Traditional acupuncture showed an improvement in heart rate variability, which may reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death for patients with coronary heart disease (CHD), according to findings of a pilot study by researchers at the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center.
Heart rate variability, which refers to beat to beat variation in intervals between heart rates, is a sign of a healthy cardiovascular system. People who aren’t cardiovascularly fit or who’ve had a heart attack have less variability in their heart rate and are at greater risk for arrhythmia.