Tag: Acupuncture and HRV

Diminished heart rate complexity in adolescent girls: a sign of vulnerability to anxiety disorders?

According to this study, adolescent girls have lower heart rate variability so HRV could be a marker for susceptibility to anxiety disorders.  The remedy?  Not in this study, but acupuncture of course! Diminished heart rate complexity in adolescent girls: a sign of vulnerability to anxiety disorders? Anxiety Stress Coping. 2018 May 15:1-12. doi: 10.1080/10615806.2018.1475004. [Epub…

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Case Studies

Abstract for NANS meeting. TAVNS and Autonomic Balance in the Acupuncture Clinic: Clinical Case Study

This is my abstract for the upcoming NANS conference in NYC.  It was accepted!  So to NYC for me in August. Introduction: Improving autonomic balance (increasing parasympathetic activity and decreasing sympathetic activity)leads to better immunity, pain tolerance, mood, longevity and inflammation. Both Transcutaneous Auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation (TAVNS)[i] and acupuncture[ii] [iii] [iv]have been shown to…

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Medical Research

HRV study: Anti-inflammatory and autonomic effects of electroacupuncture in a rat model of diet-induced obesity

I get asked about acupuncture and obesity so often.  My standard reply is that if I could treat obesity I’d be a billionaire many times over.  Maybe I should make more of an effort!!  Unfortunately, there are no details given in the abstract and no free online access, so I’m not sure what protocol they…

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Medical Research

Acupuncture modulates the abnormal brainstem activity in migraine without aura patients.

A sizable portion of my practice is devoted to migraine patients, finding best treatments and researching their physiological response.  This paper looks at the role of abnormal brainstem activity in migraine patients without aura and how acupuncture affects it.  As with most Chinese studies we can only partly draw conclusions since they treated 5 x…

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Medical Research

Acupuncture Effect on Startle and HRV in Beagles

This article is similar to the article on horses which also showed a blunting of the autonomic response to startle. There was also this article that looked at startle in young men showing that TAVNS improved their response to startle. Physiol Behav. 2018 Jan 9;186:37-44. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.01.006. [Epub ahead of print] Effects of acupuncture on…

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Case Studies

Acupuncture, Stress Levels (HRV), and Vestibular Migraine: El.Di. edition

This is another story from the clinic with data.  This is patient who has dizziness with headache, high blood pressure, and anxiety.  All of these conditions seem linked.  He carries a diagnosis of Vestibular Migraine, but it’s hard to know if his is an actual migraine type condition or something else.  Migraine patients have certain…

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Medical Research

Acupuncture and Allergy, Facial Rash: Clinical Case Study HRV, No.Ge. edition

As in the previous post, this patient has had good clinical results.  Thought the rash is still present, it is better and less of an issue.  It is a facial rash of unknown origin, with patchy red blotches on the neck, around the eyes and mouth.  She seems to have responded to electroacupuncture, a published…

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Case Studies

Acupuncture for Anxiety, Clinical Case with HRV data Ta.Ta. edition 2

We have seen data from this patient before, but she continues to improve clinically and her data reflects that.   I am including four different data sets here.  Her HRV (heart rate variability) is good overall. She is young, healthy and active.  So when you have overall good variability, the nonlinear data can be especially revealing. …

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Case Studies

TaVNS and HRV: Clinical Studies El.Ma. Edition

One more chapter in the TAVNS story.  We have discussed this patient before,  here and here.  This is a young woman, migraineur, who has had dramatic and almost complete remission of her migraines.  She has had one or two “break through” headaches during her menstrual cycles, but for the most part is headache free and…

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Case Studies

TaVNS and HRV: Case Study Pa.Co. edition

As another chapter in the story of TAVNS (Transcutaneous Auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation) in the clinic, this patient seems to have the opposite effect from the previous patient.  Obviously, there is a lot of “noise” in the system, but he seems to have lower stress levels during treatment when TaVNS is added.  I have yet…

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