Surviving killer diseases with HRV

We recently published a list of the most common causes of death in the USA^[1]Ten most common causes of death in the USA. The question is, can HRV help to reduce the mortality rate?.

Low HRV is associated with:

1. Heart disease
2. Dementia (and to a lesser extent Alzheimer’s disease)
3. Diabetes
4. Depression and suicidal ideation

HRV is effective in measuring and motivation in recovery for people suffering from:

1. Cancer
2. Stroke
3. Heart disease (except in cases where a pace maker has been inserted)
4. Depression
5. Substance and alcohol abuse

This is what the research tells us:

1. Heart disease
1. Poor sleep health is associated with cardiovascular risk^[2]Accelerometer-derived sleep onset timing and cardiovascular disease incidence: a UK Biobank cohort study.
2. Heart-rate variability has proved a valid tool in prognosis definition of patients with congestive heart failure^[3]Extracting Features from Poincaré Plots to Distinguish Congestive Heart Failure Patients According to NYHA Classes.
3. HRV plays an important role in diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases such as CHF^[4]Heart rate variability.
4. Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system may have important therapeutic implications for patients with congestive HF^[5]Parasympathetic nervous system and heart failure: pathophysiology and potential implications for therapy.
5. Exercise training may reverse the autonomic neural remodeling induced by myocardial infarction and thereby enhance the electrical stability of the heart in individuals shown to be at an increased risk for sudden cardiac death^[6]Cardiac autonomic neural remodeling and susceptibility to sudden cardiac death: effect of endurance exercise training.
6. VLF power is an independent risk predictor in patients with CHF^[7]Very low frequency power of heart rate variability is a powerful predictor of clinical prognosis in patients with congestive heart failure.
7. Abnormal functioning of the autonomic nervous system, as reflected by reduced heart rate variability (HRV), has been identified in a variety of chronic cardiovascular disease states, such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, and heart failure (HF)^[8]Relation of short-term heart rate variability to incident heart failure (from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis).
8. Short-term HRV analysis using remote digital technology can be used for improved risk assessment for myocardial ischemia in individuals without known CAD, providing incremental data to traditional cardiovascular risk factors^[9]Heart Rate Variability for Risk Assessment of Myocardial Ischemia in Patients Without Known Coronary Artery Disease: The HRV-DETECT (Heart Rate Variability for the Detection of Myocardial Ischemia) … Continue reading.
2. Cancer
1. Studies reported at least a tendency toward higher HRV signifying a useful indicator for longer survival^[10]Heart Rate Variability as a Prognostic Factor for Cancer Survival – A Systematic Review.
2. Decreased heart rate variability (HRV) is an indicator of autonomic dysregulation that is commonly observed among cancer survivors. HRV biofeedback (HRVB) training induces HRV coherence, which maximizes HRV and facilitates autonomic and cardiorespiratory homeostasis^[11]Symptom Management Among Cancer Survivors: Randomized Pilot Intervention Trial of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback.
3. Stroke
1. Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction has been associated with increased poststroke morbidity and mortality^[12]Heart Rate Variability and Incident Stroke: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.
4. Alzheimer’s disease
1. Higher HRV is generally associated with better cognitive performance in this multi‐ethnic cohort of aging adults^[13]Association of Heart Rate Variability With Cognitive Performance: The Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.
2. Decreased heart rate variability (HRV) indexes indicate low vagal activity and may be associated with development of dementia^[14]Heart Rate Variability Indexes in Dementia: A Systematic Review with a Quantitative Analysis.
3. Results show that dementia patients (especially those with dementia with Lewy bodies and mild cognitive impairment) have lower parasympathetic activity than healthy people^[15]Heart rate variability in patients with dementia or neurocognitive disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 
5. Diabetes
1. Patients with diabetes had lower values of heart rate variability^[16]Heart Rate Variability in Diabetes Patients.
2. Type 2 diabetes mellitus was associated with an overall decrease in the HRV of T2DM patients. Both sympathetic and parasympathetic activity were decreased, which can be explained by the deleterious effects of altered glucose metabolism on HRV, leading to cardiac autonomic neuropathy^[17]Heart rate variability in type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta–analysis.
6. Intentional self-harm (suicide)
1. We induced a moderate amount of social stress using a well-validated laboratory paradigm and found differences in physiological stress response between suicide attempters and non-attempters,providing preliminary support for the use of HRV as a biomarker for suicide risk^[18]Heart rate variability and suicidal behavior.
2. Low levels of high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) have been shown to be associated with suicidal ideation and behavior in students and depressed patients^[19]High frequency heart rate variability: Evidence for a transdiagnostic association with suicide ideation.
3. Depression is a severe disease with great burdens for the affected individuals and public health care systems. Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction indexed by measures of heart rate variability (HRV) has repeatedly been associated with depression^[20]Heart Rate Variability as Indicator of Clinical State in Depression.