The Natural Connection

How do you mend a broken heart? It depends on who you ask. Ask a five year old with a scrape on his knee, and you will hear, “Mommy, a bandaid, and a kiss!”

Ask a cardiac surgeon. You may hear, “Clot-buster drugs, then balloon angioplasty or open heart surgery. Try some cholesterol-lowering pills for good measure. That will fix you up!”

Ask the FDA. They say that 25 grams of soy protein a day will protect you from heart disease. Dr. Dean Ornish, author of the now-famous Lifestyle Heart Trial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, will add exercise, smoking cessation, meditation, group support, and yoga to that soy. Patients who follow the Ornish program, have been shown to reverse their coronary disease, cut their risk of heart attacks in half, and can often avoid the drugs and the expensive surgery.

 The health food store owner will offer you antioxidants, bioflavonoids, Co-Q 10, garlic, and hawthorn as the answer. Throw in some fish oils, flax seed, selenium and zinc and “you’ll be OK”.

 Who really speaks the truth? Holistic Medicine physicians believe that probably everyone is right. A number of conventional and alternative therapies have all been shown to heal the heart.

 Compelling data, however, reveals that we may have the most to learn from the five year old. New research confirms that our emotional relationships to our family, friends, and community, as well as our spiritual connections to our Creator and our planet have more to do with healing our hearts than we ever suspected before.

 Consider the evidence. Multiple studies have shown that depression, loneliness, and isolation all independently increase the risk of developing serious heart disease. Anger, hostility, and negative emotions increase the amount of circulating stress hormones, called catecholamines, that increase our blood pressure, increase our heart rate, and over time damage our coronary arteries. Toxic emotions can truly injure our hearts. Loving relationships in our lives can to some extent protect us.

 Researchers at Duke University reported in 1997 that mental stress during daily life, including feelings of tension, frustration, and sadness, can more than double the risk of cardiac complications in the subsequent hour following the stress. Men who report being able to relax at home, instead of mentally bringing home their work had one-third the risk of having a heart attack.

Middle aged men who feel hopeless or think of themselves as failures, have been reported to develop atherosclerosis—the narrowing of the arteries that leads to heart attacks and strokes—faster than their more optimistic counterparts.

 Studies done on male Harvard Medical School students in the 1950’s revealed that students who had a close, warm relationship with their parents were protected from the development of heart disease and cancer up to 35 years later! (The five year old was right).

 Exposure to nature and companion animals, clearly help heal the heart. Pet owners who have suffered heart attacks have one-fifth the chance of a second cardiac event compared to non-pet owners. Non-judgmental affection and acceptance is definitely good medicine.

 In one study, patients recovering from cardiac surgery in a room with a view of nature had less post-operative pain and distress, and were discharged earlier, compared to those in a room with a drab view. In the hospital setting, guided imagery, music therapy, massage, and aromatherapy have all been studied as well and shown to be beneficial.

 The scientific community is even beginning to acknowledge that patients who have spiritual communities pray for them have better outcomes than those who do not.

 So, how do you mend a broken heart? There are countless ways. It just depends on who you ask. Ask your doctor to help you develop a plan that is right for you. 

For more information on this topic, please write to:

©2000-2003 Pauline M. Bellecci, MD