Quran memorisation and heart rate variability:How do they correlate?

BACKGROUND Heart rate variability(HRV)was shown to be affected by performing religious activities.AIM To examine the relationship between the level of Quran(the holy book of Muslims)memorisation and HRV among teenagers.METHODS This experimental study included 16 Tahfiz students and 16 non-Tahfiz students(n=32).The HRV was measured in three tasks:Recalling familiar verses,memorising new verses,and recalling the newly memorised verses of the Quran.HRV analysis was done using these parameters:Standard deviation of N-N(heartbeat peak)interval;low frequency(LF);high frequency(HF)and LF/HF ratio.RESULTS There were significant differences between tasks for all parameters(P<0.05).However,between the groups,only the LF/HF ratio had significant differences,with F=5.04,P<0.05.Pearson correlation showed a moderate positive correlation between the number of pages memorised and the LF/HF ratio(r=0.61,P<0.05).CONCLUSION Quran memorisation increased the HRV and our results suggested that this activity could be developed as an effective sympathovagal modulation training activity.

A comprehensive review of heart rate variability as an indicator in the regulation of the autonomic nervous system by acupuncture:a bibliometric analysis

This study sought to conduct a bibliometric analysis of acupuncture studies focusing on heart rate variability(HRV)and to investigate the correlation between various acupoints and their effects on HRV by utilizing association rule mining and network analysis.A total of 536 publications on the topic of acupuncture studies based on HRV.The disease keyword analysis revealed that HRV-related acupuncture studies were mainly related to pain,inflammation,emotional disorders,gastrointestinal function,and hypertension.A separate analysis was conducted on acupuncture prescriptions,and Neiguan(PC6)and Zusanli(ST36)were the most frequently used acupoints.The core acupoints for HRV regulation were identified as PC6,ST36,Shenmen(HT7),Hegu(LI4),Sanyinjiao(SP6),Jianshi(PC5),Taichong(LR3),Quchi(LI11),Guanyuan(CV4),Baihui(GV20),and Taixi(KI3).Additionally,the research encompassed 46 reports on acupuncture animal experiments conducted on HRV,with ST36 being the most frequently utilized acupoint.The research presented in this study offers valuable insights into the global research trend and hotspots in acupuncture-based HRV studies,as well as identifying frequently used combinations of acupoints.The findings may be helpful for further research in this field and provide valuable information about the potential use of acupuncture for improving HRV in both humans and animals.

Modeling Dynamical Noises Corrupted Chaotic System for Heart Rate Variability Analysis

It is difficult to establish the process of chaos in time series from cardiac dynamics. The output from such a system is probably the result of both its internal dynamics, and the input to the system from its surroundings. We present an optimization algorithm to find a time series that is as close as possible to the heart rate series subject to the constraint that it is deterministic with respect to some dynamics. The algorithm is tested by some famous forced dynamical systems, and applied to heart rate data. We find that the deterministic components of heart rate variability are chaotic.

Relationship between Ambient Fine Particles and Ventricular Repolarization Changes and Heart Rate Variability of Elderly People with Heart Disease in Beijing, China

Objective To explore the effects of particulate matters less than 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter （PM2.5） on heart repolarization/depolarization and heart rate variability （HRV）. Methods We conducted a panel study for elderly subjects with heart disease in Beijing from 2007 to 2008. PM2.5 was measured at a fixed station for 20 h continuously each day while electrocardiogram （ECG） indexes of 42 subjects were also recorded repeatedly. Meteorological data was obtained from the China Meteorological Data Sharing Service System. A mixed linear regression model was used to estimate the associations between PMz.s and the ECG indexes. The model was adjusted for age, body mass index, sex, day of the week and meteorology. Results Significant adverse effects of PM2.5 on ECG indexes reflecting HRV were observed statistically and the strongest effect of PM2.s on HRV was on lag i day in our study. However, there were no associations between PM2.5 and ECG indexes reflecting heart repolarization/depolarization. Additionally, the effects of PM2.5 on subjects with hypertension were larger than on the subjects without hypertension. Conclusion This study showed ambient PM2.5could affect cardiac autonomic function of the elderly people with heart disease, and subjects with hypertension appeared to be more susceptive to the autonomic dysfunction induced by PM2.5.

