Autonomic Nervous System Functioning Related to Nocturnal Sleep in Patients With CFS Compared to Tired Controls., 2017, Orjatsalo et al

Andy

Andy

Retired committee member
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVES:
Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction is common in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). One of the main complaints in CFS is unrefreshing sleep. We aimed to study the nocturnal cardiac ANS in different sleep stages in patients filling the 2015 Institute of Medicine CFS diagnostic criteria.

METHODS:
In this case series study, the nocturnal heart rate variability and blood pressure (BP) variables in polysomnography were studied in groups of patients with CFS (n = 8) and tired controls (n = 8) aged 16-49 years. Five of the patients with CFS and controls were female. The heart rate variability and BP parameters and heart rate were studied in all sleep stages and wake.

RESULTS:
The amount of low-frequency oscillations of the electrocardiography R-R-intervals spectra (LF; predominantly reflects sympathetic activity) was higher for patients with CFS in all sleep stages compared to controls (P< .001). During wake, the amount of LF was lower for the patients with CFS (P< .05). The amount of high-frequency oscillations (HF; reflects parasympathetic activity) was lower in stage N3 sleep in the patients with CFS than for the controls (P< .0001), but, in total, HF was higher in patients with CFS (P< .001). Patients with CFS had higher overall nocturnal systolic and mean BP (P< .0001) and lower heart rate (P< .0001) than controls. No significant differences were found in sleep stage distributions.

CONCLUSIONS:
The results suggest a nocturnal dysfunction of the cardiac ANS in CFS, presenting as lower parasympathetic tone in deep sleep and higher sympathetic tone asleep.
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29246267
 
I think it is interesting, although I belive that there are many things that go on while we are asleep in addition to cardiology and brain waves etc (endocrine system for one). Hopefully they can do a deeper dive on a much larger study. Can't really tell very much from such a small study (8 people).

One thing I've noticed on a much smaller study of my own is that the impact of sleep varies quite considerably depending upon how much deep sleep stage I get. There appears to be a correlation between how wired I feel before falling asleep and quality. The wired feeling varies a lot for me and this appears to relate back to when I exceed my exertion limits.

It would be good to measure sleep quality over a long period of time (8-12 weeks) to see how this varies rather than assume this is a constant and look at symptom intensity alongside in any future study. This may lead to understanding why so many of us have good days and bad days.
 
arewenearlythereyet said:
One thing I've noticed on a much smaller study of my own is that the impact of sleep varies quite considerably depending upon how much deep sleep stage I get. There appears to be a correlation between how wired I feel before falling asleep and quality. The wired feeling varies a lot for me and this appears to relate back to when I exceed my exertion limits.

It would be good to measure sleep quality over a long period of time (8-12 weeks) to see how this varies rather than assume this is a constant and look at symptom intensity alongside in any future study. This may lead to understanding why so many of us have good days and bad days.
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Yes, the question is whether it predicts or lags. I think this sleep finding may be associated with the 'wired' feeling you mention though.
 
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