Core Concepts
Vagus nerve stimulation reduces orthostatic tachycardia in POTS patients.
Stats
"At 2 months, postural tachycardia was significantly less in the active vs sham arm (mean postural increase in heart rate 17.6 beats/min vs 31.7 beats/min; P = .01)."
"There was a significant decrease in β 1 -adrenergic receptor (β 1 -AR; P = .01) and α 1 -AR (P = .04) autoantibody activity in the active vs sham group."
"Serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels were significantly decreased in the active group relative to the sham group (8.3 pg/mL vs 13.9 pg/mL; P = .01)."
Quotes
"Collectively, these data suggest that tVNS, a low-cost, low-risk intervention, applied for a short period of time in selected patients with POTS, may result in a significant amelioration of their disease."