Cardiac Arrhythmias and Medical Dogma

Dogma: “A specific doctrine authoritatively stated; an opinion asserted in an arrogant manner” as in the dogma of the assumption:

Dogma takes many forms – political, religious, and medical. It is often proven false over time – witness “the world is flat.” When it comes to medicine, dogma reigns supreme. Just over 100 years ago, medical “experts” proclaimed with total confidence that all disease was caused by “ill vapors.” And up until the turn of this century, many claimed that hormones were wonderful for women (this one killed tens of thousands). That breast cancer could only be cured by surgically removing all the breast tissue and as many lymph nodes as possible (the radical mastectomy). That heart attack victims must have total bed rest for one to two months to provide the heart complete rest (this tidbit of medical nonsense killed hundreds of thousands). And the list goes on and on.

In the world of dogma which rules the medical profession, there is little room for actual creative thinking, pondering, seeing with open eyes, and examining the evidence – what we know as evidence-based medicine. Rather medical “experts” become medical zealots – trumpeting what the medical hierarchy wishes you to see as triumphs. The problems, side effects, and complete ineffectiveness of these triumphs are dismissed or swept under the rug. This is called eminence-based medicine.

Doctors not educated out of the brains they were born with can see things for what they really are. When they speak out, they are often humiliated and hung out to dry by the medical “high priests.” A perfect example of a current dogma involves the use of statin (cholesterol-lowering) drugs. When you carefully study the research – even though most of it is actually designed to prove that statins prevent heart disease – 4you find that this premise is false.

Still medical “experts” routinely pronounce the newest medical dogma that when it comes to cholesterol,

lower is better, despite the facts. This is how too much of medicine is ruled and practiced today. The high priests say it is so, and so it is. And for those of us who can still think independently, we are told to ignore the evidence and stop being heretics, despite the facts right before our eyes proving that lowering cholesterol levels is a complete and utter waste of time. His Doctor and Friend Couldn’t Save Him I’m sharing this letter to illustrate how absurd and tragic it is when the medical system is stuck in dogma.

“Dear Dr. West,

“I called you last week and advised you that I was going to have an old friend and patient get in touch with you about his heart condition. I regret to say that he passed away early this morning. You may wish to use his case in your newsletter as a case in point.

“Steve suffered an irregular heartbeat about a year ago. At that time I recommended that he call you and start the heart protocol with which you have had such amazing results. Although he was a dear friend, he was a bit stubborn and very medically oriented. He was quite fond of his physician and the cardiologist to whom he was referred.

“He was put on Coumadin. They tried electrical shock therapy to get his heart back to normal. Over the year he was put on various drugs. When they didn’t work, shock therapy was tried again – with little success. He was then put on Tambocor. The very next day his wife heard a crashing thud, found Steve on the floor, and called 911. He was revived but lapsed into a coma. He was taken to a hospital in Santa Monica and placed in intensive care.

“The oxygen starvation during the time he was out left him essentially brain dead. He spiked a temperature of 108 and the plug was pulled. Sadly, he called me two days before this happened and told me he would be calling you soon. I kept after him repeatedly to call you.

“After autopsy, the diagnosis on Steve’s death certificate was rejected twice by the coroner. It was only signed when it stated that Steve’s death was caused by Tambocor. His cardiologist stated that the drug reaction killed Steve – a rare admission among doctors. The cardiologist was heard to say, ‘I wish I hadn’t become a doctor.’

“Steve was a vital, energetic 62-year-old family man. He was a middle school teacher who shaped the lives of many children. Hundreds of the kids attended his funeral. Steve’s wife called me after the funeral and said, ‘You were right. I wish he had listened to you. ‘

“It is my wish that patients with heart problems would understand that you can strengthen the heart with phytonutrients – even while you may be taking drugs. I have seen this occur over and over again with patients of yours. Please keep up the good work.”

~ Dr. James Daris, Missouri

 

I told Dr. Daris that he was probably not strong enough in his referral. Patients are often surprised and shocked when I tell them that something different must be done immediately – or their doctor is going to kill them. Or in some cases, I simply tell them that their doctor is killing them.

In reality, it is not totally the doctors’ responsibility for slowly killing their patients. After all, they are following “scientifically proven standard medical protocol” (dogma). Most doctors have their patients’ best interests at heart. But lo – who is a doctor to think out-of-the-box? Who is he or she to dare to second-guess the high priests?

The high priests and medical “experts” decree that with all heart problems, cholesterol must be lowered. Powerful and toxic drugs (such as Tambocor in Steve’s case) must be employed and maintained to control and manipulate symptoms – despite life-threatening side effects. And most critically, nutrition must not be utilized because this “might interfere with prescription drugs.” As if any doctor (or even the high priests) understands the complex interactions of more than just two drugs, or how nutrition affects body chemistry and therefore the development of disease.

After talking with Dr. Daris the first time, I didn’t hear from Steve, and the whole thing went out of my mind. He never contacted me, and he ignored Dr. Daris’ pleas. Steve was killed by prescription medication. Even if his family decided to sue, the case would go nowhere. After all, Steve was treated with the standard, completely accepted, totally dogmatic “gold standard” in cardiac medical care. His doctors “did everything they could.” Unfortunately, that included prescribing toxic drugs – one of which was Tambocor.

