Overview

Congestive heart failure arises when one side of the heart fails to adequately pump blood, resulting in a build-up of fluid in either the extremities or lungs. If the right side of the heart fails, then peripheral (e.g. feet) edema may be observed. If the left side of the heart fails, then pulmonary (lung) edema may be observed.

Please see conventional, complementary, and alternative medical treatments for important background information regarding the different types of medical treatments discussed on this page. Naturopathic, Complementary, and Alternative treatments that may be considered include:

Etiology

While damage to the heart caused by myocardial infarction may lead to congestive heart failure, hypertension and hypothyroidism [Starr2005] also play a prominent role. According to one writer, "pulse rate and stroke volume are diminished in hypothyroidism, and cardiac output is accordingly decreased, often to one-half the normal value" [DeGroot1996].

Treatment

Naturopathic, Complementary, and Alternative Treatments

Thyroid Hormone Replacement

Various practitioners have reported success treating CHF associated with concurrent treatment of hypothyroidism, with shrinkage of enlarged heart within weeks of treatment for hypothyroidism. In these cases, shrinkage of the enlargement is attributed to resolution of myxedema of the myocardium [Zondek1918], [Fahr1925], [Gaby2011, pg 311] [Starr2005, pg 129].

Neurotransmitter Balancing

Neuro Research [Hinz2015] reports that chronic diseases such as heart failure can be benefited by balancing neurotransmitter levels in the body.

Dr. Weyrich has been trained in neurotransmitter balancing protocols, but has not treated heart failure using this technique.

Please see What is Neurotransmitter Balancing? for more information.

References