Effects of Impaired Glucose Metabolism on Heart Rate Variability and Blood Pessure Variability in Essential Hpertensive Patients

To investigate the effects of impaired glucose metabolism （IGM） on cardiovascular autonomic nervous systems in essential hypertensive （EH） patients by comparing heart rate variability （HRV） and blood pressure variability （BPV） in EH patients with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus （T2DM）. Simultaneous 24-h recordings of ambulatory ECG and blood pressure monitoring were performed in 36 male old patients with simple EH and 33 male old patients with EH combined with T2DM. HRV analysis included time domain parameters such as SDNN, SDANN, SDNNi, rMSSD and pNN50, and total spectral power （TP） of HRV, which mainly consists of VLF, LF and HF component along with LF/HF ratio, was also obtained. The value of ambulatory blood pressure was represented as the mean blood pressure （mean systolic/mSBP, diastolic/mDBP and pulse pressure/mPP） during different periods （24 h/24 h, day time/d and night time/n）. Standard deviation （SD） as well as coefficient of variance （CV） of blood pressure during each above-mentioned period were obtained to reflect the long-term BPV. Our result showed that SDNN, SDNNi, SDANN, rMSSD, PNN50, TP and HF of HRV in cases of EH with T2DM were all significantly lower than those in simple EH subjects （P〈0.05）. No significant differences in VLF or LF was found between the two groups （P〉0.05）, while LF/HF ratio was significantly higher in EH with T2DM patients than in simple EH subjects （P〈0.01）. Moreover, dmSBP, 24 h-mPP and dmPP were all significantly higher in EH with T2DM patients than in simple EH subjects （P〈0.05）, while nmSBP, 24 h-mSBP, 24 h-mDBP, dmDBP, nmDBP or nmPP showed no significant difference between this two groups of patients （P〉0.05）. And dSBPSD, dSBPCV and 24 h-SBPSD were all significantly higher in EH with T2DM patients than in simple EH subjects （P〈0.05）, while the other BPV indexes showed no significant difference between this two groups （P〉0.05）. It is concluded that the cardiovascular autonomic nervous systems in EH patients was further impaired by T2DM, displaying lowering of HRV and enlargement of BPV, which in turn induced abnormal structural and functional changes of cardiovascular systems. Therefore, improving cardiovascular autonomic nervous systems might reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular complications in the EH patients with IGM.

Heart rate variability： a new tool to predict complications in adult cardiac surgery

Heart rate variability （HRV） refers to the variations between consecutive heartbeats, which depend on the continuous modulation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. HRV has been shown to be effective as a predictor of risk after myocardial infarction and an early warning sign of diabetic neuropathy, and in the cardiology setting is now recognized to be a useful tool for risk-stratification after hospital admission and after discharge. Recent evidences suggest that HRV analysis might predict complications even in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, and the present review summarizes the importance of HRV analysis in adult cardiac surgery and the perspectives for HRV use in current clinical practice. Although future larger studies are warranted before HRV can be included into daily clinical practice in adult cardiac surgery, HRV is a novel tool which might detect autonomic instability in the early postoperative phase and during hospital stay, thus predicting or prompt-diagnosing many of the post-operative complications.

Does heart rate variability correlate with long-term prognosis in myocardial infarction patients treated by early revascularization?

