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Autism and heart rate variability

leehart

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
Hi all, I was wondering if anyone has a smart watch etc and happens to monitor their HRV?

I recently got one and was surprised to find my HRV was dangerously low, and kinda remains that way. I did a bit of digging and it seems there is some very early evidence of autism and low HRV and was curious if others have observed this?
 
Never heard of it before. But first article I turned up included this:

The bottom line
There are questions about the accuracy, reliability and overall usefulness of tracking HRV. While HRV has been linked to overall physical fitness, the correlation between changes in HRV and how your autonomic nervous system is functioning will require much more research. Still, if you decide to use HRV as another piece of health data, do not get too confident if you have a high HRV, or too worried if your HRV is low. Think of HRV as another way you might tap into your body and mind are responding to what your daily experiences.

Adapted from a Harvard Health Blog post by Marcelo Campos, MD

Heart rate variability: How it might indicate well-being - Harvard Health


So I wouldn't get too worked up about it at this point. Whom ever is telling you there is a 'dangerous low' sounds like they are being more speculative than factual.
 
So I wouldn't get too worked up about it at this point. Whom ever is telling you there is a 'dangerous low' sounds like they are being more speculative than factual.
My understanding having explored it a fair bit was that it is a well established measurement of which part of the nervous system is controlling the pulse rate. If one is relaxed it ought to be variable, if one isn’t and is stressed (in fight or flight) variability is low. There is also well established links to heart disease etc from a low variability, im quite surprised at that article you quoted as from the stuff I’ve read HRV is long established.

My curiosity is less in regard to that though (not that bothered about mines, I’m already referred to cardiology for irregular heart beat) but to see if anyone with autism had observed if theirs might be lower and to see if there was a link there as a few journals have claimed.
 
My blood pressure is lower than average and my heart rate fluctuates from idle speed to wide open fairly easily.

P.S. you can feel for your own pulse & count heartbeats while watching a dial of any watch with a second hand if you want to monitor heart rate without a fancy smartwatch.
 
My understanding having explored it a fair bit was that it is a well established measurement of which part of the nervous system is controlling the pulse rate. If one is relaxed it ought to be variable, if one isn’t and is stressed (in fight or flight) variability is low. There is also well established links to heart disease etc from a low variability, im quite surprised at that article you quoted as from the stuff I’ve read HRV is long established.

My curiosity is less in regard to that though (not that bothered about mines, I’m already referred to cardiology for irregular heart beat) but to see if anyone with autism had observed if theirs might be lower and to see if there was a link there as a few journals have claimed.

I found a recent review of studies on autism and heart rate variability at the following link:
Heart rate variability in individuals with autism spectrum disorders: A meta-analysis - PubMed

Quoted from the abstract:

"Heart rate variability (HRV) in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been investigated in some studies but the procedures and results vary. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare HRV in individuals with and without ASD... The review covered 34 studies for quantitative analysis... The results support low HRV to be a potential biomarker of ASD, especially RSA reactivity under social stress."
 
P.S. you can feel for your own pulse & count heartbeats while watching a dial of any watch with a second hand if you want to monitor heart rate without a fancy smartwatch.
I (was) a trained nurse who worked in cardiology :laughing: so got the pulse thing (hopefully!). Variability measures the time between each beat, ideally it should vary a little though we couldnt detect that by pulse etc.
 
I found a recent review of studies on autism and heart rate variability at the following link:
Heart rate variability in individuals with autism spectrum disorders: A meta-analysis - PubMed

Quoted from the abstract:

"Heart rate variability (HRV) in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been investigated in some studies but the procedures and results vary. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare HRV in individuals with and without ASD... The review covered 34 studies for quantitative analysis... The results support low HRV to be a potential biomarker of ASD, especially RSA reactivity under social stress."
Thanks, thats the kinda thing I was finding too, results like that fascinate me so was curious to see if there was any real world results i could ask about here.
 
I've been following HRV with wearables for a few years now.

There's no such thing as a "dangerously low" HRV when it comes to anything that you could measure with a smartwatch or similar device. (There may be a point at which low HRV is an actual medical issue, but that would be determined by a cardiologist, NOT your smart watch.)

What I find interesting is that I feel best (mentally, emotionally) when my HRV is low (according to wearables). My Samsung watch that I currently have measures HRV and calls it "stress" - but when my "stress" is high (HRV low) I actually feel great and when I'm ready to rip everyone a new one my HRV is off the charts high LOL. So apparently I have the opposite responses that everyone else has. Great. (This is something that I've observed with other wearables too, I used to use Whoop and noticed the same pattern.)
 
I (was) a trained nurse who worked in cardiology :laughing: so got the pulse thing (hopefully!). Variability measures the time between each beat, ideally it should vary a little though we couldnt detect that by pulse etc.

Cool job to have.
I had not thought much about variability -- but it is a thing. With stress the second stroke of the heartbeat gets more pronounced at least for me--Not to use another horological mention but it's like it's "out of beat." Not sure how that works or why.

I mentioned the how-to-check-your-own-pulse bit not to offend but to inform other people reading the thread you don't have to buy an overpriced, practically disposable watch to check your heartrate whena regular watch does the trick.
 

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