Take Heart with Drug-Free Treatments for Arrhythmia.

Stress can cause your heart to skip a beat. Literally. In medical circles, it's called an arrhythmia, a big, hard-to-spell word that means an irregular heartbeat.

If you have benign arrhythmia, the kind that is not a life threatening heart problem, your doctor may suggest a heart calming drug such as a beta-blocker or a calcium channel blocker. While those drugs may help stop benign arrhythmia, they can also leave you impotent, constipated, and fatigued, to name just a few of the possible side effects.
"I believe the allopathic, medicine-based approach to curing benign arrhythmia is often ineffective," says Seth Baum, M.D., an integrative cardiologist and founder of the Baum Center for Integrative Heart Care in Boca Raton, Florida. There are other ways to deal with benign arrhythmia besides potentially harmful drugs, he and other alternative practitioners say.

MAGNESIUM: The Mineral That Relaxes Your Heart
"One natural and important treatment for arrhythmias, whether life threatening or benign, is the mineral magnesium," says Julian Whitaker, M.D., founder and director of the Whitaker Wellness Institute in Newport Beach, California.
Too little magnesium in the system jangles the electricity that controls muscles and nerves, possibly leading to an arrhythmia. Enough magnesium can help keep the electricity stable and your heart calm.

For benign arrhythmia, Dr. Whitaker recommends 250 milligrams of magnesium four times a day or 500 milligrams twice a day with food. Continue taking this dose for about 2 months in order to build up your reserves, he advises, then lower the dose to 500 to 800 milligrams a day. Whatever product you buy, be sure the label says that it contains elemental magnesium, Dr. Whitaker advises.
You should take this supplement only if you have been diagnosed with benign arrhythmia. If you have any other heart problem or a kidney problem, check with your doctor before taking it.

YOGA: Strike a "Dead Pose"
"I feel stress is a major cause of benign arrhythmia, and stress reduction is the key treatment," says Virender Sodhi, M.D. (Ayurved), N.D., an Ayurvedic and naturopathic physician and director of the American School of Ayurvedic Sciences in Bellevue, Washington.
One of the easiest ways to reduce stress is with a yoga pose called the dead pose. "In one scientific study, medical students who practiced the dead pose before and after exams did not have anxiety or heart palpitations during the exams," says Dr. Sodhi.

To perform the dead pose, lie on your back on a bed, rug, or other comfortable flat surface. Put your arms by your sides, with your palms facing up. Breathe easily and normally, and keep your attention on your breath. If your mind wanders, easily bring it back to your breath. Practice this pose for 5 minutes a day, says Dr. Sodhi, or whenever you feel assaulted by stress.

HAWTHORN: Look for the Right Kind
Scientific studies show that the herb hawthorn can help control benign arrhythmia, says Dr. Baum. The studies used the flowers and leaves of the hawthorn plant rather than its berries, which have not been studied as extensively, so be sure that the herbal product you use contains the flowers and leaves.

Dr. Baum advises his patients with benign arrhythmia to take 80 to 300 milligrams of hawthorn twice a day. If you have a cardiovascular condition, however, do not take hawthorn regularly for more than a few weeks without medical supervision.

TAURINE: Calm Your Nerves
This amino acid can help stop your nerves from overstimulating your heart, which is a must in controlling benign arrhythmia, says Glenn S. Rothfeld, M.D., regional medical director of American WholeHealth in Arlington, Massachusetts. He recommends 500 to 1,000 milligrams twice a day between meals.

KAVA KAVA OR PASSION FLOWER: Herbs That Calm Both kava kava and passionflower are thought to help calm your sympathetic nervous system, which is the part of your nervous system that initiates the "fight-or-flight" response. For kava kava, take either a 200-milligram capsule (standardized to 30 percent kavalactones) or 40 drops of tincture three times a day, says Mark Stengler, N.D., a naturopathic physician in San Diego. For passionflower, take 250 to 500 milligrams in capsule form or 40 drops of tincture three times daily. Continue with either remedy until symptoms subside.

COEN:lYME QlO: For Skipped Heartbeats
Also known as coQlQ1 this compound is found in every cell of the body, where it helps manufacture energy. It may also stabilize the body's electrical system and can help prevent arrhythmias, says Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D., a cardiologist and director of the New England Heart
Center in Manchester, Conn.ecticut..
Dr. Sinatra believes that coQlOis particularly effective in preventing a
common type of benign arrhythmia called PVCs, or premature ventricular contractions, which are usually experienced as skipped heartbeats. PVCs have many possible causes, including drinking too much coffee or alcohol and a deficiency of the mineral potassium.
A deficiency of COQlO is another possible cause; the supplement cures the problem in 20 to 25 percent of his patients with PVCs, says Dr. Sinatra. He recommends that people who have been diagnosed with PVCs take a daily dose of 120 to 240 milligrams of COQI0 or use Q-Gel, a brand that he says is the best absorbed (and therefore the most effective) product on the market. Follow the label directions.

Rubbing Out Stress.
Some alternative practitioners believe that the source of most everyday or benign arrhythmias (the kinds of heart palpitations that aren't life-threatening) isn't your heart. It's your adrenal glands, says Glenn S. Rothfeld, M.D., regional medical director of American WholeHealth in Arlington, Massachusetts. When you're feeling stressed, these glands pump out hormones that can irritate and over stimulate your heart so that it races, flutters, or skips a beat. But you can calm your adrenal glands and help prevent benign arrhythmias with qigong, a type of Chinese medicine that shows you how to send healing energy (chi) to any part of your body.
To bring chi to your adrenal glands, make fists with both hands and bend your arms behind you. Put the flat of one fist (the back of the hand) on each adrenal gland; you'll find one on each side of your back near your kidneys, just above your waist and below your ribs. Slowly and gently rub your hands up and down, feeling them warm that area of your back. Do this every day for 2 to 3 minutes, says Dr. Rothfeld.