heumatic heart disease (RHD) can be considered as one of the most dreaded complications that arise from the rheumatic fever. In the case of this heart disease, the heart valves undergo damage due to the condition of rheumatic fever. Formerly, this heart disease was said to be one of the most serious of all forms of heart disease that can affect individuals during adolescence and childhood. This form of heart disease is said to involve damage that can affect the whole heart and some of its membranes.

According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, there are some patterns of syndrome that lead to rheumatic heart disease.
(1) Deficiency of Qi and Blood, mainly of the heart
(2) Deficiency of Qi and Yin, primarily of the lungs
(3) Imbalance of Yin and Yang, primarily of the liver

Our TCM clinical practice has showed that integration of Chinese medicine and western medicine is a very good choice for this disease. When treating rheumatic heart disease, Chinese doctors will take everything into consideration, including the following conditons.
1. Rheumatic fever can occur at any age, but usually occurs in children five to 15 years old.
2. Rheumatic fever, an inflammatory disease, can affect many connective tissues, especially in the heart, joints, skin or brain.
3. Rheumatic fever causes heart damage - particularly scarring of the heart valves - forcing the heart to work harder to pump blood and may eventually cause congestive heart failure.