Effects of electrical acupuncture to the stellate ganglion on R-R intervals in electrocardiogram / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

Previously we reported that acupuncture to the stellate ganglion stimulates sympathetic nervous system while it decreases heart rate.<br>As it is said that R-R intervals in electrocardiogram (ECG) reflect functions of parasympathetic nervous system, we measured effects of electrical acupuncture to the stellate ganglion (SG) or traditional acupuncture points (AP) on the meridians (H7 SHENMEN and P4 HSIMEN) on R-R intervals in ECG by using 24 patients; 12 each in SG-group and AP-group.<br>Results are as follows; (1) Means of heart rate (HR) decreased with 1-3bpm in the both groups; (2) Coefficients of variation (CV) of HR increased with 1-2% in the both groups; (3) Means of R-R intervals prolonged with 39-47msec in the SG-group and 20-44msec in the AP-group, respectively; (4) CV of R-R intervals increased with 1% in the SG-group only.<br>It is suggested that acupuncture stimulates not only sympathetic nervous system, but also parasympathetic nervous system.