scholarly journals A Pragmatic Controlled Trial of Forest Bathing Compared with Compassionate Mind Training in the UK: Impacts on Self-Reported Wellbeing and Heart Rate Variability

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1380
Author(s):  
Kirsten McEwan ◽  
David Giles ◽  
Fiona J. Clarke ◽  
Yasu Kotera ◽  
Gary Evans ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Positive Emotions ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Increase Heart Rate ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Forest Bathing ◽  
Mind Training

Forest Bathing, where individuals use mindfulness to engage with nature, has been reported to increase heart rate variability and benefit wellbeing. To date, most Forest Bathing studies have been conducted in Asia. Accordingly, this paper reports the first pragmatic controlled trial of Forest Bathing in the United Kingdom, comparing Forest Bathing with a control comprising an established wellbeing intervention also known to increase heart rate variability called Compassionate Mind Training. Sixty-one university staff and students (50 females, 11 males) were allocated to (i) Forest Bathing, (ii) Compassionate Mind Training or (iii) Forest Bathing combined with Compassionate Mind Training. Wellbeing and heart rate variability were measured at baseline, post-intervention and three-months follow-up. There were improvements in positive emotions, mood disturbance, rumination, nature connection and compassion and 57% of participants showed an increase in heart rate variability. There were no significant differences between conditions, showing that Forest Bathing had equivalence with an established wellbeing intervention. The findings will help healthcare providers and policy makers to understand the effects of Forest Bathing and implement it as a feasible social prescription to improve wellbeing. Future research needs to involve clinical populations and to assess the effects of Forest Bathing in a fully powered randomised controlled trial.

scholarly journals Standardized massage interventions as protocols for the induction of psychophysiological relaxation in the laboratory: a block randomized, controlled trial

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Meier ◽  
Eva Unternaehrer ◽  
Stephanie J. Dimitroff ◽  
Annika B. E. Benz ◽  
Ulrike U. Bentele ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Psychological States ◽  
Psychophysiological State ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Regenerative Systems ◽  
Future Work

Abstract Health and disease are strongly linked to psychophysiological states. While stress research strongly benefits from standardized stressors, no established protocol focuses on the induction of psychophysiological relaxation. To maintain health, functioning regenerative systems are however likely as important as functioning stress systems. Thus, the identification of validated relaxation paradigms is needed. Here, we investigated whether standardized massages are capable of reliably inducing physiological and psychological states of relaxation. Relaxation was indicated by changes in high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), a vagally-mediated heart rate variability component, and repeated ratings of subjective relaxation, and stress levels. Sixty healthy women were randomly assigned to a vagus nerve massage (n = 19), a soft shoulder massage (n = 22), or a resting control group (n = 19). During the intervention, HF-HRV and subjective relaxation increased, while subjective stress decreased significantly in all groups. Both massage interventions elicited significantly higher HF-HRV compared to the control group. Accordingly, both massage protocols increased psychophysiological relaxation, and may serve as useful tools in future research. However, future work will have to determine which of several protocols might be used as a gold standard to induce a psychophysiological state of relaxation in the laboratory.

scholarly journals Effects of Deqi on Autonomic Balance in Adult Tinnitus Patients: Study Design of a Randomized Controlled Trial

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian-Qian Li ◽  
Guang-Xia Shi ◽  
Xin-Xing Fu ◽  
Li-Li Han ◽  
Li-Ying Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Autonomic Nervous System ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Primary Outcome Measure ◽  
Autonomic Nervous ◽  
Nervous System Function ◽  
Acupuncture Effect ◽  
Randomised Controlled

Background. Recent reports suggest that a proportion of tinnitus patients suffer from mental illness. Autonomic nervous system plays a useful role in tinnitus therapy since electrical vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) has been frequently used to alleviate tinnitus-induced depression in clinic. heart rate variability (HRV), which is reflective of autonomic nervous system function, has been proved to be modulated by acupuncture. In the present study, we aim to compare the effect of deqi sensation on heart rate variability in adult tinnitus patients.Methods. Thirty participants are randomly assigned to verum acupuncture (creating deqi) or shallow acupuncture (not creating deqi) at Baihui (Du-20), Shenting (Du-24), Tinghui (GB-2), Waiguan (SJ-5), and Zulinqi (GB-41) for 3 weeks. The primary outcome measure is heart rate variability, which is measured at the first acupuncture, as well as the last acupuncture.Discussion. Completion of this trial will help to identify the role of deqi sensation in acupuncture effect for tinnitus and reveal an autonomic modulation mechanism for acupuncture effect.Trial Registration. This trial is registered with International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial NumberISRCTN58013563.

