Integrative Cardiology: A New Therapeutic Vision

273 Pages·2017·7.52 MB·English

by  Massimo Fioranelli (eds.)

Massimo Fioranelli
Editor
Integrative
Cardiology
A New Therapeutic Vision
123
Integrative Cardiology
Massimo Fioranelli
Editor
Integrative Cardiology
A New Therapeutic Vision
Editor
MassimoFioranelli
DepartmentofNuclearPhysics
GuglielmoMarconiUniversity
Rome,Italy
ISBN978-3-319-40008-2 ISBN978-3-319-40010-5 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-40010-5
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016946610
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Foreword
I’vealwaysbeenalittleafraidofcardiologyasamedicalspecialty.Italways
seemedtomeatoodelicateand,atthesametime,“explosive”subjecttobe
addressed by complementary medicine. Therefore, it is something to be
handled with care, otherwise risking the health of a vital organ, and that of
thepatient.
It is a “dangerous” topic in which the general practitioner does not
interveneifnotcarryingoutthewishesofthespecialist,asthecomplemen-
tarymedicinepractitionerdoesmostofthetime,oftenrenouncingfromthe
starttoprovidepossibleindicationsfornaturalsubstancesusefulinimprov-
ingtheclinicalsituationofpatientswithheartproblems.
Weofteninterveneincirculatorydisordersand,inparticular,inchanges
inbloodpressuresofrequentlynow,evenwhenpeopleareintheirprime,but
when it comes to real heart problems we proceed with caution, often fear-
fully, avoiding interference with conventional therapies prescribed to the
patientasmuchaspossible.
Yet, the heart is not only the vital organ par excellence, but it is also
central to the holistic vision, which is the basis for the practice of comple-
mentarymedicine.
On this issue, I allow myself to digress briefly before commenting. It is
precisely the vital organs, with their function and physiology, that express
moreclearlythecorrespondencebetweentheinnerman,orthepsychicand
spiritual sphereoftheperson,andtheouterman,thephysicalbodywithits
organsandsystems.Someorgansandfunctionsarerelatedtotheemotional
sideoftheperson,suchastheheartandliver,and,ontheotherhand,some
organs are connected to personal aspects, such as the digestive system (the
stomachandintestines)andkidneys.Thestomach,infact,receivesfoodand
theintestineassimilatesit,absorbingwhatisgoodforthebodyandrejecting
what is dangerous or toxic, just as the intellect introjects what it considers
trueandeliminatesthefalse.
The heart and circulatory system carry oxygen and nourishment to the
tissuesandtheydonotchooseorselectanything,holdingforthemselvesonly
theminimumnecessaryforsubsistence,distributingtothetissuesasrequired
accordingtotheirneeds.Whattheheartreceivesfromthepulmonarycircu-
lationisthendonated.Forthisreason,wespeakofa“personofheart”andthe
reference is a mother’s love, unconditional love. For this correspondence,
emotions such as love, hate, fear, or courage are felt in the heart and
v
vi Foreword
therefore, the health of this organ; its integrity becomes essential for the
continuationoflife.
Totakecareoftheheart,andallvitalorgans,istotakecareofthewhole
person and coincides with the preservation of life. This concept emerges
stronglywhenreadingthisbookasawholeandinmanyofitsparts.
Anotherimportantaspectofthisbookconsistsofthequalityandthegreat
expertiseofeachoftheauthors,startingwiththecuratorMassimoFioranelli.
Inthiscase,thereadercannotonlyenjoythefruitsofexperiencegainedin
thefieldoverdecadesofclinicalactivity,butalsoreceivetheteachingoftrue
masters,eachintheirowndiscipline.Theeditorialproposalisthereforemore
of a real professional training manual than a book about unconventional
therapiesincardiology.
Weliveinanagewhereinformationinallfields,butespeciallyonhealth
issues, come from a thousand different sources, primarily via social
networks. None or very few of these are scientifically verified or evaluated
basedontheexperienceofcompetentprofessionals.
Howthentojudgetheappropriatenessofthetreatmentchoicesproposed?
Howtodecidewhichpathtotakeintheplethoraofnewsthatisoftenbased
onadesireforintellectualprovocationoraneedforglamourratherthanon
evidenceforeffectiveness?
Anotheraspectisthecontentofthistext,whichisbasedonthreefunda-
mentalelements:theauthorityandexpertiseoftheauthors,thecompleteness
oftheinformation,andanupdatedbibliography.
We have already mentioned the authority of the masters, but equally
important in the evaluation of text quality is the completeness of the
information provided. These not only concern the range of possible
interventionswiththedifferentcomplementarytherapies—acupuncture,home-
opathy,homotoxicology,herbalmedicine,medicinalmushrooms,inaddition
to nutrition and meditation—but also the complex relationships between the
cardiovascularsystemandtheendocrinesystem,orthemicrobiota,interpreting
thefunctionofthissysteminthecontextofpsycho-neuro-endocrineimmunol-
ogy(PNEI).
Moreover,itisnotonlyatheoreticaltext.Theclearaimistotraindoctors
and provide useful tools for their therapeutic intervention in extremely
complex pathological situations such as cardiovascular disease. Thus, valu-
ableindicationsforthepreventionandtreatmentofdyslipidemia,hyperten-
sion, butalso ofarrhythmias, coronary heartdisease,heartfailure andeven
thecardiacprotectionthatissoimportantincancerdiseaseanditstreatment,
particularlyinchemotherapy.
Obviously,thistextisnotopposedtoconventionaltherapybutrepresents
its natural complement. This does not mean, however, that, for some
situations and settings, it may not be the first choice of treatment for the
cardiologist.
Foreword vii
Howmanyare,infact,thesituationsofsufferingforwhichconventional
