Complementary Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine
Complementary Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine
Complementary Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine
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202 <strong>Alternative</strong> <strong>Cardiovascular</strong> <strong>Medicine</strong><br />
acoustic/light therapy, acupuncture, or homeopathy) or of human origin<br />
(laying-on of hands healing and external Qigong). Some of the intrinsic<br />
energy modalities are also categorized as mind–body medicine. Intrinsic<br />
energy modalities include meditation, imagery, biofeedback, stress<br />
management (relaxation training), internal Qigong, Tai chi, and Hatha<br />
Yoga. For an extensive and relatively scientific treatment of energy<br />
medicine, see the recent reviews by Gerber (1) and Oschman (2).<br />
Several double-blind randomized clinical trials in orthopedics have<br />
demonstrated the efficacy of electromagnetic (EM) fields to increase the<br />
rate of bone healing. Currently the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)<br />
has approved the use of these devices only for bone healing, soft tissue<br />
wound healing, pain, and electroacupuncture. Although there are also<br />
several scientific studies suggesting the efficacy of extrinsic energy<br />
therapies in the treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD), most of<br />
these devices are not FDA approved and can only be used as investigational<br />
devices for research purposes. Nonetheless, some manufacturers<br />
of energy therapy devices are in the process of obtaining FDA approval.<br />
Some extrinsic energy therapies, notably auditory acoustic energy and<br />
magnets, are not regulated by the FDA. More evidence-based research<br />
using contemporary scientific methodologies is clearly required to evaluate<br />
which, if any, of the energy medicine therapies are effective in the<br />
treatment and/or prevention of heart disease.<br />
THE INTRINSIC ENERGY SYSTEM ACCORDING<br />
TO EASTERN SCIENCES<br />
The ancient Eastern sciences and traditions for millennia have included<br />
energy therapies as an integral part of their medical sciences. The existence<br />
of a global, intrinsic energy system within the body has been<br />
thoroughly described in the Eastern Sciences of Life, such as the Vedic,<br />
Yogic, Taoist, and Buddhist traditions. The Eastern sciences describe a<br />
subtle energy body that underlies and interpenetrates the physical body.<br />
Because all matter is energy at the subatomic level, the physical body is,<br />
in fact, also an energy body. The subtle energy body in this context can<br />
be viewed as matter. It would be of a finer or higher vibration than the<br />
vibration of the visible, physical body. Both bodies exist in the same<br />
place at the same time. This phenomenon is akin to that of radio waves<br />
occupying the same place as the physical body when a person is in their<br />
path. The radio waves and the physical body coexist in the same space<br />
and time, even though the radio waves are not detectable without a radio.<br />
Within the subtle body is a circulatory system that in oriental medicine<br />
is called the meridian (acupuncture) system and in Ayurvedic medi-