Heart Arrhythmias

Discover alternative treatments for heart arrhythmias. Read about natural methods from alternative medicine for relieving cardiac arrhythmia.

Heart arrhythmia, also known as cardiac arrhythmia, is an abnormality in the rate or rhythm of the heart, that is, too fast, too slow, or an irregular beat. Sometimes stress, excess caffeine or other factors can cause a temporary arrhythmia, but some arrhythmic conditions require treatment. Implanted pacemakers and defibrillators, drugs and even acupuncture are included among the conventional treatments.

Always check with your doctor before trying anything you read here. Everyone is different, and what might be good for some people might be bad for you, considering your medical history and medications.

Here's a personal experience with heart arrythmias: My husband had a consistently irregular heartbeat. We read in a newsletter, Alternatives, by Dr. David Williams, that a reader had tried a product from Great Earth called S.O.D. Max for irregular heartbeat, and his heartbeat was now regular. We bought it and it also made my husband's heartbeat regular. S.O.D. Max became unavailable, so we switched to Solaray S.O.D. 2000 Plus, and it also worked. The Great Earth product is available again, and we will switch back to it because it also contains catalase, which we have read is good for the heart. Here's a technical article showing the good effects of SOD and catalase on the heart.

Ventricular Fibrillation
Among the most serious heart arrhythmias is ventricular fibrillation, which can cause sudden cardiac death. This happens when the heart's electrical system misfires, causing the large, lower chambers of the heart, the ventricles, to quiver rapidly and chaotically.

Most patients at risk for sudden cardiac death have coronary artery disease, and many have already had a heart attack, whether they are aware of it or not. Among the conventional treatments for cardiac arrythmias that doctors use to treat at-risk patients are drugs, catheter ablation and implantable defibrillators, which shock the heart back to normal rhythm.

Benefits of Fish Oil
There is also a potential solution for heart arrhythmias from alternative medicine. More than 4,500 studies have shown that fish oil supplements provide a variety of cardiovascular benefits. The omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil lower triglyceride levels, decrease inflammmation and plaque growth in the arteries, reduce the risk of blood clots, lower blood pressure, and protect against the dangerous arrhythmias that can lead to sudden cardiac death.

In Italy, more than 11,000 people with a recent history of heart attacks participated in a three-year study on fish oil's beneficial effects on arrhythmias. Those who took 1,000 mg of fish oil a day had a 40 percent reduction in sudden cardiac death.

The American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and international medical organizations support the use of fish oil supplements, especially for patients recovering from a recent heart attack.

There is an FDA-approved prescription fish oil supplement, OMACOR, which is highly concentrated, so you can take less of it than over the counter fish oil supplements, but it is expensive. (My husband uses Carlson fish oil, from Norway, because it has been recommended by several sources. This is not a capsule; you take it with a spoon. Unfortunately, fish oil upsets my stomach, so I take flax oil and omega-3 fortified eggs and milk instead.)

Note that most of the information in this article is from Health & Healing newsletter, August 2007, by Julian Whitaker, M.D.

Regarding treatments for cardiac arrhythmias, Dr. Whitaker says: "We have a pretty good success at the Whitaker Wellness Institute helping patients get a handle on atrial fibrillation and other types of arrhythmias with acupuncture, IV and oral magnesium, coenzyme Q10 and other therapies. You can phone their offices in Newport Beach, CA at 800-488-1500.

Here's an article that not only extols fish oil for cardiovascular health, including cardiac arrythmia, but again mentions the good effects of catalase.

Benefits of Magnesium
Here's something else you should know about heart arrhythmias. If you take SOD and catalase, but you are deficient in magnesium, they may not work as well. This article reports:

"...a significant lowering of the activity of both these enzymes in the cardiac tissue in Mg-deficient rats. Since depressed antioxidant defense in the heart may enhance myocardial susceptibility to oxidative injury, the observation is of possible relevance to the pathogenesis of cardiac lesions in Mg deficiency."

"These enzymes" refers to SOD and catalase, and "Mg" is magnesium. Note the reference to "IV and oral magnesium" in Dr. Whitaker's treatment in a paragraph above.

For more on magnesium, see our Benefits of Magnesium page.

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