by Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D.
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Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D.
Illustrated by Jeff Ham |
My journey as an integrative cardiologist has been an exciting period in my life, and it has brought me endless moments of satisfaction and joy. Yes, it is joyful when you can reduce human suffering and improve the quality of life for someone else. I have shared many moments of sublime satisfaction with my patients and their families, after their life has been improved or spared through the many alternative, pharmaceutical and technical tools of modern cardiology. But the specialty I hold so close to my own heart still has considerable limitations.
Pharmaceutical drugs, bypass surgery, angioplasty, stent emplacements, pacemakers and implantable defibrillators all have their place, and many lives would be lost without these high-tech interventions. Cardiologists face a daily dilemma concerning the best diagnostic procedures to refer for their patients and then, based on those test results, which surgical and/or pharmaceutical interventions to select. To complicate the choice, the evaluations we order and the treatments we select may actually create unnecessary risks for patients—risks that are out of proportion to the benefits they will experience. Continuing technological advances, although necessary, add to the complexity of the decision-making process.
Cardiologists have grown reliant upon these sophisticated medical processes. But somewhere along the way, something has gone amiss. There has been much mistrust of the conventional medical model among the public recently. Starving for new information, massive numbers of patients are consulting alternative therapy practitioners and are visiting book and health food stores in record numbers, creating a multibillion dollar industry outside of the mainstream medical community.
What is driving even our most conservative patients to look at other forms of therapies? There are many reasons for the increased popularity of alternative medicine, including patient dissatisfaction with ineffective conventional treatments, pharmacologic drug side effects and the high price of medications. Perhaps most important is the fact that traditional medicine has become too impersonal with the involvement of high-tech modalities and time-limited office visits.
Obviously, the medical consumer is searching for less invasive, safer and lower cost interventions. Some of this comes out of necessity; managed care plans
have driven our patients into seeking cost-effective
medical care delivery, as more of their health care
dollars are coming out of their own pockets.
Many patients are now questioning the need for
potentially life threatening drugs and invasive
interventions that carry considerable risk of side
effects, complications and even mortality.
Recent research has suggested that 2 million lives
are lost each year as a result of complications
from “standard-of-care” interventions, medical errors
and complications. When we consider that the
fourth leading cause of death in the United
States is properly prescribed medications in a hospital
setting, something’s gotta give.
Even in 2005, coronary artery bypass surgeries
(CABS) are performed on the basis of clogged arteries
alone with no regard to quality of life issues.
This is not smart medicine. Rates of complications
from CABS, such as heart attack, infection,
stroke, and central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction,
are disturbing. It is important to note that
CNS dysfunction was observed in an alarming 61
percent of patients six months after CABS. People
are naturally looking for less risky and fewer surgical
alternatives in lieu of such downsides.
During my years of practicing cardiology I have
seen a slow paradigm shift regarding the perceived
availability of effective, natural alternatives for the
treatment of a wide range of cardiovascular disorders,
problems like angina, arrhythmia, high blood
pressure and congestive heart failure (CHF). More
physicians have expanded their approach to heart
disease and accept and recommend complementary
therapies as equally judicious treatment interventions.
However, invasive CABS is a sound approach
to improve quality of life and possibly advance longevity
when alternative or medical therapy fails to
correct a patient’s symptoms of refractory angina
(chest pain, shortness of breath and so on).
An integrative cardiologist is one who brings
conventional methodologies to the table and also
offers complementary and alternative interventions
that can boost patients to an even better quality of
life. Integrative cardiologists are as comfortable prescribing
diet and lifestyle changes, a vast array of
nutritional therapies and mind/body approaches as
they are scheduling a treadmill stress test, recommending
angioplasty and handing out a medication.
They integrate the best of both worlds when caring
for their patients.
Of all of the organs, the heart is the most susceptible
to free-radical oxidative stress, environmental
toxicities, heavy metal poisoning, and premature
aging. Fortunately, it’s also highly responsive to the
benefits of targeted nutritional supplements like
coenzyme Q10, L-carnitine, D-ribose, and magnesium.
We have strong scientific evidence from large
and repeated clinical trials that confirm that efficacy
and safety of these nutrients, as well as their potential
medicinal interactions.
After practicing my specialty for more than 30
years, I predict that the successful cardiologist of
the future will be flexible, adaptable, and knowledgeable
so he or she can tailor treatment approaches
and select the best available options for each
patient’s needs. Physicians, and especially cardiologists,
who are willing to incorporate the disciplines
of nutritional biochemical, and metabolic solutions
will become our most effective specialists in the
treatment of heart disease, high blood pressure,
chronic fatigue syndrome, and Syndrome X, to mention
a few. They will treat heart cells in a selective
manner that optimizes pulsation, reduces free-radical
damage, and sustains mitochondria defense.
Conventional cardiologists who embrace a metabolic
cardiological solution will become our most
effective healers, ready to meet the needs of a new
tomorrow. It is important that health care consumers
learn about these nutrients, and demand
that their doctors be aware of their tremendous
benefits and potential. For cardiologists, the most
logical and ethical approach to patient care is to
incorporate vital nutraceuticals into the treatment
options they recommend to their patients which
will improve their quality of living, reduce their suffering,
and maybe even extend their lives. They have
added years and vitality to the lives of many of my
patients, and I am convinced of their potential to do
the same for you and those you hold dear.
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Cardiovascular Health 
