Cardiac Drugs and Chinese Medicine
Cardiac drugs as a class are the most commonly prescribed drugs in the US. Lipitor, a statin drug to treat cholesterol is the most commonly prescribed drug. Several hypertension drugs are also in the top ten prescribed. This seminar examines major cardiac drugs and the dangers Chinese medical practitioners need to be aware of when combining with herbs and acupuncture. We will look at various types of biomedical treatments for hypertension, arrhythmia, high cholesterol, and coagulative states. Herb-drug acupuncture-drug interactions will be explored for each type of drug. Each of the following drug classes will be explored: antihypertensive agents, anti-hyperlipidemic agents, anti-arrhythmics, and anticoagulants.
Course Goals
A participant will be able to:
- Understand how cardiac drugs and herbs interact
- Identify the most common cardiac drugs with potential for drug-herb interactions
- Explore how major cardiac drugs act on the body
- Protect oneself from potential medico-legal issues arising from interactions
This is California Acupuncture Board (CAB) Category 1 distance education course. For NCCAOM, this course is a 1 hour safety PDA and 2 hours core (AOM-BIO). This course is approved by the California Acupuncture Board and NCCAOM for 3 hours of continuing education and PDAs. For further information, please contact Dr. Greg Sperber, CAB CEU Provider #1349, NCCAOM PDA Provider #166669, at DrGreg@integrativemedicinecouncil.org or (619) 881-0029.
Refund Policy: This course may be downloaded as soon as purchased and therefore no refunds are possible.
Lorina –
“I feel that you should cover the possibility of statin associated dementia. While rare, I have seen it in my practice (ND/LAC) twice, and when the patient stops the statin, their memory comes back. There are some case reports available in Pubmed about this but most doctors will not be aware of this issue. It makes sense as statins decrease cholesterol and cholesterol is needed for every single cell in the lipid membrane and also for hormone synthesis.
I think it would be helpful if you listed the B vitamin next to the full name (i.e. B6: P-5-P or pyridoxal-5-phosphate, B12: cyanocobalamin, methylcobalamin, hydroxycobalamin, adenosylcobalamin (different B12’s are needed and processed differently depending on the MTHFR SNP’s status of individuals), B3: Niacin).
It would have been good to mention that CoQ10/Ubiquinol declines with age and is a major factor in the electron transport chain in mitochondria (our energy powerhouses – especially important in the heart). A dose could be referenced for people who have no idea what is good to use. Many supplements out there do not dose high enough if someone is on a statin. 30mg is minimum but 100mg is better. Of course the higher the concentration of CoQ1/ubiquinol in the product, the more expensive the supplement will be.
I also think a chart at the end of drug categories and the Chinese Medicine categories would have been nice to have in the slide deck.
Thank you for a thorough review on the drugs.”