Pilot Open Label Single Arm Efficacy Study of Ischemia Reversal Program as Add-on Therapy to Conventional Treatment in Patients with Stable Ischemic Heart Disease

Objective: There is need to develop effective and economical treatments for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) as they affect Indians with great frequency and at a young age. The present study evaluates the efficacy of an Ayurvedic therapeutic procedure, the Ischemia reversal program (IRP), on improving the functional capacity and quality of life in patients with Ischemic heart disease (IHD). Materials and Methods: Twenty nine patients of either gender, (between 25-65 years of age) who qualified for strict inclusion criteria, were recruited in the study. The IRP therapy consisted of three steps: Snehana, Swedana, and Basti. The dose and duration of treatment consisted of one IRP therapy daily for seven days and follow up for 23 consecutive days. Stress test was conducted on days 1, 7 and 30 to evaluate the effect of IRP on stress test duration, metabolic equivalents (METs), and time of onset of ischemia, improvement in symptoms of IHD, overall health, and requirement of concomitant drug usage before and after the study. Results: Mean time of onset of Ischemia in the patients improved from 562.13 sec at day 1 to 733.35 sec (improvement by 171.22 sec; p<0.05) at day 30. The regimen was observed to improve the quality of life of patients and blood supply to their myocardium at higher workload, as evident by reduced symptoms, improvement in overall health, and increase in their MET values. The baseline average weight of the patients decreased from 73.03 ± 14.20 Kg to 70.84 ± 13.46 Kg at the end of IRP therapy at day 7 (p<0.001). Moreover, Duke tread mill score, which suggests risk of mortality of the patients, was 25% before treatment, reduced to 20% post treatment on 30th day follow up. Conclusions: Ischemia Reversal Program (IRP) when administered as add-on therapy to conventional treatment may reduce symptoms of angina to eventually improve quality of life in patients with stable Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD).