Cardiology Ward 1/Rheumatology Ward（南岗总院）

Cardiology Department I / Rheumatology Department

November 2022

I. Department overview

The Cardiology I / Rheumatology and Immunology Department of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine was established in 2000. After years of development it has formed a dedicated and united medical team responsible for the outpatient and inpatient clinical diagnosis, treatment, prevention, health care and health education of cardiovascular diseases and rheumatological immune diseases at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine. It has been rated a key specialty of the Heilongjiang Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a key specialty of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, and a key discipline at the level of the Heilongjiang Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. For several consecutive years it has been named an advanced department of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine. In 2018 it was awarded the title "Pioneer Worker" by the provincial trade union, has repeatedly received the Medical Contribution Award of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, was named an outstanding team in the hospital's Health Education Competition in 2021, and in 2022 was named an outstanding March 8th Red Banner collective in Heilongjiang. The department currently has 16 staff members, including 1 chief physician, 2 associate chief physicians and 3 attending physicians. Among them, 1 holds a doctorate, 2 are doctoral candidates, 3 hold master's degrees, and there are 2 master's supervisors. In addition to clinical work, the department also undertakes the teaching, research and standardized residency training in internal medicine and diagnostics for the College of Acupuncture and Tuina of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine.

All medical and nursing staff adhere to the principle of "people first, patient-centred", highlight the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine, give play to its advantages, and are ready to serve you with love, sincerity and enthusiasm.

II. Scope of diagnosis and treatment and distinctive advantages

(A) Cardiovascular diseases

1. Coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, and post-PCI conditioning. These diseases are caused by impaired blood supply to the coronary arteries; from endothelial injury to vascular occlusion, different stages have different pathological mechanisms. We adopt a combination of disease differentiation and syndrome differentiation, and treat according to different pathogens—deficiency, excess, phlegm, stasis and qi stagnation—at different stages of the disease. Through the joint efforts of senior, middle-aged and young experts and scholars, our department's research on coronary heart disease has achieved cross-disciplinary treatment integrating traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese materia medica, rehabilitation and cardiovascular medicine, forming its own distinctive advantages: ① a sequential approach to coronary heart disease treatment: resolving phlegm and removing stasis (acute attack stage) → replenishing qi and activating blood (remission stage) → warming yang and tonifying the kidney (heart failure); ② establishment of a TCM rehabilitation protocol for coronary heart disease: the use of Chinese medicinal pills, powders, pastes and pellets combined with the theoretical system of simple, effective, convenient and inexpensive cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, achieving long-term effects of improving coronary circulation, reversing cardiac remodelling, reducing disease recurrence and lowering hospitalization rates.

2. Chronic heart failure. Chronic heart failure is the terminal stage of many heart diseases. Our department has proposed a new theory of the pathogenesis of heart failure—"yang deficiency of heart and kidney with stagnation of phlegm, stasis and water"—and applies TCM preparations that mainly "tonify the kidney and assist yang" to improve the structural and metabolic disorders of the failing myocardium, with good results. In particular, Chinese medicinal paste formulae, by regulating the balance of yin, yang, qi and blood, have been applied in such diseases with reliable efficacy.

3. Arrhythmia, myocarditis and cardiovascular neurosis. These are common diseases of the circulatory system. Clinically, according to the condition, while tonifying heart qi, activating heart blood and calming the heart spirit, we pay more attention to holistic syndrome differentiation.

4. Hypertension. This disease is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease; to treat the disease one must first clear its source. In the course of treating heart disease, we simultaneously use Chinese medicines to treat and regulate this condition, forming single prescriptions and proven remedies, Chinese patent medicines, as well as application therapy, fumigation and washing, acupuncture, tuina, and even dietary therapy and health-preserving care, so that risk factors are removed and the resulting cardiac damage is repaired, achieving both symptomatic and root treatment.

(B) Rheumatological immune diseases

Rheumatoid arthritis, wind-cold-dampness arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, ankylosing spondylitis, various vasculitides, sciatica and various painful diseases: after more than ten years of clinical research, we have summarized a complete set of integrated Chinese and Western medicine treatment methods, using Chinese medicines, acupuncture, acupotomy and new methods of modern medicine, bringing the treatment effect of rheumatological diseases to a leading level in China.

1. Rheumatoid arthritis. There is still no specific cure; Western medicine commonly uses immunosuppressants and hormones, while TCM treatment can make up for the shortcomings of Western medicine and reduce its toxic side effects. The advantage of TCM in treating rheumatoid arthritis lies in treatment based on syndrome differentiation and holistic regulation and comprehensive treatment. The advantage is that Chinese herbal medicine can treat the disease while enhancing human immunity and reducing the side effects of immunosuppressants, and can also treat symptoms such as fatigue, morning stiffness, and joint pain and swelling; on the basis of remission of clinical symptoms and indicators, the dose of immunosuppressants can be reduced, thus achieving good clinical results.

2. Ankylosing spondylitis. Because the cause is unknown, there is still no radical cure. Western medicine often uses non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics, slow-acting anti-rheumatic drugs, hormones and biologics, and some patients develop side effects such as gastrointestinal reactions, bone marrow suppression, liver and kidney damage, secondary infection and gonadal suppression. TCM plays an important role in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis, with advantages of holistic regulation, internal and external treatment, emphasis on the individual, and safe and effective long-term treatment.

III. Medical features

1. Chinese medicinal paste formulae. They have multiple effects such as nourishing and strengthening the body, treating disease and correcting deviation, and resisting aging and prolonging life. For patients with coronary heart disease, heart failure, post-PCI status, rheumatological diseases and chronic weakness, paste formulae are used according to syndrome differentiation, one formula per person, avoiding the drawback of poor adherence to long-term decoctions; they are the best dosage form for chronic diseases, with definite efficacy and wide acclaim.

