Medical Research
Electroacupuncture and HRV in Fibromyalgia Patients
Kristen Sparrow • August 17, 2019
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. Or something. They include the fact that increased sympathetic tone is associated with fibromyalgia. There were no controls in this study.
Full article here.
J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2017 Apr;22(2):216-222. doi: 10.1177/2156587215626615. Epub 2016 Jun 23.
Impact of Electroacupuncture Treatment on Quality of Life and Heart Rate Variability in Fibromyalgia Patients.
Abstract
This study examines the effects of electroacupuncture treatment on health-related quality of life and heart rate variability in women with fibromyalgia. Twenty women with fibromyalgia received a 10-week treatment with electroacupuncture. Primary outcome measures were the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, the Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire, and heart rate variability. Compared with pretreatment, there was a significant improvement in health-related quality of life; electroacupuncture significantly increases low frequency, low frequency/high frequency, and decreases high frequency, all indicating rise in sympathetic tone. Fibromyalgia patients showed a significant ( P < .05) improvement in pain, fatigue, morning tiredness, stiffness, anxiety, and depression on the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire scores; and physical function, physical role, body pain, general health, and vitality scores on the Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire. These changes mainly in mental status scores could be related to a new autonomic balance with sympathetic predominance at the horary of the study