AIMTo assess the prevalence of depressed heart rate variability (HRV) after an acute myocardial infarction (MI), and to evaluate its prognostic significance in the present era of immediate reperfusion.METHODSTime-domain HRV (obtained from 24-h Holter recordings) was assessed in 326 patients (63.5 ± 12.1 years old; 80% males), two weeks after a complicated MI treated by early reperfusion: 208 ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients (in which reperfusion was successfully obtained within 6 h of symptoms in 94% of cases) and 118 non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) patients (percutaneous coronary intervention was performed within 24 h and successful in 73% of cases). Follow-up of the patients was performed via telephone interviews a median of 25 mo after the index event (95%CI of the mean 23.3-28.0). Primary end-point was occurrence of all-cause or cardiac death; secondary end-point was occurrence of major clinical events (MCE, defined as mortality or readmission for new MI, new revascularization, episodes of heart failure or stroke). Possible correlations between HRV parameters (mainly the standard deviation of all normal RR intervals, SDNN), clinical features (age, sex, type of MI, history of diabetes, left ventricle ejection fraction), angiographic characteristics (number of coronary arteries with critical stenoses, success and completeness of revascularization) and long-term outcomes were analysed.RESULTSMarkedly depressed HRV parameters were present in a relatively small percentage of patients: SDNN < 70 ms was found in 16% and SDNN < 50 ms in 4% of cases. No significant differences were present between STEMI and NSTEMI cases as regards to their distribution among quartiles of SDNN (χ2 =1.536, P = 0.674). Female sex and history of diabetes maintained a significant correlation with lower values of SDNN at multivariate Cox regression analysis (respectively: P = 0.008 and P = 0.008), while no correlation was found between depressed SDNN and history of previous MI (P = 0.999) or number of diseased coronary arteries (P = 0.428) or unsuccessful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (P = 0.691). Patients with left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) < 40% presented more often SDNN values in the lowest quartile (P < 0.001). After > 2 years from infarction, a total of 10 patients (3.1%) were lost to follow-up. Overall incidence of MCE at follow-up was similar between STEMI and NSTEMI (P = 0.141), although all-cause and cardiac mortality were higher among NSTEMI cases (respectively: 14% vs 2%, P = 0.001; and 10% vs 1.5%, P = 0.001). The Kaplan-Meier survival curves for all-cause mortality and for cardiac deaths did not reveal significant differences between patients with SDNN in the lowest quartile and other quartiles of SDNN (respectively: P = 0.137 and P = 0.527). Also the MCE-free survival curves were similar between the group of patients with SDNN in the lowest quartile vs the patients of the other SDNN quartiles (P = 0.540), with no difference for STEMI (P = 0.180) or NSTEMI patients (P = 0.541). By the contrary, events-free survival was worse if patients presented with LVEF < 40% (P = 0.001).CONCLUSIONIn our group of patients with a recent complicated MI, abnormal autonomic parameters have been found with a prevalence that was similar for STEMI and NSTEMI cases, and substantially unchanged in comparison to what reported in the pre-primary-PCI era. Long-term outcomes did not correlate with level of depression of HRV parameters recorded in the subacute phase of the disease, both in STEMI and in NSTEMI patients. These results support lack of prognostic significance of traditional HRV parameters when immediate coronary reperfusion is utilised.

Analysis of heart rate variability based on singular value decomposition entropy

Assessing the dynamics of heart rate fluctuations can provide valuable information about heart status. In this study, regularity of heart rate variability （HRV） of heart failure patients and healthy persons using the concept of singular value decomposition entropy （SvdEn） is analyzed. SvdEn is calculated from the time series using normalized singular values. The advantage of this method is its simplicity and fast computation. It enables analysis of very short and non-stationary data sets. The results show that SvdEn of patients with congestive heart failure （CHF） shows a low value （SvdEn： 0.056±0.006, p 〈 0.01） which can be completely separated from healthy subjects. In addition, differences of SvdEn values between day and night are found for the healthy groups. SvdEn decreases with age. The lower the SvdEn values, the higher the risk of heart disease. Moreover, SvdEn is associated with the energy of heart rhythm. The results show that using SvdEn for discriminating HRV in different physiological states for clinical applications is feasible and simple.

