Fearing A Heart Attack?  Read This!

Thought One

I just read an interesting article about Christopher Leet, the medical director of cardiology and the first-board-certified cardiologist in Prince William County. 

When the cardiologist himself suffered a heart attack, he realised that his approach to helping people had missed 'critical elements'. For 21 years, he had had but 2 directives: Eat low fat and exercise regularly.

He now believes that his patients also need to find lifestyles and meditative ways to reduce stress and let their hearts find peace-and with it health. 

So the University of Virginia Medical Center has recently incorporated into its treatment for cardiac patients, meditation, breathing exercises, tai-chi and yoga. Just like beta-blockers slow and relax the heart, so does meditation. However one must not view alternative methods as a substitute  for conventional treatments. Though alternative medicine can do what drugs cannot, which is 'to provide a sense of confidence and self worth whose benefits will be felt long after doctors have cut patients loose...one must recognize heart disease's link to poor diet and lack of adequate exercise'.