Cor pulmonale is a medical condition characterized by breathlessness, fatigue, cough, chest pain, and occasionally hemoptysis. This condition is normally caused by diseases of the respiratory system which cause inflammation within the respiratory tract and thereby block the pulmonary circulation due to which a back pressure is created on the right ventricle of the heart. Cor pulmonale may also be caused by pulmonary hypertension, which may be either idiopathic or secondary. Congestive cardiac failure caused by diseases of the left side of the heart is not considered within the medical entity of cor pulmonale. The modern management of this condition consists of giving symptomatic treatment for cough and breathlessness and using diuretics to reduce overload on the heart.
The Ayurvedic herbal treatment of cor pulmonale consists of giving symptomatic treatment to reduce breathlessness and cough, as well as treating the cause of the medical condition. Any known disease of the respiratory tract, such as chronic bronchitis, chronic asthmatic bronchitis, and interstitial lung disease are treated with appropriate herbal medicines to reduce the inflammation and congestion in the respiratory tract, so that the pathology in the respiratory tract can be reversed, and its adverse effects on the pulmonary circulation can be reduced or reversed completely. This results in a reversal of the pathology of cor pulmonale, thereby reducing the load on the right ventricle. Pulmonary hypertension, if present, needs to these treated separately with special Ayurvedic herbs which relax the pulmonary vessels and reduce the constant pressure on the heart and lungs.
Most patients affected with cor pulmonale need to take treatment for at least four to six months in order to get significant improvement or a complete cure from cor pulmonale, so that the patient is free from all related symptoms, and there is no recurrence of the condition. It is important to adequately investigate the affected individual, so that concurrent diseases of the heart are treated with appropriate medicines.
A judicious use of Ayurvedic herbal medicines can thus successfully treat patients affected with cor pulmonale and either cures the patient, or reduces symptoms significantly as well as improves the quality of life of the patient.
The writer, Dr. A. A. Mundewadi, is available as an online Ayurvedic Consultant at www.ayurvedaphysician.com