Straight Out of the Book

Steve’s doctors followed the book with his care. The Physicians Drug Handbook outlines the potential dangers of drugs. With Tambocor, the main side effects are dizziness, vertigo, palpitations, and cardiac arrest. Steve’s untimely and completely unnecessary demise was right out of the book.

Dogma enters this picture because, despite tens of thousands of disasters and deaths, medicine continues to treat everyone in exactly the same fashion. It will not be altered. Those who call these treatments into question will be shamed and ostracized. And no matter what, phytonutrient supplements will never be allowed – after all, they might interfere with the medical treatment.

Arrhythmia Not Difficult to Treat Naturally

The truth is that handling cardiac arrhythmia without drugs is not typically difficult – if you treat the cause of the problem. Arrhythmia is defined as irregular heartbeat. Cardiologists inform their patients that since arrhythmia is a problem with the electrical wiring of the heart, no nutritional therapies can be of help. They may also tell patients that the symptom-treatment of shocking the heart will bring back normal rhythm. Or that a break – through treatment called ablation cures cardiac arrhythmia.

In reality, ablation is the burning of some of the heart tissue that receives electrical impulses from the nervous system. It is dramatic, major surgery. But it rarely, if ever, cures chronic arrhythmia. Of my thousands of patients who have had ablation, I have yet to see a case where this treatment provided relief for longer than a couple years. The normal is from a few hours to a few months.

Causes of Arrhythmia and Their Treatments

There are seven major causes of chronic arrhythmia:

1) Prescription drugs: These are usually prescribed for other heart problems, often side effects of drugs used for other conditions. Blood pressure pills are notorious for causing heart arrhythmias. Cold remedies, thyroid drugs, allergy drugs, glaucoma eye drops, and many more can all induce chronic arrhythmias. The only treatment for this cause of arrhythmia is to resolve the underlying cause of the problem for which these drugs were prescribed – then weaning off the drugs.

2) Diaphragm problems and hiatal hernia: This is a very common condition where a portion of the stomach is forced by gas and indigestion up through the diaphragm into the chest cavity. This sets up a cascade of events that can force the heart off its normal axis (position in the chest). As a result, the irritation to the vagus nerve can upset the normal nerve impulses to the heart.

The answer to this problem includes changing the diet and manipulation of the diaphragm to correct the weakness and hiatal hernia. The treatment of the diaphragm can be done a chiropractor specializing in Applied Kinesiology*. It is very effective, and is only necessary weekly for about two months.

3) Nutritional deficiencies and imbalances: Lots of high-dose synthetic vitamins – and even high-dose mineral supplements -can induce arrhythmias. B vitamin deficiencies and imbalances are a major cause of arrhythmias. The best place to start is with phytonutrient complex supplements that will resolve these problems.

The best basic protocol of products from Standard Process includes Cardio-Plus, Cataplex B, Cataplex F, Calcium Lactate, Organically Bound Minerals, and a tablespoon of cod liver or flax oil daily. Elimination of all synthetic and high dose supplements may be needed.

4) Iodine deficiency and thyroid problems: Too much of a thyroid hormone drug (Synthroid, etc.) can cause cardiac arrhythmias. And some people with severe arrhythmias may need to reach Iodine Fulfillment to resolve both their thyroid problem and arrhythmia. This is often particularly true in cases of atrial fibrillation.

5) Pinched nerves: Problems in the spine (especially the neck and upper thoracic region) can induce cardiac arrhythmias. These are often found in combination with a diaphragm/hiatal hernia problem. If chronic spinal problems are causing heart arrhythmia, nothing short of seeing a chiropractor will resolve these mechanical problems.

6) Emotional problems: Yes, you can think your way into an abnormal heartbeat. Arrhythmias caused by chronic anxiety syndromes are uncommon but can happen. The treatment in this case is to resolve the underlying causes of anxiety. Most often deep breathing or meditation techniques are extremely helpful. Professional counseling may also be necessary.

7) Heart disease: Pathological conditions of the heart like infections can leave a chronic arrhythmia problem. If damage to the heart valves and tissues is too great and permanent, you may not be able to resolve the arrhythmia without drugs. But whether you should take drugs for life to treat the arrhythmia becomes another question altogether.

Millions of people live to a ripe old age with chronic high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and lifelong cardiac arrhythmias. And indeed if all cardiac arrhythmias were caused by an “electrical problem” with the wiring of the heart, then millions of infants would also have this problem. The truth is that most arrhythmias are caused by the things listed in this article.

As with all things related to health, the only way to resolve the problem is to treat the cause. All other medical therapies for arrhythmia treat the symptoms, are dangerous, and most often are ineffective. In the worst scenario, you could end up like Steve. And for 99% of cases, this is just an unnecessary and tragic disaster.

Epilogue

The underlying cause of Steve’s arrhythmia could have been easily treated without drugs. He would have recovered quickly. And he would have had another 30 years to share the love and admiration of his family and community. How do I know this? Because we have already successfully handled more than 20,000 arrhythmia cases that were much more serious than Steve’s.

** Dr. Kimberly is trained in Applied Kinesiology and the manipulation of the diaphragm to fix hiatal hernias. She has successfully treated 100s of patients who suffer with this condition.