2. Sequential TCM treatment.

(1) Sequential treatment of coronary heart disease: ① a sequential approach: resolving phlegm and removing stasis (acute attack stage) → replenishing qi and activating blood (remission stage) → warming yang and tonifying the kidney (heart failure); ② establishment of a TCM rehabilitation protocol for coronary heart disease: the use of Chinese medicinal pills, powders, pastes and pellets combined with the theoretical system of simple, effective, convenient and inexpensive cardiopulmonary rehabilitation.

(2) Oral TCM for rheumatological diseases follows sequential treatment from decoction to powder or medicinal wine, improving patients' adherence and enabling them to persist with continuous treatment. In the early and acute stages, decoctions are mainly used. "Decoctions wash away"—a decoction has great force and momentum and can wash away pathogenic factors; in the remission stage, powders or medicinal wine are used to maintain efficacy. Zhang Zhongjing said: to treat diseases, one should first use decoctions to cleanse the five zang and six fu organs, open the meridians, regulate yin and yang, disperse pathogenic qi, moisten the withered, gladden the skin and benefit qi and blood. Water can clean all things, hence the use of decoctions. If the limbs have been diseased for a long time and wind-cold is stirred up, powders should then be used. Powders can expel pathogens; for wind-dampness arthralgia migrating between exterior and interior without a fixed location, powders should settle it. Powder means dispersing and removing pathogens; it is more convenient than decoctions and most patients can persist in taking it. Medicinal wine is a traditional dosage form with a long history; the "laoli" in the Huangdi Neijing refers to medicinal wine for treating disease. Wine is sweet, pungent and very hot; it can open the blood vessels, promote the action of drugs, dispel cold, and has a unique mellow aroma. Many components of medicinal materials dissolve easily in wine, so formulae for treating wind-cold-dampness arthralgia, warming the kidney and assisting yang, dispelling wind and activating blood, and dispersing stasis and relieving pain are better applied as medicinal wines.

3. External application of Chinese medicine combined with TDP irradiation. This is a clinical method combining medicinal preparations with physical therapy. Used in the treatment of arthralgia, it allows drug ions to penetrate directly into human joints; by dilating local joint blood vessels, warming and unblocking the meridians of the liver and kidney, improving blood circulation, enhancing metabolism and promoting the absorption of pathological products, it achieves the effects of removing dampness and reducing swelling, warming meridians and dispelling cold, relaxing sinews and activating collaterals, unblocking arthralgia and relieving pain, and restoring muscle and joint function.

4. Chinese medicine fumigation. Fumigation therapy dredges the striae and interstices and produces vasodilation, unblocks blood vessels and promotes the greater circulation of blood, while also promoting drug penetration and absorption; as blood-activating and stasis-removing drugs are absorbed and take effect, the blood-activating and stasis-removing action produced by the thermal effect becomes more prominent and lasting. On the other hand, the "sweating" effect produced by the medicated steam on the human body has the functions of releasing the exterior and expelling pathogens, dispelling wind and removing dampness, promoting diuresis and reducing swelling, and excreting toxic and harmful substances from the body, effectively cleaning the internal environment and maintaining health.

5. Helium-neon laser irradiation. Helium-neon laser irradiation can dilate blood vessels, improve circulation and metabolism, and stimulate and regulate the physiological state of tissues; through irradiation of acupoints it stimulates the meridians and regulates the balance of yin and yang and the flow of qi and blood, thereby producing a therapeutic effect. It is a perfect combination of the latest modern technology and traditional Chinese medicine, capable of reducing swelling, relieving pain, and dredging meridians and collaterals.

6. Moxibustion. The Yixue Rumen says: "Where medicine cannot reach and needles cannot arrive, moxibustion must be used." Moxibustion can supplement the shortcomings of acupuncture and medication. Through the warming heat of moxa and the action of drugs, conducted via the meridians, it warms and unblocks qi and blood, supports the healthy qi and dispels pathogens, and regulates functional disorders of the body, keeping yin and yang in balance, thus achieving the goals of treatment and health care.

7. Cupping. Cupping therapy has the effects of unblocking meridians and collaterals, promoting blood circulation and relieving pain, and dispelling wind and cold. It is generally used for wind-cold-dampness arthralgia, pain in the lower back, arms, shoulders, back and legs, joint pain, soft tissue sprains and contusions, and common cold, headache, cough, stomach pain and vomiting.

8. Pricking and bloodletting. Pricking bloodletting therapy has the effects of unblocking meridians and collaterals, opening the orifices and purging heat, and reducing swelling and relieving pain. It can be applied to all excess syndromes, heat syndromes, blood stasis and pain.

9. Acupuncture and moxibustion. Acupuncture can dredge the meridians, making blocked meridians unobstructed, transforming the body from a state of yin-yang imbalance to balance, and can support the body's healthy qi and expel pathogenic factors.

10. Microwave therapy. Microwave therapy concentrates microwave energy onto the affected tissue, which is absorbed by human soft tissue to achieve therapeutic effects. In clinical treatment such as promoting wound healing and soft tissue injury, it has the effects of reducing inflammation, relieving pain and promoting the absorption of oedema and effusion. Microwaves have a killing effect on microorganisms and bacteria, thus reducing infection rates in wound healing treatment. It has a wide range of applications and treats many diseases; for rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and reactive arthritis it has the effects of reducing inflammation, activating blood and relieving pain.