Acupuncture treatment prevents recurrence of heart palpitations

Heart palpitations, also called arrhythmias, are abnormal heart rhythms. You may experience them as pounding, fluttering sensation or beating irregularly in your chest, or even in your throat or neck sometimes. Heart palpitations often last from seconds to minutes. Heart palpitations are often caused by excessive intake of caffeine, alcohol, a strong emotional response such as anger or anxiety, hormone changes associated with menstruation or pregnancy, medications containing stimulants.  Heart palpitations are, in most cases, harmless and should not be a sign of a problem with the heart. However, if heart palpitations occur often or are accompanied by other problems such as dizziness or tightness in the chest, you should take them serious and seek the doctor’s advice.

Because of its balancing nature, acupuncture works well to regulate the body’s haemostasis including the rhythm of the heart. Recently Drs Breyno and Aktas reviewed many clinical studies about acupuncture treatment with heart palpitations and showed that acupuncture is an effective treatment for cardiac heart palpitations such as atrial fibrillation, paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, inappropriate sinus tachycardia and symptomatic premature ventricular contractions. In another study patients with persistent atrial fibrillation were treated with acupuncture once a week for 10 weeks. Through a year of follow-up, the recurrence of atrial fibrillation was similar in patients between acupuncture treated group and antiarrhythmic drug, amiodarone treated group. The study reported that acupuncture treatment prevents arrhythmic recurrence and is safe and well-tolerated.

Reference:

Brenyo A, Aktas MK., Am J Cardiol. 2014 Mar 1;113(5):897-903. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24528618

Lomuscio A., J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2011 Mar;22(3):241-7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20807278