Complementary Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine

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