Heart health, Heart Rate Variability (HRV), and healing through heart-felt states

On Valentine’s Day this year I was, naturally, thinking about our hearts. And a vivid memory came to mind: the exciting day I got my stethoscope during medical school.

When I put the earpieces into my ears and the chest-piece onto my own chest, I heard my heartbeat for the very first time - crisp, clear, rhythmic.

It was a sacred moment. The idea that this heart would continue faithfully, rhythmically beating without fail until my last breath... I felt the miracle of my body. And the miracle of my own health.

You may or may not know that the number one cause of death in America is heart disease.

And did you know that the health of your physical heart and the state of your emotional heart are very much linked?

This link can be described in a physiological measurement that's gaining more and more attention in medical research.

This measurement is now known as a marker of overall health, as well as a predictor of disease.

The measurement I'm referring to is heart rate variability, also known as HRV.

HRV measures the variation in time between your heartbeats.

A higher HRV is healthier than a lower HRV. The more variation in your heart rate from one beat to the next, the healthier you are. It's a sign of resilience.

Here's how I like to explain why this is: HRV essentially reveals how responsive your heart is to your brain and body. It's a measure of how coherent these systems are with one another—in sync, working together.

If your heart can make tiny adjustments based on moment-to-moment changes within your physiology and environment, that’s a sign of resilience.

Low HRV is well-established as a marker of risk of all-cause mortality. This means that when HRV is low, you’re more likely to die, of any cause.

So many factors impact your HRV and how it changes over time. Age, stress levels, circadian rhythm, environmental exposures, and health conditions are just a few influences.

In particular, cardiovascular diseases like high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, and heart attack are correlated with decreased HRV. People with these (and various other) conditions have a lower HRV.

But this correlation goes both ways: a lower HRV is also a risk factor for developing many health conditions, including heart disease.

As a Naturopathic Doctor, this data prompts me to ask questions like,

* How do we address the root cause to help the body heal?
* How can we prevent and treat heart disease with HRV?
* How can we create the conditions for a resilient heart, both physically and emotionally?

We know that the health of your physical body impacts your emotional well-being. And the state of your emotional well-being impacts the health of your physical body.

(This is Holism: every part impacts every other part. Every part impacts the whole. And the whole is composed of interrelated and inextricable parts.)
 
When addressing heart health, I evaluate and treat patients using combination of blood testing, imaging, naturopathic foundations of health, and mindbody medicine.

Did you know the standard lipid panel (cholesterol) is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to evaluating your risk for heart disease? A lipid panel, plus an inflammatory marker called CRP (C-reactive protein) are two blood tests commonly run to assess heart health. Stress tests (the treadmill test with electrodes on the chest) are also routine.

However, I never rely on a standard lipid label alone for assessing someone’s heart health. I use Cleveland HeartLab panels to look at lipid particles, inflammation, and other markers related to the state of health and disease within the blood vessels.

I also recommend most of my patients over 40 get a heart CT scan with calcium score and/or carotid artery ultrasound. These scans measure the amount of higher-risk plaques within the blood vessels.

These images along with blood work allow us to see more of the iceberg of heart disease risk. With this information we are better equipped to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease.

In addition to this medical assessment and treatment, cultivating heart health involves addressing your emotional health.

At this point, most of us are aware of the connection between stress and heart disease. This heart-stress connection has a lot to do with HRV.

Which is good news, and here's why:

you have the capacity to influence your HRV in many ways - better sleep, movement, nutrition, and even (especially) meditation and breath work.

In fact, paced belly breathing is the number one tool I recommend for increasing HRV as a part of a patient’s overall plan for healing and disease prevention.

Paced belly breathing is a mindbody medicine technique that helps to regulate your stress response by strengthening your parasympathetic nervous system.

Everyone’s sweet spot for paced breathing is unique. Practicing somewhere between 4-7 breaths per minute for 10-20 mintues will maximize the coherence between your heart, lungs, and brain.

With regular practice over time, this is a powerful workout for your vagus nerve - a main player in your parasympathetic nervous system. Paced belly breathing practice directly increases your HRV through your vagus nerve.

And above we talked about how a higher HRV means better health and lower disease risk. Healing on a whole-person level.

But what I want to share next excites me even more.

Your HRV increases when you cultivate heart-felt internal states.

Heart-centered states like gratitude, joy, compassion, and loving-kindness expand the state of coherence between your brain, heart, and body. These states create a smooth and orderly heart rhythm, and a balancing effect within the nervous system and the rest of the body.

And not only do your heart-centered states heal your own body; they help heal the world.

Your heart emits an electromagnetic field with every contraction that extends 3-4 feet out from your physical body. The people around you are impacted by your physiological states.

And so because Valentine's Day was this week, and because our hearts are so central to our health, I share this reminder about the healing influence of connecting with our hearts.

Is prevention of heart disease important to you? Have you looked past the tip of the iceberg when it comes to your heart health?

If you haven't had more than a standard lipid panel or stress test, consider taking some next steps to evaluate your heart so you can feel more confident in the direction of your health and healing.

Together we can use integrative strategies, including individualized stress resilience techniques such as the breath work I mentioned above, to address the root cause of your dis-ease and turn up your body's innate healing mechanisms.

Click the button below to get started.

Here's to your resilient heart,
Dr. Savannah