This book is a detailed guide to a new integrative approach to the prevention and treatment of various cardiac disorders and risk factors, including coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, arrhythmias, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. This approach combines various strategies, including metabolic cardiology, low-dose medicine, exercise programs, stress management programs, evaluation for inherited risk factors, and various other healing modalities. Metabolic cardiology focuses on the prevention, management, and treatment of cardiovascular disease at the cellular level through biochemical interventions with nutritional supplements that can promote energy production in the heart. Low-dose medicine, on the other hand, interprets pathological phenomena as an imbalance in intercellular signaling that may be corrected through the administration of low physiological doses of messenger molecules. Therapies outside of mainstream medicine may also be deployed in integrative cardiology,for example acupuncture, herbal medicine, and homeopathy. Integrative Cardiology will be of interest to all practitioners wishing to learn about an approach that incorporates the incredible advances in medication and technology with a focus on nutrition, lifestyle, and mind–body influences.
