Cholesterol
Many patients coming to The Acupuncture Clinic inquire if anything can be done with acupuncture to lower cholesterol because their medications have numerous undesirable side effects. Cholesterol is a fat like substance and if you imagine that the fat is sticky, you can see that this substance can stick to the inside of the blood vessels. If this sticky substance builds up it can block the arteries and may cause heart problems.
This is what modern western medicine calls atherosclerosis and a class of drugs known as Statins are the common choice of medication prescribed by doctors for this problem. Statins have many adverse side effects including liver and muscle tissue damage, memory loss, thinking and concentration problems. Since the year 2000 it has been known that Statins damage cognitive function. Other side effects of statins include depression, irritability, insomnia, tingling, numbness and burning pain, tiredness, dizziness, blood sugar problems, nausea, upset stomach, dry skin, rashes, and tinnitus and weight changes.
It’s no wonder that patients are seeking alternatives to statin medications
because the drugs themselves are making them feel even worse.
The benefits on the cardio vascular system with acupuncture have been known for centuries and new research has found that acupuncture lowers cholesterol and triglycerides.
There is an acupuncture point on the outside of the leg called feng long, Stomach 40, and has traditional been used for tiredness, phlegm and stabbing pain in the chest. Ironically, the latter symptom is a consequence of atherosclerosis which this acupuncture point has been proven to treat. Researchers found that electro-acupuncture stimulation at this point benefited metabolism and lowered cholesterol and triglycerides.
The mechanism behind the scenes was that the acupuncture stimulated the nNOS enzyme to benefit the blood pressure and vascular tone of the blood vessels.
Since 2012, it has been known that exercise also can reduce cholesterol because it stimulates the enzymes that help move the unwanted cholesterol from the blood vessel walls and send it to the liver where it broken down by the bile. It is best to do intensive type exercise as opposed to moderate exercise to lower cholesterol levels.
There are of course hundreds of acupuncture points that stimulate health and restore harmony and balance and then in turn improve the cardiovascular health. By default, markers like cholesterol and enzyme readings can change for the better.
In addition, Chinese herbal medicine has many formulations to treat blood vessels and heart disease.
Taking responsibility for your own health and improving it with acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, dietary changes and doing exercise could make you independent of the need to support the brainwashing of the pharmaceutical companies and stay on the statin you are currently taking until it is banned.
