Українська English

ISSN 2522-9028 (Print)
ISSN 2522-9036 (Online)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/fz

Fiziologichnyi Zhurnal

is a scientific journal issued by the

Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Editor-in-chief: V.F. Sagach

The journal was founded in 1955 as
1955 – 1977 "Fiziolohichnyi zhurnal" (ISSN 0015 – 3311)
1978 – 1993 "Fiziologicheskii zhurnal" (ISSN 0201 – 8489)
1994 – 2016 "Fiziolohichnyi zhurnal" (ISSN 0201 – 8489)
2017 – "Fiziolohichnyi zhurnal" (ISSN 2522-9028)

Fiziol. Zh. 2016; 62(4): 66-75


CORRECTION OF HEART RATE VARIABILITY USING DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING MODE BIOFEEDBACK IN HEALTHY PEOPLE

V.P. Feketa, L.A. Gleba, O.S. Palamarchuk, Ju. M. Savka, K.B. Kivezhdi

    SHEI «Uzhhorod National University»
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/fz62.04.066


Abstract

The research is an attempt to explain the use of portable computer devices aiming to correct heart rate variability (HRV) of healthy young men. According to the data, used deep diaphragmatic breathing in mode of biofeedback harmonizes breathing and blood circulation which positively affects the body’s adaptive potential. However, developers present the portable instruments of biofeedback primarily as a means of psychological relaxation. The aim of this study is to determine whether such devices are able to significantly affect heart rate variability and how long this effect lasts. There were 30 males aged 18 to 20 years that participated in this study. They were randomly divided into three equal groups with up to 10 people in each of them. Members of the first group were doing breathing exercises using a portable biofeedback StressEraser device, the second group used EmWave2, and the third one used hardware and software system MyCalmBeat. Each session lasted from 10 to 15 minutes. There were 10 sessions held daily in the morning. HRV was recorded by remote heart rate monitor Polar RS800CX and software Polar ProTrainer5. 5-minutes’ stationary segments of the curve chest electrocardiogram removal were used in order to calculate the HRV indexes. It was found that 15 minutes deep breathing in mode of biofeedback significantly affects the heart rate variability of healthy young people. In particular, it increases the overall heart rate variability according to the statistical and spectral analysis. It was established that in all 3 groups of experiment participants the spectral curve low-range “Low frequency” (LF) suffered the major shifts. These shifts reflect the activity level of the sympathetic autonomic nervous system (ANS) as well as vascular-motor center according to the conventional interpretation. It was found that all three groups suffered a specific weight decrease of Very Low Frequency (VLF)% respectively 11.8 ± 2.2%; (p <0,01); 6.6 ± 2.8%; (p <0,02) and 6.8 ± 2.4% (p <0,05). This means that activity redistribution between different regulatory components of heart rate occurred in favour of the peripheral ANS parts. Heart rate variability changes of this kind remained valid for at least one month after the experiment. The greatest influence on heart rate variability was observed in the group of people who used the device StressEraser.

Keywords: autonomic nervous system; heart rate variability; diaphragmatic breathing; breathing exercises; biofeedback devices.

