Heart failure can be a challenging condition to treat. Heart failure happens when the heart isn’t able to pump blood normally. As a result, your body’s organs don’t get enough blood flow and miss out on vital oxygen and nutrients.
The term “heart failure” is a little misleading. Your heart doesn’t actually stop beating completely — it just can’t work efficiently in a normal way. Heart failure affects around six million people in North America. Medical experts say it is the most common cause of hospitalization for people over 65 years of age. Anything that can help those with this challenging condition would be most welcome indeed.
Cue the results from a clinical trial just performed at the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. There, researchers have discovered in the latest natural health news that a traditional Chinese herbal cure could play a significant role in treating patients with chronic heart failure. For their study, the researchers focused on improving the function of skeletal muscle in heart patients.
Chronic heart failure can cause dysfunction in the way your muscles work. There are a number of reasons why this can happen, including inactivity, malnutrition, and constant or repeated episodes of inadequate oxygen delivery. One of the biggest symptoms of skeletal muscle dysfunction is fatigue.
The study included 92 patients with congestive heart failure who were divided into two groups. One group received treatment with Western medicine, while a second group was treated with “Kanli Granule,” a common Chinese herbal medicine. The patients were treated for 12 weeks.
After treatment, the participants’ grip strength and grasp times increased significantly compared with before treatment. Heart rates also significantly decreased in the two groups, but to a greater degree in the Chinese herbs group than the Western medicine group. Peripheral blood lactate levels of the patients decreased — again with the Chinese herbs group displaying a greater decrease than the Western medicine group. Elevated peripheral blood lactate levels happen when oxygen delivery to the tissues is insufficient to support normal metabolic (energy-producing) demands.
The research team concluded that the addition of Kanli Granule to tradition Western medicine could significantly improve the function of skeletal muscle in patients with chronic heart failure by improving skeletal muscle energy metabolism.
For more information on how Chinese medicine could boost your health, read the article No Dangerous Drugs? No Surgery? No Side Effects?
Before trying any herbal medicines, be sure to get your doctor’s advice.