Heart Rate Variability

The following is an illustration of the measurement of heart rate variability (HRV) (synonym: heart rate variability (HRV)) as a standard procedure in autonomic nervous function diagnostics.The human organism is exposed to a flood of constantly changing environmental demands of a physical and psychosocial nature throughout the day. Only a negligible part of these environmental stimuli is perceived and consciously processed by the sensory organs. In the vast majority of cases, these environmental influences do not even reach consciousness, since they cannot be detected by the classical sense organs due to their nature. They then reach our consciousness indirectly, after they have caused changes in the inner milieu of our body or in the functioning of the body organs, which are experienced by us as disturbing or impairing.Precisely because the influence of the environmental stimuli normally eludes conscious perception, they harbor the danger that the normal physiological balance of our body organs can be permanently altered and promote the development of diseases.The survival and functioning of the organism depend in a close way on its ability to flexibly maintain the physiological balance despite constantly changing environmental influences. Essentially, then, on two abilities:

  • On the one hand, to adjust the body to the demands of acute periods of stress,
  • On the other hand, but also to put the body back into a relaxed state of rest after these phases subside, so that he can regenerate.

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) plays an integrating role in maintaining hemodynamic stability and ensures the maintenance of internal homeostasis of the human organismuś by regulating cardiovascular, thermoregulatory, gastrointestinal, urogenital, exocrine-endocrine and pupillomotor functions. From the close anatomical control of the autonomic organs of the body by neural pathways of the ANS and from the wide spectrum of functional effects of sympathetic and parasympathetic activations, the far-reaching pathophysiological effects and consequent dysfunctions of the ANS on the health, performance, and well-being of an individual can be summarized in the sentence:There is no disease in which an autonomic innervation disorder is not involved. Every organ is innervated by neurons from the ANS and is regulated by it.Through a shift in the sympatho-vagal balance, disorders of autonomic-nervous regulatory capacity are directly involved in a variety of somatic and psychosomatic diseases as well as mental disorders.Disorders of autonomic-nervous regulatory capacity are present in:

  • Anxiety and panic disorders
  • Arteriosclerotic and thrombotic vascular changes.
  • Burnout syndrome
  • Cephalgia (headache)
  • Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
  • Depressive mood
  • Diabetes mellitus
  • Functional dyspepsia (irritable stomach)
  • Fibromyalgia (fibromyalgia syndrome)
  • Cardiac arrhythmia
  • Hypertension (high blood pressure)
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Orthostatic stress disorder
  • Vertigo (dizziness)
  • Various forms of somatic disorders

Indications (areas of application)

The method of heart rate variability analysis is not only used in cardiovascular diagnostics, but also in numerous other clinical questions. HRV has since been recognized as, among other things, an independent predictor of high significance for mortality risk after myocardial infarction (heart attack) and as an early warning indicator of the development of diabetic neuropathy.Cardiovascular

  • Predict risk for diseases of the cardiovascular system such as myocardial infarction (heart attack) and sudden cardiac death (PHT).
  • Risk stratification after acute myocardial infarction (heart attack).
  • Measuring the impact of coronary bypass surgery.
  • Assessing the impact of post-myocardial rehabilitation.

Diabetes mellitus and medication monitoring

Nervous System

  • Identification of individuals at increased risk for Parkinson’s disease: Decreased heart rate variability was associated with increased risk.
  • Analysis of heart rate variability in a 15-minute ECG may facilitate the differential diagnosis between a depressive phase of bipolar disorder and major depression; bipolar disorder is associated with decreased heart rate variability, which is because bipolar disorder is associated with autonomic nervous system dysregulation that persists during the depressive phase. Similarly, in the patients who had bipolar disorder, respiratory sinus arrhythmia was attenuated. and both inflammatory parameters interleukin-10 and MCP-1 (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1) in the blood were increased.

Stress and daily life

  • Recording the individual stress load and stress resistance
  • As a control parameter during physical stress
  • Control of the effects of a change in lifestyle, for example, smoking, alcohol and medication.
  • Detection of hazards due to age-related changes.

Sports and fitness

  • Measurement of training success in competitive athletes.
  • Monitoring the effect of exercise training
  • Control of the load intensity to avoid overtraining.
  • Adaptation of the training intensity to the individual load capacity
  • Detection of periods of increased risk during physical stresses.
  • Increase in training motivation through progress monitoring