Mitral Valve Prolapse

Patients with classic migraine have a two-fold increase in incidence of mitral valve prolapse.

One doctor has reported that over 80% of the women who have been diagnosed as having mitral valve prolapse suffer from an overgrowth of candida albicans.

The prolapsing mitral valve is known to damage platelets and increase their aggregation.  This work has been confirmed in several studies.

People with mitral valve prolapse (MVP) seem somehow to be 'wired' differently.  Their autonomic response can be much more volatile and unstable so that normal stresses and surprises set off an exaggerated response, flooding their systems with stress hormones called the catecholamines.  In fact, there may not be a specific stressor; people with MVP are intermittently and unpredictably awash in their own catecholamines.  This leaves them alternately innervated and exhausted – "wired but tired" is a common feeling.

If the sympathetic nervous system of a person with MVP is aroused, they can suddenly feel crushing chest pain, with heartbeat racing and pounding.  They may begin to hyperventilate, feel short of breath, and break out into a cold sweat.  This may occur without warning or immediate threat.  There can be sensations of chest pain, a feeling of doom or detachment, a fear of dying, or a desire to flee.  If they don't know why this is happening, the symptoms themselves are scary, and the fear of the unknown can prompt an even greater release of stress hormones, driving them into the kind of meltdown of the autonomic nervous system called a panic attack.  This is an intense and scary experience, the sensations of which can easily be confused with those of a heart attack.  Once people experience this, they generally have a persistent fear of having another attack, which puts them on a "hair trigger", ready to respond to the slightest symptoms by releasing the very stress hormones that induce the panic attacks, thus escalating a new attack.

L-carnitine is an amino acid that acts as a shuttle for fat that is required for cellular metabolism and also acts to strengthen the heart.  Dosage: 500-1,000mg two to three times daily.  Acetyl-l-carnitine is a related nutrient that may be more bio-available.  Dosage: 120mg three times daily.

Avoidance of refined sugars is commonly recommended by natural doctors.

Avoidance of artificial flavoring agents like MSG and Nutrasweet is considered an important part of any treatment plan by some doctors.

Some patients are told to take it easy, but a recent study found that moderate exercise can benefit individuals with this condition.  Amongst women who exercised, the symptoms that saw the most improvement were chest pain, fatigue, dizziness and mood swings.  Over-exertion can often increase the symptoms of mitral valve prolapse, so increase exercise levels gradually.

Research has shown that 85% of patients with mitral valve prolapse have latent tetany due to chronic magnesium deficiency.  A magnesium deficiency:

1. hinders the mechanism by which fibroblasts degrade defective collagen (connective tissue abnormalities are common in mitral valve prolapse),
2. increases circulating catecholamines (an important mediator in platelet aggregation),
3. predisposes the patient to cardiac arrhythmias, thromboembolic phenomena, and dysregulation of the immune and autonomic nervous systems.

Oral magnesium supplementation can provide relief of mitral valve prolapse symptoms.

Techniques to block the feedback loops that can lead to panic attacks or hyperventilation can be learned and practiced to break the cycle of escalating symptoms.  By performing a "reality check" you can learn to break the conditioned response you have acquired to your own physical symptoms.

CoQ10 enhances the pumping action of the heart, output of blood, speed of heart muscle contraction and general cardiac efficiency.  Dosage: 60-120mg per day.