Does Acupuncture Reduce Stress Over Time? A Clinical Heart Rate Variability Study in Hypertensive Patients

Abstract

Heart rate variability (HRV), a noninvasive autonomic measure, has been applied to acupuncture interventions in controlled academic settings comparing points used, types of stimulation, or the HRV parameters measured. There is evidence that acupuncture decreases the stress response in both human and animal subjects, and can increase HRV in the short term (minutes to hours). The goal of this study was to explore an array of HRV parameters during acupuncture sessions and over the course of treatment (weeks to months) in a series of patients being treated for hypertension. This was a retrospective, uncontrolled case study of patients presenting to a private acupuncture clinic. Patients received manual body acupuncture prescribed by the tenets of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and by published protocols for hypertension treatment. Heart rate was monitored during and after needle placement. The tracings were then analyzed with the Vivosense HRV analysis system. The main outcome measures were were patients' blood pressure measurements and low-frequency-to-high-frequency (LF/HF) ratio of HRV. Patients tended to have an increase in their HRV during treatment, after needling, and, in some instances, an increase in HRV over weeks to months. Some patients' HRV increased over weeks to months during the course of acupuncture treatment for hypertension as evidenced by a decrease in their LF/HF ratio. This would indicate a relative decrease in their physiologic stress.

O impacto da acupuntura no tratamento da hipertensão arterial sistêmica

“…Contudo, com exceção do estudo realizado por Litscher et al (2014), todos os outros cinco estudos analisados demonstraram um efeito positivo da terapia por acupuntura nos valores pressóricos (Çevik et al, 2013;Sparrow et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2019;Zheng et al, 2016).…”

“…• Comparados aos efeitos instantâneos, os efeitos de curto prazo da acupuntura realizada em LR3 na conectividade funcional tiveram mais regiões afetadas no lobo frontal, cerebelo e ínsula. Sparrow, K. & Golianu, B. 2014 Medical Acupuncture…”

“…Além disso, dois estudos avaliaram a influência da terapia por acupuntura na variabilidade da frequência cardíaca, um parâmetro que é capaz de capturar aspectos sutis da resposta fisiológica de pacientes hipertensos, mas que não mostra resultados significantes imediatamente após o início da terapia, apenas no final e no decorrer do tratamento ( Litscher et al, 2014;Sparrow et al, 2014).…”

“…Por fim, o estudo de caso retrospectivo e não controlado inferiu ainda que há uma diminuição da resposta ao estresse ao longo das semanas de acompanhamento e tratamento (Sparrow et al, 2014).…”

Clinical Events Associated with Acupuncture Intervention for the Treatment of Chronic Inflammation Associated Disorders

“…A decrease in low-frequency-to-high-frequency (LF/HF) ratio of heart rate variability could be correlated to a decrease in physiological stress among the patients. The acupoints used were Zu San Li, Shang Ju Xu, Quchi, Shou San Li, Neiguan, and Da Ling [57]. Elevated inflammation is associated with anxiety [58].…”