Normal values of heart rate variability at rest in a young, healthy and active Mexican population

This study analyzed Heart Rate Variability in a large sample of active young subjects within a narrow age range (18 to 25), using time and frequency domain methods and a Poincaré plot. Heart rate was recorded (beat to beat) for 30 minutes at rest in 200 healthy subjects divided into 4 groups: 50 sportsmen (20.54 ± 1.52 years);50 active men (21.22 ± 1.31 years);50 sportswomen (20.10 ± 1.87 years) and 50 active women (20.92 ± 1.87 years). Significant differences were found for most parameters between athletes and active subjects (male and female) but not between genders. Percentile distributions were provided for all parameters (according to gender and physical activity level) to be used as references in future researches.

Effects of Moxa (Artemisia Vulgaris) Smoke Inhalation on Heart Rate and Its Variability

Objective: To evaluate the changes of human heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) during and after moxa smoke inhalation and to investigate the effects of moxa smoke on human autonomic nervous system. Methods: 24 healthy volunteers were exposed to moxa smoke with their HRV parameters measured before, during and after the moxa smoke inhalation. Results: The healthy volunteers exposed to moxa smoke had significant reductions in HR and also significant changes in HRV parameters. Conclusions: Moxa smoke can improve the autonomic nervous system activity. The inhalation of moxa smoke will induce a depressant effect on human body.

Heart Rate Variability, Standard of Measurement, Physiological Interpretation and Clinical Use in Mountain Marathon Runners during Sleep and after Acclimatization at 3480 m

Fluctuations in autonomic cardiovascular regulation during exposure to high altitude may increase the risk of heart attack during waking and sleep. This study compared heart rate variability (HVR) and its components during sleep at low altitude and after 30 - 41 hours of acclimatization at high altitude (3480 m) in five mountain marathon runners controlled for diet, drugs, light-dark cycle and jet lag. In comparison to sea level, RR-intervals during sleep at high altitude decreased significantly (P 0.001). The significant increase in sympathetic autonomic cardiovascular modulation at high altitude protects against excessive oxygen deprivation during sleep. Increases in R-R intervals can require longer periods of acclimatization at3480 m to mitigate the effects of altitude/hypoxia on sympathetic tone, thus reducing cardiovascular distress at rest during waking and sleep and probably before during and after athletic performance at altitude.

Evaluation of autonomic nervous system by heart rate variability and differential count of leukocytes in athletes

Top Japanese sprinters were evaluated for their physical condition, autonomic function, blood chemistry, differential leukocyte count and blood lactate level before and after short, maximal exercise to explore methods of quantifying their conditioning level. Statistical analysis of data obtained before and 10 min after exercise were used to estimate the athletes’ autonomic capacity during recovery. Pre and post exercise variances in differential leukocyte count revealed strong correlations between neutrophil and sympathetic activity, and lymphocyte and parasympathetic activity. The results of the study demonstrated significant alterations in autonomic parameters and differential white blood cell count in response to maximal exercise.

Power Spectral Analysis of Heart Rate Variability of Driver Fatigue

This investigation was to evaluate the driving fatigue based on power spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) under vertical vibration. Forty healthy male subjects (29.7±3.5 years) were randomly divided into two groups, Group A (28.8±4.3 years) and Group B (30.6±2.7 years). Group A (experiment group) was required to perform the simulated driving and Group B (control group) kept calm for 90 min. The frequency domain indices of HRV such as low frequency (0.04 0.15 Hz, LF), high frequency (0.150.4 Hz, HF), LF/HF together with the indices of hemodynamics such as blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) of the subjects between both groups were calculated and analyzed after the simulated driving. There were significances of the former indices between both groups (P<0.05). All the data collected after experiment of Group A was observed the remarkable linear correlation (P<0.05) and parameters and errors of their linear regression equation were stated (α=0.05, P<0.001) in this paper, respectively. The present study investigated that sympathetic activity of the subjects enhanced after the simulated driving while parasympathetic activities decreased. The sympathovagal balance was also improved. As autonomic function indictors of HRV reflected fatigue level, quantitative evaluation of driving mental fatigue from physiological reaction could be possible.

