IMR Press / RCM / Volume 20 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.31083/j.rcm.2019.03.517
Open Access Review
Modulation of the autonomic nervous system through mind and body practices as a treatment for atrial fibrillation
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1 Department of Medicine Mayo Clinic College of Medicine 200 First Street SW Rochester, MN, 55905, USA
2 Division of General Internal Medicine Mayo Clinic College of Medicine 200 First Street SW Rochester MN, 55905, USA
3 Department of Cardiovascular Diseases Mayo Clinic College of Medicine 200 First Street SW Rochester, MN, 55905, USA
4 Department of Cardiovascular Diseases Mayo Clinic 4500 San Pablo Rd, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
*Correspondence: mb8zf@virginia.edu (M. Usmaan Bashir)
Rev. Cardiovasc. Med. 2019, 20(3), 129–137; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm.2019.03.517
Submitted: 1 July 2019 | Accepted: 17 September 2019 | Published: 30 September 2019
Copyright: © 2019 Bashir et al. Published by IMR press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Abstract

Atrial fibrillation is the most common symptomatic arrhythmia that is associated with stroke. Contemporary management of the disease is focused on anticoagulation to prevent stroke, coupled with catheter ablation to limit symptoms and prevent deleterious cardiac remodeling. Emerging data highlights the importance of lifestyle modification by managing sleep apnea, increasing physical activity, and weight loss. There is significant data that supports a link between the autonomic nervous system, arrhythmia development, and atrial fibrillation therapy. It is likely that lifestyle modification through these techniques that are aimed to reduce stress may also mediate atrial fibrillation development through this mechanism. This review examines how mind and body practices such as meditation, yoga, and acupuncture may influence the autonomic nervous system and mitigate atrial fibrillation progression and regression. Available evidence from molecular and anatomical levels through to clinical observations and translational clinical trials were scrutinized and a case established for these interventions as potential powerful mediators of anti-arrhythmic benefit.

Keywords
Atrial fibrillation
yoga
meditation
autonomic nervous system
Figures
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