Work

P04.32. Acupuncture and heart rate variability: a systems level approach to understanding mechanism

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: The literature was reviewed using Medline, Science Citation Index, Cochrane (Database of Systematic Reviews and Central Register of Controlled Trials), the New England School of Acupuncture library databases, cross-reference of published data, personal libraries and Chinese medicine textbooks. Results from randomized placebo controlled trials strongly suggest that acupuncture can improve HRV, especially when acupuncture is delivered in clinically valid dosages to subjects with a medically diagnosed condition and with the inclusion of an inert placebo control. There is sufficient evidence in the literature to support the conclusion that acupuncture improves HRV. Acupuncture may function by mediating global physiological regulation through improvement of HRV and synchronization of the two branches of the ANS. As a complex intervention, such a view of acupuncture mechanism is conceptually aligned with systems and complexity theory and is more compatible with traditional East Asian medical theory.

Source: BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

DOI: 10.1186/1472-6882-12-s1-p302

Authors: B Anderson, A Nielsen, B Kligler, D McKee

Institutions: Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University

Language: English

Topic: Acupuncture Treatment Research Studies

Subfield: Complementary and alternative medicine

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,990