Inverse correlation between the standard deviation of R-R intervals in supine position and the simplified menopausal index in women with climacteric symptoms

Effects of participatory workplace improvement program on stress-related biomarkers and self-reported stress among university hospital nurses: a preliminary study

Although participatory workplace improvement programs are known to provide favorable effects on high stress occupations like nursing, no studies have confirmed its effect using biomarkers. The aim of this study was to determine whether a participatory workplace improvement program would decrease stress-related symptoms as evaluated by biomarkers and self-reported stress among hospital nurses. Three actions to alleviate job stress, which were determined through focus group interviews and voting, were undertaken for two months. A total of 31 female Japanese nurses underwent measurement of inflammatory markers, autonomic nervous activity (ANA), and perceived job stress (PJS) at three-time points; before the program (T1), within a week after the completion of the program (T2), and three months after the program (T3). A series of inflammatory markers (Interferon-γ, Interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-12/23p40) decreased significantly at T2, and IL-12/23p40 and IL-15 significantly decreased at T3 compared to T1, while ANA and PJS remained unchanged. Our participatory program exerted beneficial effects in reducing inflammatory responses, but not for ANA and PJS. Further investigations with a better study design, i.e., a randomized controlled trial, and a larger sample size are warranted to determine what exerted beneficial effects on inflammatory markers and why other outcomes remained unchanged.

Yoga Offers Cardiovascular Protection in Early Postmenopausal Women

CONTEXT

Postmenopause, an estrogen deficient state comes with increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Yoga has been described as having a beneficial effect on heart rate variability (HRV), a marker for cardiac autonomic activity which can assess cardiovascular risk, in various populations.

AIM

the aim of the study was to study the effect of 3-month long Yoga practice on HRV in early postmenopausal women.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN

A prospective longitudinal study of 67 women within 5 years of menopause between 45 and 60 years of age attending menopause clinic of Department of Gynaecology, Sucheta Kriplani Hospital fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria and consenting were enrolled for the study.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

HRV of 37 cases (Yoga group) and 30 controls (non-Yoga group) was recorded pre and 3-month postintervention.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED

GraphPad Prism Version 5 software was used. Values are a mean and standard error of mean. Statistical significance was set up at P < 0.05.

RESULTS

In HRV, frequency domain analysis showed a significant fall in low frequency (LF) in normalized units (nu) and LF: high frequency (HF) ratio and significant rise in HF in nu in the Yoga group (depicting parasympathetic dominance) against a significant rise in LF (nu) and LF: HF ratio and significant fall in HF (nu) in non-Yoga group (indicating sympathetic dominance). Time domain analysis showed a significant decrease in Standard Deviation of NN intervals in Non-Yoga group against nonsignificant changes in Yoga group indicating deterioration in parasympathetic activity in non-Yoga group.

CONCLUSIONS

Three-month long Yoga practice improved HRV in early postmenopausal women significantly and has the potential to attenuate the CVD risk in postmenopausal women.

[Application of power spectral analysis of heart rate variability to women with climacteric symptoms]

Climacteric symptoms are multiple syndromes in menopausal women. It is known that autonomic nervous activity disorder plays an important role in these symptoms. In the present brief review, we report our recent studies of the relation between climacteric symptoms and autonomic nervous system balance measured by power spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) using a standard hexagon radar chart. The sympathetic excitability and irritability, and the standard deviation of mean R-R intervals in the supine position were significantly decreased in women with climacteric symptoms compared to control women without climacteric symptoms. There was a negative correlation (r = -0.363, P = 0.0167) between the standard deviation of mean R-R intervals in the supine position and the simplified menopausal index score. These results show suggest a close relation between climacteric symptoms and autonomic nervous activities, and our power spectral analysis of HRV, which provides a standard hexagonal radar chart composed of three sympathetic and three parasympathetic parameters, may be helpful in the diagnosis and treatment of climacteric symptoms in menopausal women.