All about harmony

When we were young, we were always told stories with the underlying message that harmony is power. As we grow older, we see a lot of examples. Just take a look at any newspaper and flip to the political news page _ that's what happens when people are divided.

I can go on and on about political divisions, but that's not my job here. Let me give you a more relevant example _ the four chambers of the heart. The heart's duty is to receive used blood from all the organs in the body, send it to the lungs for "cleaning" and pump the fresh blood back to the organs. If the four chambers do not work in synch, blood circulation is disrupted.

An abnormality regarding electricity in the heart can result in irregular beating, sometimes quick and sometimes slow. An irregular heartbeat can affect the blood supply to your brain, and the decrease in blood supply can cause dizziness because the brain does not get enough blood to function normally.

A 60-year-old patient came to see me because his blood pressure went up and down all the time. Sometimes the systolic pressure (the first number) would go up to 180-190 mmHg, but sometimes it would drop to 70-80 mmHg. Every time it dropped, he would feel dizzy and he experienced a throbbing pain in his neck. He had been given blood pressure medicine, but he still felt dizzy from time to time. He was told to exercise, and he did, but his condition did not seem to improve.

A physical check-up found no glaring problem, except for his blood pressure, which was 140/90 mmHg when he was on his back, but would change to 132/80 mmHg when he was in an upright position. His pulse was 70-80 per minute in both positions.

I lowered the dosage of his blood pressure medication, resulting in increased blood pressure which would sometimes go up to 160/100 mmHg, so I changed it back. He told me he felt dizzy and had neck pain two or three times a day. I measured his blood pressure when he experienced the symptoms and found that the blood pressure was too low. Sometimes his condition worsened to the point that he could not even stand up, but by the time he arrived at the hospital, he was fine and his blood pressure was not alarmingly low. His heart rate was about 70 per minute most of the time.

I did not really have any other choice but to continue giving him medicine for his blood pressure, but I slightly lowered the dosage. I also told him to exercise regularly, assuring him that regular exercise would make him feel better and fight the dizziness. He followed my advice, but still did not feel any better.

Suddenly, he became extremely dizzy and tired, so he came to the hospital. The feeling lasted longer than usual, and his blood pressure was 80/60 mmHg.

His pulse was stable at 150 per minute. An electrocardiogram showed that there was an electrical short circuit in the wiring system of the heart, so his heart beat very quickly and the four chambers were out of synch.

My pale and dizzy patient felt slightly better when I broke the news to him that we had finally managed to find the culprit, and so would be able to treat it properly. As soon as we fixed the electrical short circuit, he was fine and healthy. He did not need his blood pressure medicine anymore and the four chambers of his heart worked harmoniously.

Now, if only political divide could be treated so easily!