scholarly journals Effects of Marine n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Heart Rate Variability and Heart Rate in Patients on Chronic Dialysis: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Nutrients ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesper Rantanen ◽  
Sam Riahi ◽  
Martin Johansen ◽  
Erik Schmidt ◽  
Jeppe Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Sudden Cardiac Death ◽  
Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids ◽  
Cardiac Death ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Chronic Dialysis ◽  
Dialysis Vintage ◽  
The Mean

Marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) may improve autonomic dysfunction, as indicated by an increase in heart rate variability (HRV) and reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of marine n-3 PUFA on 24-h HRV in patients on chronic dialysis, who have a high risk of sudden cardiac death. Between June 2014 and March 2016, 112 patients on chronic dialysis from Denmark were allocated to a daily supplement of 2 g marine n-3 PUFA or control for three months in a randomized, double-blinded, controlled trial. A 48-h Holter monitoring was performed and mean 24-h HRV indices for the two days were available in 85 patients. The mean age was 62.3 years (SD: 14.3) and median dialysis vintage was 1.7 years (IQR: 0.5, 6.4). Within-group and between-group changes in outcome were evaluated by a paired and two sample t-test, respectively. Marine n-3 PUFA did not change the primary endpoint SDNN (SD of all RR-intervals) reflecting overall HRV, but other HRV indices increased and the mean RR-interval increased significantly, corresponding to a decrease in heart rate by 2.5 beats per minute (p = 0.04). In conclusion, marine n-3 PUFA did not change SDNN, but the mean heart rate was significantly reduced and changes in other HRV-indices were also observed, indicating an increase in vagal modulation that might be protective against malignant ventricular arrhythmias.

Effects of Guitar Accompaniment Patterns on Hospitalized Infants: A Randomized Controlled Trial

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kory Antonacci ◽  
Nicole Steele ◽  
Jacob Wheatley ◽  
Donna M Weyant ◽  
Beverly Brozanski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Music Therapy ◽  
Neonatal Intensive Care ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Pain Scale ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Stressful Environment ◽  
The Difference

Abstract A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can be an extremely stressful environment for infants receiving complex medical care at a pediatric facility. Music therapy can help address the stressful environment by increasing comfort and relaxation as well as decreasing a patient’s physiological response of heart rate and respiratory rate. A randomized controlled trial was completed, examining the effects of 2 guitar accompaniment patterns on infants (an arpeggiated pattern and a bass/chord pattern) in a NICU. There were 180 infants enrolled with mean chronological ages of 7.4 ± 6.1 weeks and postmenstrual ages (gestational age at birth + their chronological age) of 39.8 ± 7.9 weeks. All subject enrollees participated in a 12-minute initial music therapy session. Outcome measures included heart rate, respirations, and comfort responses. The results of the research study demonstrated that the arpeggiated guitar pattern had a lower mean heart rate and respiratory across all 3 data points (pre, during, and post intervention); however, the difference in means between the 2 accompaniment pattern groups was not statistically significant. Using the Neonatal Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) to measure comfort response, the results demonstrated no difference between the 2 group accompaniment patterns. Although the results show no significant differences among accompaniment pattern groups, the researchers describe the clinical significance that supports the use of both accompaniment patterns as suitable interventions for infants in the NICU receiving music therapy intervention.

scholarly journals Effects of yoga breathing practice on heart rate variability in healthy adolescents: a randomized controlled trial

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maheshkumar Kuppusamy ◽  
Dilara Kamaldeen ◽  
Ravishankar Pitani ◽  
Julius Amaldas ◽  
Padmavathi Ramasamy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Randomized Controlled Trial ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Randomized Controlled
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document