SCALE 26
ABNORMAL HEART ACTION
 

CONTENTS

• EXPLANATION
• THERAPEUTIC OPTIONS
• FURTHER ASSESSMENT
• DOCUMENTATION

    The heart is a muscular pump divided into four chambers - two atria located on the top and two
ventricles located on the bottom.  Normally each heartbeat starts in the right atrium. Here, a specialized group of cells called the sinus node, or natural pacemaker, sends an electrical signal. The signal spreads throughout the atria to the area between the atria called the atrioventricular (AV) node.  The AV node connects to a group of special pathways that conduct the signal to the ventricles below. As the signal travels through the heart, the heart contracts. First the atria contract, pumping blood into the ventricles. A fraction of a second later, the ventricles contract, sending blood throughout the body.  Usually the whole heart contracts between 60 and 100 times per minute. Each contraction equals one heartbeat.

    Abnormal heart action is sometimes classified as functional or organic.  Edgar Cayce recognized both forms of heart disease and often described the process by which functional pathology becomes organic.  Systemic toxicity and aberrant nerve impulses from centers along spine to the heart were two common causal factors associated with abnormal heart action.  Thus, spinal manipulation and hydrotherapy were two of the most common therapeutic recommendations for abnormal heart action.

MANUAL THERAPY

    Consider spinal manipulations to relieve pressures on nerve centers which influence heart action.
 

HYDROTHERAPY

    Colonic irrigation may be helpful in decreasing systemic toxicity which may contribute to functional abnormality of the heart's action.
 

DIET

    The Basic Cayce Diet will assist with internal cleansing may assist in improving the heart's action.

    Options for further assessment include:

• Electrocardiogram,
• Echocardiograph,
• Chest x-ray.