubbing”
and stated that “the physician must be experienced in many things...but
assuredly in rubbing. For rubbing can bind a joint that is too loose, and
loose a joint that is too tight” (1).
From: Contemporary Cardiology
Complementary and Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine
Edited by: R. A. Stein and M. C. Oz © Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
153