Key result
The LF/HF ratio, an indicator of autonomic nervous system balance, peaked in subjects in their 40s and declined thereafter, with subjects aged 50 and older showing decreased diurnal variation.
Cross-Sectional (n=600)
p-value: p=<0.05
Autonomic nervous system balance, as measured by the LF/HF ratio, peaks in the 40s and declines thereafter, with reduced diurnal variation in individuals over 50.
Age-related autonomic shifts are hypothesis-generating; prospective studies needed before any clinical application.
This study used a small wearable heart rate sensor to monitor the daily autonomic function of 600 subjects from across all age groups over a prolonged period of time. The results indicated that the LF/HF ratio (Heart Rate Variability, LF: frequencies between 0.04 Hz - 0.15 Hz, HF: frequencies between 0.15 Hz - 0.4 Hz) an indicator of balance in the autonomic nervous system, tended to peak for subjects in their 40’s and decline thereafter. This conceivably may be partially due to the causes for concern and stress changing and/or declining for the group aged 50-plus. A decline in diurnal variation of autonomic nervous activity was also exhibited in subjects aged 50 and up, showing a tendency for decline in the function of rising sympathetic nerve activity particularly in the morning. It is conceivable that this stems from a decline in the responsiveness of the autonomic nervous system. Subjects in the 50-plus group furthermore exhibited a tendency for declining variation in autonomic nervous activity between sleeping and waking hours. This phenomenon was consistent with the tendency for there to be a rise in wake after sleep onset coupled with a decline in slow-wave sleep in middle- to old-age.
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Itao et al. (2017) conducted a cross-sectional in Healthy subjects (n=600). Aging vs. Younger age groups was evaluated on LF/HF ratio (autonomic nervous system balance) (p=<0.05). The LF/HF ratio, an indicator of autonomic nervous system balance, peaked in subjects in their 40s and declined thereafter, with subjects aged 50 and older showing decreased diurnal variation.
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