medicine does not provide satisfactory answers, because it is ineffective in
that specific case, or because it is poorly tolerated owing to the adverse
effectsproducedbystandarddrugs?
As this book demonstrates, and especially from now on, the lack of
integration of complementary therapies in cardiology in appropriate
situations and settings can only be explained by the lack of knowledge and
the resistance to change of most conservative conventional medicine
practitioners.
In the future, this resistance will certainly be overcome, but it is very
important that the future begins now, immediately. Not as a matter of
principle, but namely the affirmation of the freedom of therapeutic choice,
butforthepatient’sbenefit.
Finally, I would like to sincerely acknowledge all the authors who
participated in this project, which is important for our world and marks a
point of no return for the development of a higher level of integration of
complementarymedicineintomainstreammedicine.
ElioG.Rossi
ResponsabileAmbulatoriodiomeopatia
ASLToscanaNordovestLucca
Centrodiriferimentoregionale
toscanoperl’omeopatia
Lucca,Italy
Foreword
A book can synthesize a shared knowledge or open a new territory in a
scientificfield.
The book Integrative Cardiology by Massimo Fioranelli encompasses
bothaspects.
Integrativemedicineisacombinationofconventionalmedicineandtradi-
tional healing modalities, not commonly taughtin Western medical schools.
Nutrition, low-dose therapy, herbal medicine, metabolic cardiology,
acupuncture, psycho-neuro-endocrine immunology (PNEI), immunomo-
dulation through the intervention on microbioma, and attention to mind–
bodyinfluencescovermanyaspectsofintegrativecardiology.
Many medicalconditions, such ashypertension,coronary artery disease,
congestive heart failure, arrhythmias, and cardiac surgery can benefit from
thisnaturalapproach.
Thisbooktranslatesthisholisticstrategyintothetreatmentofcardiovas-
culardiseases.
The main merit of the Editor is to have collected the experience of
eminentscholarsinthefield ofintegrative medicine andtohighlighta new
pathwayinthetreatmentofcardiovasculardiseases.Thisbookissomething
verynewinthepublishingfieldthatwillbehelpfultopractitionersseekingto
translatevariousbodiesofknowledgeintotheclinicalfield.
Alongwithtraditionaltherapy,inaccordancewiththecurrentguidelines,
I believe that there is space in the clinical field to integrate conventional
medicaltreatmentwithnonconventionaltherapies.
MybestwishestoMassimoFioranelliforthisnewachievementinafield
ofmedicinethatdeserveslargerdiffusionintothescientificcommunity.
SerafinoRicci
FacultyofMedicineandSurgery
UniversityLaSapienzaUniversity
Rome,Italy
ix
Contents
PartI TheBasisofIntegration
1 HerbalMedicineinCardiology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
IvoBianchi
2 HomeopathyandCardiovascularDisease. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
IvoBianchi
3 Low-DoseTherapyfortheTreatmentofLow-Grade
ChronicInflammation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
MassimoFioranelli,MarcoDelPrete,JahairaCarolinaAracena,
MariaGraziaRoccia,CarloDalLin,andClaudioTomella
4 AcupunctureinCardiovascularDiseases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
GiuseppeLupiandManuelaCormio
5 MetabolicCardiology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
MassimoFioranelli,MaraPiccoli,MariaGraziaRoccia,
VeronicaDiNardo,AndreaLozzi,ClaudioTomella,
andCarloDalLin
6 MedicinalMushrooms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
IvoBianchi
7 MicrobiomeandCardiacHealth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
EnricoBiffi
8 EndocrineSystemandCardiovascularDisease. . . . . . . . . . . 99
CarloMariaRotella,IlariaDicembrini,andLauraPala
9 CardiovascularAging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
LedaGaliutoandGabriellaLocorotondo
10 NutritionandCardiacHealth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
ClaudioTomella,VeronicaDiNardo,andMassimoFioranelli
11 Psycho-neuro-endocrino-immunologyParadigmand
CardiovascularDiseases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
FrancescoBottaccioliandAnnaGiuliaBottaccioli
xi
xii Contents
12 TheRoleofStressandEmotionsinCardiovascular
Disease:StressManagementandMeditationProgramsinthe
PreventionandTreatmentofCardiovascularDisease. . . . . . 153
AnnaGiuliaBottaccioli
13 OzoneTherapyasaComplementaryTreatment
inCardiovascularDiseases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
N.Dardes,V.Covi,andG.Tabaracci
PartII IntegratedApproachtoCardiovascularDisease
14 IntegratedApproachtoDyslipidemia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
MaraPiccoli,MassimoFioranelli,MariaGraziaRoccia,
VeronicaDiNardo,ClaudioTomella,andCarloDalLin
15 IntegratedApproachtoHypertension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
CarloDalLin,MarcoSilvestro,RaffaeleMigliorini,
FrancescoTona,andMassimoFioranelli
16 IntegratedApproachtoCoronaryArteryDisease. . . . . . . . . 203
CarloDalLin,MarcoSilvestro,RaffaeleMigliorini,
FrancescoTona,andMassimoFioranelli
17 IntegratedApproachtoHeartFailure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
CarloDalLin,MarcoSilvestro,RaffaeleMigliorini,
FrancescoTona,andMassimoFioranelli
18 IntegratedApproachtoArrhythmias. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
CarloDalLin,MarcoSilvestro,RaffaeleMigliorini,
FrancescoTona,andMassimoFioranelli
19 IntegratedApproachtoOncologicalSupportiveMedicine. . . 247
BrunoPironi,MassimoBonucci,MariaGraziaRoccia,
andMassimoFioranelli
20 HeartandSkin:TheParadigmofCytokine-Mediated
CardiovascularMetabolicDiseaseinPsoriasis. . . . . . . . . . . 263
TorelloLotti