TFT Dramatically Helps Endangered Hearts, As Measured By HRV

"Our hearts appear to be at the mercy of our minds."
(p216) C. Gilbert

C Gilbert, expert on Heart Rate Variability (HRV), wrote the eloquent line above. I have been practicing psychotherapy (therapy for the mind) for a half-century. Twenty years ago I began developing Thought Field Therapy (TFT). How thrilling to find that TFT, which is clearly the most effective therapy for mind problems is also, as far as I can determine, very likely the most effective therapy for the heart as well. I will explain why I make this startling observation.

HRV

"Nothing is more orderly than the rhythmic beating of your heart as you sit reading this, you might think. ? However, combined with this order there is a subtle but apparently fundamental irregularity: in healthy individuals ? the interval between heart beats varies in an orderly and unpredictable way. If the interbeat interval is regular _ either constant or itself rhythmic _ then this is a sign of danger. ? Too much order in heart dynamics is an indicator of insensitivity and inflexibility, just as rigidity in other patterns of behavior indicates stress and incipient danger. ?Complex adaptive systems function best when they combine order and chaos in appropriate measure." (Goodwin, p153)

This interval is measured in microseconds in HRV and results in a statistical measure of the variability expressed in a Standard Deviation. This measure, is called SDNN in HRV

HRV and Fetal Death

The first report of an association between death and decreased HRV was published in 1963 by Hon and Lee. The HRV was done on fetuses. They observed that fetal distress was preceded by alterations in interbeat intervals (HRV measures the intervals in microseconds and then gives a measure of these intervals in terms of the standard deviation.). "There is minimal beat to beat variation in the rate so that the baseline is much smoother ?As death approaches the baseline heart rate is extremely regular (Hon and Lee). It has since been observed that Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) shows the same pattern of increased order between heart beats.

HRV and Sudden Death

Death in adults is also characterized by a progressive decline in the variability of the heart rate (Nakagawa) so that sequential measurement (looking for a trend of increasing regularity between beats) is successful in predicting sudden death.

Consider people who have no known heart problems, they may be the picture of health. Yet, some of these seemingly healthy people suddenly drop dead with no warning. Even some apparently healthy athletes suddenly drop dead. It is estimated about a half-million people die of unexpected heart failure every year. This figure refers to those who had no symptoms nor idea of impending trouble.

The famous Framingham Study, where thousands of normal people were studied exhaustively with many kinds of medical tests, over a time span of half a century, shines some important light on the mystery of sudden unexpected death. Some of these normal people, who had no symptoms of heart problems, surprisingly, dropped dead. It was found, later, that HRV predicted their death due to revealing a declining variability in the intervals between heartbeats.

Low HRV and Prediction of Mortality

The most robust finding in the research literature of HRV is that low HRV variability is the best predictor of mortality, better than any other test, or diagnostic procedure.

Why Don't We Hear More About HRV?

Many studies have shown that low HRV is not only a problem for those who might die of heart disease, but is a predictor of death from all causes (Dekker, JM et al).

I believe the reason everybody is unaware of HRV is due to the fact that the world experts on HRV do not currently know how to dramatically improve HRV. All of the news is mostly pessimistic.

HRV and TFT

I typically take a person with a dangerously low HRV score and administer appropriate TFT. Within minutes this person's HRV is dramatically improved. The HRV score which a moment earlier, suggested risk of mortality, suddenly shows the person to be normal! An acid test of our treatments is seen by those with known diagnosed heart problems. We now have a small group of such people whose HRV improved dramatically within minutes due to TFT given over the telephone.

It is now possible to dramatically improve a poor HRV. This is typically done within minutes. My use of HRV has allowed me, and some of my TFT colleagues to make important discoveries which appear to explain some of the causes of poor HRV. These causes are unknown outside of our work.

I predict in the next ten years, as all of this information becomes more known, that people who now have blood pressure machines in their home will want to have HRV measures as it becomes more clear that HRV can now be dramatically improved.

Cardiologists, Huikuri et al, wrote an article recently with the provacative title, "Measurement of heart rate variability: A clinical tool or a research toy?" The salient idea of the article is that HRV cannot become a valid clinical tool until there are effective means to dramatically improve it. My colleagues and I in TFT have growing evidence that HRV can now be dramatically improved.

References

Callahan, R and Callahan, J (2000) Stop the Nightmares of Trauma. Professional Press. Chapel Hill.

Dekker, JM; Schouten, EG; Klootwijk, P; Pool, J; Swenne, CA; Kromhout, D (1997) Heart rate variability from short electrocardiographic recordings predicts mortality from all causes in middle-aged and elderly men. The Zutphen Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, May; 145(10):899-908.

Gilbert, C (1999) Breathing and the cardiovascular system. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. October, pp215-224.

Goodwin, B (1998) Complexity, Creativity, and Society. In Lorimer, D (ed) The Spirit of Science. Floris Books, Edinburgh.

Hon, E and Lee, S. (1963) Electronic evaluation of the fetal heart rate. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 87:814-826.

Huikuri, H, Makikallio, T, Airaksinenen, K, Mitrani, R, Castellanos, A, Myerburg, R, (1999) Measurement of heart rate variability: A clinical tool or a research toy? Journal of the American College of Cardiology, vol 34, No 7, December, 1878-83.

Kawachi, I, Sparrow, D, Vokonas, P, and Weiss, S. (1995) Decreased heart rate variability in men with phobic anxiety data from the Normative Aging Study. Am J Cardiol, 75(14): 882-885.

Malik, M and Camm, AJ (1995) (Eds) Heart Rate Variability. Futura, Armonk, NY

(For more information on HRV please see the Chapter on HRV in our latest book, Stop the Nightmares of Trauma)

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