A Study into Blood Flow, Heart Rate Variability, and Body Surface Temperature While Listening to Music

In this study we examined the relaxing effects of listening to music on a total of 12 women aged from their 20s to their 40s by measuring their blood flow, heart rate variability, and their body surface temperature. As a result, We found that there was a tendency for the volume of blood flow to the fingertips to significantly increase when listening to classical music, but there was a variety of changes in blood flow between each age group for healing music and J-Pop music. When measuring heart rate it was found that the LF/HF value, which is an index for the autonomic nervous system which shows tension and stress, fell significantly when listening to each type of music. Lastly, there was a trend for body surface temperature to rise when listening to classical or healing music, a rise which was particularly significant when listening to healing music. This study shows that a relaxing effect can be expected for all indices when listening to classical music. However, for healing music and J-Pop, personal musical preferences seemed to have an effect and the results were varied.

Altered heart rate variability and pulse-wave velocity after spinal cord injury

BACKGROUND Heart rate variability(HRV) and pulse-wave velocity(PWV),indicators of cardiac function,are altered in patients with spinal cord injury(SCI),suggesting that autonomic cardiac function and arterial stiffness may underlie the high risk of cardiovascular complications in these patients.No study has simultaneously investigated HRV and PWV in the same patients.AIM To evaluate cardiovascular complications in SCI patients by comparing HRV and PWV between patients with and without SCI.METHODS In this cross-sectional pilot study,patients with(n = 60) and without SCI(n = 60) were recruited from December 7,2019 to January 21,2020.Each participant received a five-minute assessment of HRV and the cardiovascular system using the Medicore HRV Analyzer SA-3000 P.Differences in HRV and PWV parameters between participants with and without SCI were statistically examined.RESULTS We observed a significant difference between participants with and without SCI with respect to the standard deviation of all normal-to-normal intervals,square root of the mean sum of squared successive risk ratio interval differences,physical stress index,total power,very-low frequency,low frequency,high frequency,and arterial elasticity.CONCLUSION Patients with SCI have weaker sympathetic and parasympathetic activity as well as lower arterial elasticity compared to those without,suggesting that SCI may increase cardiac function loading.

Changes in Heart Rate Variability and Effects on POMS by Whether or Not Soil Observation Was Performed

Introduction: The effects of performing soil observation on autonomic nerve function (ANS) and the profile of mood states (POMS) particularly for upsurge of sentiment were studied table. Methods: The subjects were divided into two groups: Group A with soil observation, and Group B without it. Soil observation was performed by smelling soil, touching the soil and other ways. Evaluation was made using heart rate change variability, POMS and visual analog scale (VAS). Results: Group A showed an increase in high frequency (HF) and the LF (low frequency)/HF ratio and a decrease in heart rate, leading to activating the functions of the parasympathetic nervous system. VAS values for “not comforted at all” indicated that the scale was lower in Group A than in Group B. In POMS, a factor of “vigor” became lower in Group B than in Group A. Discussion: It was suggested that soil observation was effective in bringing people to a state of physiological and mental relaxation and reducing stress because it raised the degree of being comforted, increased HF, decreased the heart rate and activated the parasympathetic nervous system. Conclusions: By performing soil observation, the heart rate decreased, HF increased and an upsurge sentiment became normalized.

Correlation between heart rate variability and pupillary reflex in healthy adult subjects under the influence of alcohol

This study explored the association between pupil area variation, heart rate variability, and fatigue, caused by alcohol consumption. Sixteen healthy young male volunteers were enrolled in this study for a series of structured physical examinations. Individual drinking volume was strictly assessed in accordance with the normalized experimental design. The motions of the subjects＇ pupils, as well as electrocardiograms were recorded by a computerized recording system, both before and after drinking alcohol. After alcohol intake, the pupil diameter, and both low frequency and standard deviation of all heartbeat interval indices of heart rate variability showed significant variations compared with the baseline. In addition, time- and frequency-domain indices of heart rate variability were negatively associated with pupil area. Thus the current study suggests that fatigue status may be determined by significant changes in pupil area and heart rate variability.

