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Conventional medicine offers heart patients several treatment options, including surgical procedures; however, not all patients are physically able to handle the stress of bypass surgery or stent placement. For others, surgery and medications may not be effective enough.

“At the Marino Center, we work closely with Mount Auburn Hospital’s cardiologists, offering additional treatment approaches to augment conventional therapy,” says Guy Pugh, M.D., medical director of the Marino Center for Integrative Health, affiliated with Mount Auburn Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. “Our alternative methods emphasize non-invasive procedures, which appeal to patients.”

Dr. Pugh says the Center’s emphasis lies also on prevention, targeting cholesterol and blood pressure reduction with minimal use of medications and more supplements. “A number of supplements have been shown to reduce cholesterol,” says Dr. Pugh. “We try to minimize the use of medications by choosing the best medications with the fewest side effects and using them appropriately.” He says nutrition, exercise and stress reduction are also a big part of risk reduction.

The Marino Center also offers two additional therapies for heart patients: Chelation and external counterpulsation therapy.

Approved by Food and Drug Administration, external counterpulsation therapy (ECP) is a painless and non-invasive method appropriate for patients suffering from angina pectoris, chest pain, which is the result of coronary heart disease.

Dr. Pugh says during a treatment session, the lower half of a patient’s body is wrapped in inflatable cuffs, much like a blood pressure cuff. Electrodes are placed on the patient to monitor the heart. The cuffs inflate and deflate between each heartbeat with increasing pressure. Blood moves from the legs back up to the heart, increasing blood flow and reducing chest pain.

“Researchers believe ECP helps widen the coronary arteries and develop what is called ‘Collateral Circulation’, new avenues of blood flow around the blockages,” explains Dr. Pugh. He says about 80 percent of the patients that receive this treatment will experience improvement of their symptoms, which can last up to five years.

“This is especially appropriate for patients still suffering from chest pain despite medications or surgical procedures or for patients at high risk for surgical procedures,” says Dr. Pugh.

ECP therapy is generally given for an hour a day, five days a week for seven weeks. Dr. Pugh believes ECP is most effective when used as part of a holistic approach to the treatment of heart disease, which includes lifestyle modifications and preventative strategies.

Dr. Pugh says scientists are also looking at ECP as another tool to treat congestive heart failure. “This is exciting because there aren’t a lot of surgical options for patients with congestive heart failure,” he says. ECP for heart failure may be approved by the FDA within the next two years.

Patients with atherosclerosis (plaque build-up in the arteries) may benefit from another alternative treatment called EDTA Chelation. Chelation comes from the Greek word, meaning ‘claw’. When a specific amino acid complex, EDTA (ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid) encounters certain metals and other substances in the blood, it ‘grabs’ them and eliminates them. In some patients, this may improve circulation and decrease symptoms of heart disease and vascular disease.

EDTA chelation therapy is administered through an IV. Dr. Pugh warns it can be a time-consuming process. “Treatment sessions are three hours long, once a week for about six months.” Along with chelation, patients also take a multi-vitamin to replace what chelation takes out.

He says the Marino Center is taking part in a national trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Health, on chelation therapy. “Practitioners have been using chelation for atherosclerosis and peripheral vascular disease for 50 years, so this study is focused on how effective chelation therapy and vitamins are in the prevention of heart attacks,” says Dr. Pugh. Patients over the age of 50, who have had a heart attack, but have not had chelation therapy, may be eligible to participate in the trial at no cost. To find out more about the chelation study, call 888-644-6226.

For information about any of the Marino Center’s alternative therapies for heart disease, call the Marino Center for Progressive Health at 617-661-6225.

For a free lecture on integrative medical approaches, please call us at 617-499-5094.