References

  1. Appel M. L., Berger R. D., Saul J. P., Smith J. M., Cohen R. J. Beat to beat variability in cardiovascular variables: noise or music? J Am Coll Cardiol. 1989; 14(5): 1139-48. CrossRef  
  2. Berntson G. G., Bigger J. T., Jr., Eckberg D. L., Grossman P., Kaufmann P. G., Malik M., et al. Heart rate variability: origins, methods, and interpretive caveats. Psychophysiol. 1997; 34(6): 623-48. CrossRef  
  3. Carney R. M., Blumenthal J. A., Freedland K. E., Stein P. K., Howells W. B., Berkman L. F., et al. Low heart rate variability and the effect of depression on post-myocardial infarction mortality. Arch Intern Med. 2005; 165(13): 1486-91. CrossRef PubMed
  4.  
  5. Koschke M., Boettger M. K., Schulz S., Berger S., Terhaar J., Voss A.,et al. Autonomy of autonomic dysfunction in major depression. Psychosom Med. 2009; 71(8): 852-60. CrossRef PubMed
  6.  
  7. Zucker T. L., Samuelson K. W., Muench F., Greenberg M. A., Gevirtz R. N. The effects of respiratory sinus arrhythmia biofeedback on heart rate variability and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms: A pilot study. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2009; 34: 135–43. CrossRef PubMed
  8.  
  9. Hottenrott K., Hoos O., Esperer H. D. Heart rate variability and physical exercise. Current status. Herz. 2006; 31(6): 544-52. CrossRef PubMed
  10.  
  11. Hjortskov N., Rissen D., Blangsted A. K., Fallentin N., Lundberg U., Sogaard K. The effect of mental stress on heart rate variability and blood pressure during computer work. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2004; 92(1-2): 84-9. CrossRef PubMed
  12.  
  13. Vaschillo E., Vaschillo B., Lehrer, P. Heartbeat synchronizes with respiratory rhythm only under specific circumstances. Chest. 2004; 126(4): 1385-406. CrossRef  
  14. Heart rate variability: Standards of measurement, physiological interpretation and clinical use. Task Force of the European Society of Cardiology and the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology Circulation. 1996; 93(5): 1043–65.
  15.  
  16. Del Pozo, J., Gevirtz R., Scher B., Guarneri E. Biofeedback treatment increases heart rate variability in patients with known coronary artery disease. Am Heart J. 2004; 147: G1–G6. CrossRef PubMed
  17.  
  18. Karavidas M. K., Lehrer P. M., Vaschillo E., Vaschillo B., Marin H., Buyske S., Hassett A. Preliminary Results of an Open Label Study of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback for the Treatment of Major Depression. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2007; 32(1): 19-30. CrossRef PubMed
  19.  
  20. Lehrer P. Biofeedback training to increase heart rate variability. In: Lehrer P. M., Woolfolk R. L., Sime W. E., editors. Principles and practice of stress management. 3rd ed. New York: Guilford; 2007. p. 227-48.
  21.  
  22. Lehrer, P., Vaschillo, E., Lu, S., Eckberg, D., Vaschillo, B., Scardella, A., et al. Heart rate variability biofeedback: Effects of age on heart rate variability, baroreflex gain, and asthma. Chest. 2006; 129: 278–84. CrossRef PubMed
  23.  
  24. Vaschillo E., Vaschillo B., Lehrer P. Characteristics of resonance in heart rate variability stimulated by biofeedback. Appl Psychophysiol and Biofeedback. 2006; 31: 129-42. CrossRef PubMed
  25.  
  26. Lehrer P., Vaschillo E. Heart rate variability biofeedback: A new tool for improving autonomic homeostasis and treating emotional and psychosomatic diseases. Jap J Biofeedback Res. 2004; 30: 7-16.
  27.  
  28. McCraty R., Atkinson M., Tomasino D. Impact of a workplace stress reduction program on blood pressure and emotional health in hypertensive employees. J Altern Complement Med. 2003; 9: 355-69. CrossRef PubMed
  29.  
  30. Meule A., Freund R., Skirde A. K., Vögele C., Kübler A. Heart rate variability biofeedback reduces food cravings in high food cravers. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2012; 37(4): 241-51. CrossRef PubMed
  31.  
  32. Wheat A.L, Larkin K.T. Biofeedback of heart rate variability and related physiology: A critical review. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback. 2010;35:229-42. CrossRef PubMed
  33.  
  34. Thayer J. F., Hansen A. L., Johnsen B. H. The noninvasive assessment of autonomic influences on the heart using impedance cardiography and heart rate variability. Handbook of Behavioral Medicine. New York: Springer Science; 2010. p. 723-40.
  35.  
  36. Britton A., Shipley M., Malik M., Hnatkova K., Hemingway H., Marmot M. Changes in heart rate and heart rate variability over time in middle-aged men and women in the general population (from the Whitehall II Cohort Study). The Am J Cardiol. 2007; 100: 524-27. CrossRef PubMed
  37.  
  38. Goldberger A. L., Peng C. K., Lipsitz L. A. What is physiologic complexity and how does it change with aging and disease? Neurobiology of aging 2002; 23(1): 23-6. CrossRef  
  39. Mihajlov V.M. Variabel'nost' ritma serdca: opyt prakticheskogo primenenija metoda. Ivanovo: Ivan Gos Med Akademija; 2002. [Russian].
  40.  
  41. Baevskij R. M., Berseneva A. P. Ocenka adaptacionnyh vozmozhnostej organizma i risk razvitija zabolevanij. Moskva: Medicina; 1997. [Russian].

© National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology, 2014-2024.