Qi Gong and Heart Rate Variability: A Systematic Review

Qì Gōng is a type of exercise that involves meditation and is used for health. With a background from the martial arts, it is known also as an auto healing exercise with three main elements according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): body focus (posture and movement), breathing and mind focus (meditative elements). Heart rate variability is a tool that allows us to measure the autonomic system velocity to detect and respond to unexpected stimuli. So our goal was to build a systematic review of Qi Gong and Heart rate variability. PUBMED, EBSCO and Science Direct data bases were searched. Key terms (MeSH) were Heart Rate Variability and Ch’i Kung OR Qi Gong with a 10-year filter. Four independent reviewers analyzed all articles and excluded duplicated articles, articles in Chinese and articles with no adherence to the subject. The end result was 5 studies selected. Our results showed no significant improvements in HRV with the practice of Qì Gōng, probably because of data heterogeneity. We found 5 types of Qì Gōng, 3 different instruments and different time intervals to measure HRV and 2 different age groups in the studies. We can conclude that there is evidence that Qì Gōng can improve HRV but studies that would use the same parameters are needed to further confirm that.

Using of spectral analysis of heart rate variability for increasing reliability of bicycle ergometry results

The aim was to study the suitability of the heart rate variability (HRV) spectral parameters for evaluations of bicycle ergometry results in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients. Methods. Our study included 243 male CHD patients aged 49±8 years. The coronary atherosclerosis was assessed by coronary angiography. The results of bicycle ergometry, Doppler echocardio-graphy and HRV spectral analysis were also analyzed. The duration of each stage of bicycle ergometry was 3 min, the initial load value was 25 W. Dynamic load continued until the patient had reached 75% of heart rate from his maximal age level. The maximal level of load achieved (i.e. load tolerance) was taken into consideration. We calculated sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), likelihood ratios of positive (LR+) and negative (LR-) bicycle ergometry results. Results. All patients had similar clinical characteristics. LR+ become maximal under the moderate load tolerance. LR- are maximal in the CHD patients with high load tolerance. Thus, the excessiveness of false-negative results of bicycle ergometry is in CHD patients with high load tolerance. Reliability of results of bicycle ergometry increased under using assessments of low-frequency (LF) range power of HRV spectrum. Conclusions. Thus,the using of LF range power of HRV spectrum increases reliability of bicycle ergometry (or other load tests) results in CHD patients.

A very high frequency index of heart rate variability for evaluation of left ventricular systolic function and prognosis in chronic heart failure patients using five-minute electrocardiogram

Objective A novel index based on fi-equency-domain analysis of heart rate variability （HRV） was tested on patients with reduced left ventricular systolic function. This index, namely VHFI, was defined as the very high frequency （VHF） component of the power spectrum normalized to represent its relative value in proportion to the total power minus the very low frequency component. Methods Patients （n = 130） were divided into a study group, consisting 66 patients with decreased left ventricular systolic function, and a control group, consisting 64 patients with normal heart structure and function and without severe coronary artery stenosis （〈 50%）. Results VHFI in the study group was significantly higher than that in the control group （19.17 ± 13.35 vs 11.37 ± 10.77, P 〈 0.001）. Cardiac events occurred in 18 patients during follow-up （33.34 i 3.26 months）. Defining the positive test as VHFI =15 and negative test as VHFI 〈15, achieved a sensitivity of 57.58% and a specificity of78.13% for predicting decreased left ventricular systolic function, and achieved a sensitivity of 66.67% and a specificity of 64.29% for predicting cardiac events. Univariate Cox regression analysis showed that positive VHFI test was an independent variable in predictive cardiac events. Conclusions The results suggest that VHFI is a useful tool for quick evaluation of left ventricular systolic function and prediction of prognosis