This is a training page and we recommend you print a Max Pulse Stress Report and use it for reference while reading this page.
The Max Pulse runs a 3 minute test and at the end of that test it will generate a report evaluating the flexibility of the arteries and another report showing the state of the Autonomic Nervous System.
What Is The Autonomic Nervous System?
Very briefly, the Autonomic Nervous System operates involuntarily, and automatically controls your bodily systems including your organs, glands, breathing, digestion and more. The patient is not doing anything, it just happens on its own – automatically.
The ANS breaks down into two main compartments: Sympathetic, which is the part of the nervous system that controls action and activity. And the Parasympathetic, which controls relaxation, rest and digestion. So you can think of this as if you have two systems – the GO system and the REST system. And they should be balanced not too much of one of the other or the body will get pushed to hard or it will feel very fatigued. A normal situation is a balance of approximately 60% action and activity and 40% rest and recover. So a normal balance shows the Sympathetic a little higher than the Para-sympathetic. That’s the normal though even a 50/50 balance can be normal depending on the person.
Because the Autonomic Nervous System controls the heart as one of its primary functions, its possible to evaluate the way the heart is beating and use that to understand if the Autonomic Nervous System is balanced or not.
This is done with something called Heart Rate Variability.
What is Heart Rate Variability?
The heart is supposed to beat in a relaxed manner with each heartbeat being a tiny bit slower or faster than the last. This is heart rate variability and it is normal and healthy.
Heart beats should be a mixture of long, medium and short beats. This is the variability in each heartbeat, one to the next. As a person becomes fatigued or over the proportion of long, medium and short will change, losing that variability and the beats start to become very much the same – which is not healthy.
Too much consistency in heart rate (less variability) is often associated with dysfunction and disease as well as a higher mortality rate in both healthy and unhealthy patients.
Poor Heart Rate Variability has been shown be a strong predicator of all-cause mortality. Studies have confirmed that poor HRV significantly increases the risk of cardio event mortality.
Unmanaged emotional stress is also in determining health outcomes. A conservative estimate is that 75% of visits to primary care physicians are due to stress-related disorders.
And a number of studies have demonstrated that patients with anxiety, phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) consistently show lower HRV, even when not exposed to a trauma in present time.
So poor HRV scores are a concern and a patient who does not score well on this test should take steps to improve their physical and mental wellbeing.
The Max Pulse Stress Report (evaluation of HRV)
In the upper left of the report is the HRV tachogram. This is just a quick visual indication of the HRV. There is a red line for average of the slower heart beats and a red line for an average of the faster heartbeats. The more space between the lines the better. But we will see this much more clearly later on.
Then we have the upright bar graphs.
The first group of 4 bars have a small black line showing the expected range.
The first is Total Power, which is the overall vitality across all frequencies. If this is low, then that person doesn’t have the ability to cope with internal or external stress. A persons resistance to environmental change is shown here.
Next thing we look at is Very Low Frequency and as this declines we see a decrease in the bodies ability to regulate body temperature and hormone levels. When this is low hormone disorders might be present as well.
Next one we look at low frequency, which results from physical energy loss, fatigue, poor sleep, and possible adrenal fatigue. If it’s low, that means usually the person isn’t sleeping properly. They’re tired or this can be caused by medications, such as Beta Blockers, Heparin, Warfarin, these and others are known for energy loss.
Next thing we look at is high frequency. High frequency results from chronic stress, cardiopulmonary aging, heart disease, anxiety, a decrease in electrical stability of the heart. So, this is one to keep an eye on definitely for heart disease.
Then there are the two upright bars that show the overall balance. The SNS and PNS bar graphs will show you the sympathetic nervous system compared to the parasympathetic nervous system. What you want to be is somewhere in the middle, you want to be somewhere between 40% or 60%, or 60% to 40%, or 50% to 50%, somewhere in the middle. Now. If SNS is very high and PNS low, then we have nervousness, anxiety, agitation, increased blood pressure and high stress. If this is reversed, this person is in a fatigued or depressed state.
At the bottom we have computer calculated stress score. The test evaluates all the stress factors and assigns and overall score from 1 to 100 where 1 is excellent and 100 is the lowest score. Between 40 and 60 is considered normal and the lower this number is, the better the person will be able to handle stress.
On the right site we have the mean heart rate. For an adult, 60 to 90 beats per minute is normal. If it’s less than 60 beats per minute, this is usually a well-conditioned athlete, or they have congenital slow pulse, or they are hypothyroid, or on some sort of medication, like a Beta Blocker for high blood pressure, to help slow down the heart rate. So those are reasons why it could be less than 60 beats per minute.
Reasons for it to be higher than 90 beats per minute would include caffeine, nicotine, a variety of medications, anxiety, or hyperthyroidism.
Then we have the ectopic beat score. Ectopic just means irregular and in this test an ectopic beat is one that was either skipped or so irregular that the computer could interpret it. If you get five or more ectopic then either the test is invalid due to problems such as the person having cold hands, moving or talking, or the person has an arrhythmia.
If you carefully retest and rule our errors in taking the test, then arrhythmia could be an issue. Arrhythmia can be caused by a variety of things all the way from too much caffeine to a heart defect. But if there are 5 of more ectopic beats and you are confident the machine was getting a clean reading then you should look into this and get this sorted out. You might be confident to uncover the cause or the patient might need imaging or a referral. But it should get addressed.
Then we have a group of 3 bars.
- The ANS activity
- The Fatigue Index
- The Electrocardiac Stability- this is a reflection of the ectopic beats.
Then we have the ANS Balance
Stress Resistance and Physical/Mental Stress Scores
The final section of the report is one of the most important.
There is a bar for your physical stress, another bar for your mental stress and a very important bar for your stress resistance.
Physical stress relates to physical demands and if a person is getting enough rest and sleep.
High mental stress leads to decrease in memory, inability to concentrate, indecision and confusion.
Finally and most importantly Stress Resistance could be thought of as the Stress Gas Tank. How much stress can the person handle? You always want stress resistance to be high. Even if a person is over stressed or over fatigued or completely out of balance, if your stress resistance is still high you will be able to ride through it. But if the stress resistance is low, you have burned up your reserves and in danger of getting negative health consequences from any stressor or fatiguing situations you might encounter.