Key result
Acupuncture at the auricular acupoint Ear Shenmen had no significant effect on heart rate variability indices in healthy women compared to sham control (all p>0.90).
Why the study?
Does single-point acupuncture at the auricular acupoint Ear Shenmen improve autonomic cardiac function evaluated by heart rate variability in healthy women?
RCT (n=28)
subject-assessor-blinded
randomized
Does single-point acupuncture at the auricular acupoint Ear Shenmen improve autonomic cardiac function evaluated by heart rate variability in healthy women?
p-value: p=0.92 (HF), 0.94 (LF%), 0.93 (LF/HF)
Auricular acupuncture at the Ear Shenmen point does not significantly alter autonomic cardiac modulation as measured by heart rate variability in healthy women.
Questions use of Ear Shenmen acupuncture for HRV modulation; challenges prior claims and leaves open effects in cardiovascular patients.
Auricular acupuncture is a widely used alternative medical treatment. One of the most recognized auricular acupuncture points is the Ear Shenmen (MA-TF1), which allegedly calms the mind and reduces stress. We therefore hypothesized that acupuncture at the Ear Shenmen may effectively enhance vagal nerve activity and/or suppresses cardiac sympathetic regulation. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a subject-assessor-blinded, randomized, sham-controlled crossover study to observe the effects of single-point acupuncture at the auricular acupoint Ear Shenmen on autonomic nervous activity. Twenty-eight healthy women were randomly distributed into two groups: the Ear Shenmen group and the control group. Subjects entered a two weeks washout period after receiving their group's treatment. After the washout period, the subjects switched groups. Autonomic cardiac function was evaluated by power spectral indices of heart rate variability. The results show that there were no significant differences between the two groups in the high-frequency component (HF, p=0.92), the normalized low-frequency component (LF%, p=0.94), and the low-frequency power to high-frequency power ratio (LF/HF, p=0.93). The results suggest that auricular acupuncture on the Ear Shenmen has no significant effect on autonomic cardiac modulation in healthy women. Further studies are needed to fully determine the validity of auricular acupoint Ear Shenmen.
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Tseng et al. (2015) conducted an RCT in healthy (n=28). Acupuncture at the auricular acupoint Ear Shenmen vs. Sham control was evaluated on Autonomic cardiac function evaluated by power spectral indices of heart rate variability (HF, LF%, LF/HF) (p=0.92 (HF), 0.94 (LF%), 0.93 (LF/HF)). Acupuncture at the auricular acupoint Ear Shenmen had no significant effect on heart rate variability indices in healthy women compared to sham control (all p>0.90).
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