Fwd: Chinese therapy for heart patients

March 15, 2001

>Chinese therapy for heart patients

>

> Tucson, Arizona Thursday, 15 March 2001

>

> Chinese therapy for heart patients

> By Carla McClain

> ARIZONA DAILY STAR

>

> They are the most stressed-out patients in the

>hospital.

>

> Kept alive by artificial hearts and heart-assist

>devices, these men, women and children are imprisoned in University Medical

>Center for months, leashed to bulky machines, waiting for someone to die so

>they may live.

>

> In an effort to ease the severe depression,

>anxiety, fear, hostility and physical decline many of these patients suffer

>as they wait for donor hearts, a study has been launched to teach them

>ancient Chinese exercise, meditation and breathing techniques.

>

> Proving that mainstream medicine is beginning to

>take " alternative " medicine seriously, the controlled, double-blind pilot

>study is funded by a $380,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health.

>

> " What makes this unique is combining the most

>modern medical technology with the most ancient of therapies, " said Lorie

>Manciet, a University of Arizona associate research scientist who is

>heading the study.

>

> " The (Chinese) therapy is designed to promote

>health in any individual, and we expect it to do so in these patients, who

>are among the most stressed and depressed in the hospital. If it does, the

>plan is to enlarge the study - expand it to heart transplant centers

>throughout the country, even worldwide. "

>

> Using a 3,000-year-old therapy from China to help

>patients surviving on mechanical-heart devices here has the full blessing

>of the head of the UA's heart transplant team, Dr. Jack G. Copeland.

>

> " He's open to anything that has the potential to

>benefit these patients, " said Paul Nolan, a UA pharmacist also involved in

>the study. " His feeling is if there is anything at all that might help, do

>it. "

>

> Copeland was out of the country and unavailable

>for comment yesterday.

>

> During the next two years, some 30 to 40 of his

>patients using artificial hearts and heart-assist devices will be enrolled

>in the study, most of them sustained on the machines for three to four

>months.

>

> Half of those patients will be trained in and will

>practice the Chinese exercise therapy known as Qigong (pronounced

>chee-gong), also meditation and therapeutic breathing.

>

> The other half will be trained in " sham " Qigong -

>movements with no known therapeutic value.

>

> None of the patients will know which they are

>using until the study has ended, when the mental, emotional and physical

>condition of all patients will be compared to see if there is any benefit

>to the patients practicing authentic Qigong.

>

> To protect the integrity of the study, the Star

>will not describe the movements of Qigong at the request of the study's

>coordinators.

>

> " In Qigong, 'qi' means 'energy' or 'life force,'

>and 'gong' means 'skill.' So it is skill with your life force, " said

>Michael Roland, a UA research associate who will instruct these special

>patients in Qigong.

>

> The practice of Qigong was developed over

>thousands of years in China, where it has been used to treat numerous

>illnesses, including heart disease.

>

> " When people practice Qigong, the breathing, the

>body movements and the meditative state are all harmonized to stimulate the

>balance and flow of vital life energy.

>

> " We had to design the Qigong program for people

>tethered to a washing machine (the size of the artificial drive device) -

>for someone tied to an 8-foot hose. So it's a somewhat specialized regimen

>for them. "

>

> Roland also works with the UA's Program in

>Integrative Medicine, headed by Dr. Andrew Weil, the Tucson-based physician

>who is spearheading the national movement to combine alternative therapies

>with mainstream medicine.

>

> Explaining why Qigong was chosen for artificial

>heart and assist-device patients, the UA's grant proposal for the study

>states:

>

> " It is widely accepted by practitioners of

>traditional Chinese medicine that (Qigong) improves blood circulation,

>improves strength and flexibility, reverses damage caused by prior injuries

>and disease, and promotes relaxation, awareness and healing. "

>

> Several studies show Qigong has proved effective

>in improving heart function, lowering blood pressure and stroke risk,

>increasing bone density and easing the pain, and improving appetite, sleep

>and mood in cancer patients, according to the proposal.

>

> Pointing out the " extraordinary " stresses

>heart-device patients face - including " the reality that (they) are

>consciously waiting for another person to suffer a life-ending trauma so

>they may live " - the proposal states:

>

> " Clearly, a treatment strategy that can

>effectively increase the physical capacities of (heart-device) patients,

>while enhancing their quality of life, is desperately needed. "

>

> That need is only going to grow as the U.S.

>shortage of donor organs worsens, forcing more people onto mechanical

>devices to survive the wait, the study points out.

>

> Although using artificial heart devices to

> " bridge " dying heart patients to heart transplants has proved successful -

>with high survival rates - the time spent waiting on the devices can be

>almost unbearable, said Mary Beth Kepler, who engineers the devices after

>they are implanted in patients.

>

> " They are trapped in the hospital for months, tied

>to a machine - a noisy machine that can be really grating on the nerves, "

>she said. " They have no idea how long they will have to wait, if a heart

>will ever be found for them. All they know is that awful noise had better

>keep going, because their lives depend on that machine.

>

> " They go through severe mood swings, many must

>take anti-depressants, and in some cases, patients elsewhere have gone

>insane. That's why we are working so hard to keep our patients as mentally

>and physically healthy as we can while they're trapped here. "

>

> One UMC patient, who has been on an artificial

>heart nearly a year, has at times almost " given up " in despair, sometimes

>even refusing to eat, said Michael Connole, another artificial-heart

>patient who signed up for the Qigong study.

>

> " The people who have been in there a long time do

>seem worn-out and withdrawn, " said Connole, 28, who went on to a heart

>transplant after only six weeks on the device.

>

> " I was one of the lucky ones. But while I was

>there, just taking a walk or going outside became a luxury. I wanted to try

>Qigong just to get up and out and do something. There is so much laying

>around, sitting around. "

>

> All UMC mechanical heart-patients gradually work

>into a mild aerobic and strength training program - using the hospital's

>treadmills, stationary bikes and weight machines at least twice a week.

>

> Patients in the Qigong study will continue with

>the aerobic and weight training as well, Manciet said.

>

> * Contact Carla McClain at 806-7754 or

>cmcclain.

>

>| NEWSLINKS

>

>© Arizona Daily Star

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March 15, 2001