Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation of PC5 and PC6 Acupoints Modulates Autonomic Balance in Heart Transplant Patients: A Pilot Study.
This represents another study using transcutaneous electrical stimulation instead of needle stimulation. I had a hard time interpreting their results presented, but they claim that there was an improvement in their HRV with better sympathovagal balance during the stimulation and moderately after. The thing is that transplanted hearts are without innervation, so it’s hard to…
Read MoreTranscutaneous Electrical Acustimulation Combined with Deep Breathing Relieves GERD via the Autonomic Nervous System: HRV study
This study looks at using a home TENS type system for 30 minutes twice a day for 30 days. Their GERD improves in many different parameters, and their HRV improves from the first session to the final session also. I’m not surprised! I got the article in the mail and, alas, there is not online…
Read MoreAcupuncture promotes brain health by encouraging neuronal growth, cell rejuvenation, anti-inflammatory action and anti-oxidant activity.
In this article, the authors look at all of the different pathways that are triggered by acupuncture. Most likely some of these have been isolated in animals. Quite a list. “Acupuncture affects synaptic plasticity, causes an increase in neurotrophic factors, and results in neuroprotection, cell proliferation, antiapoptosis, antioxidant activity, anti-inflammation, and maintenance of the blood-brain…
Read MoreElectroacupuncture and HRV in Fibromyalgia Patients
This article challenges many of my hypotheses and assumptions. What they found when measuring HRV in the morning on 22 fibromyalgia patients after receiving weeks of acupuncture was increased sympathetic tone. They then attribute this increase in sympathetic tone to positive clinical benefit because of a relative decrease in sympathetic tone in the morning usually. …
Read MoreHeart Rate Variability as Biomarker of Prevention and Resilience in the Acupuncture Clinic: A Year Long Study of Migraine Patients
I’m considering this post “self publishing” of a recent write up I did for Journal of Medical Acupuncture. They declined it on the basis that I needed an “IRB” which would be impossible since I have no board to apply to. I’m still okay with this paper. The Introduction especially summarizes how I see the…
Read MoreCurrent Directions in the Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation II – An Engineering Perspective
I’ve made the first pass through of this informative paper. It discusses the current state of the art of TAVNS or aTVNS which is auricular (ear) vagal nerve stimulation. There seems to be consensus that percutaneous needles with stimulation are the way to go. Also that closed loop biofeedback will make the stim more effective. …
Read MoreHeart-rate variability indices as predictors of the response to vagus nerve stimulation in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.
I came across this article while reading a recent review of the engineering behind auricular vagal nerve stimulation. This was at the tail end of the paper, and I have to admit, I feel validated. The first poster and publication I did was on the correlation between clinical responders and their change in HRV for…
Read MoreEffectiveness of Laser Acupuncture in Alleviating Chronic Insomnia: A Single-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial
This article is right up my alley. Using Low Laser Light Therapy, they are able to compare two different point perscriptions in terms of sleep quality, anxiety, daytime sleepiness and depression, and HRV. Control group received sham laser, group A received points listed below. Group B received acupuncture to PC6 only on the Left…
Read MoreHRV in Patients with TCM Spleen Deficiency Syndrome
Studies that aim to evaluate different TCM syndromes with biomarkers are pretty rare. In this study the group compared healthy volunteers, to patients who had been evaluated in a TCM clinic and found to have spleen deficiency syndrome. Their conclusion CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the pathology of SDQB could be associated with a low…
Read MoreTime effect for in-situ dry needling on the autonomic nervous system, a pilot study.
This study does NOT confirm what I find in patients in their HRV. I see an increase in sympathetic activity with needling and then often a pronounced decrease in sympathetic activity over the following treatment segments. Physiother Theory Pract. 2019 Jul 17:1-9. doi: 10.1080/09593985.2019.1644691. [Epub ahead of print] Time effect for in-situ dry needling on…
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