Alcoholic vagal neuropathy: recovery following prolonged abstinence
One article on PainSci cites Tan 1984: Can Massage Therapy Cause Nerve Damage?
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
Cardiac vagal reflexes were studied in 11 alcoholic subjects, 1 to 6 weeks after withdrawal and again after up to 27 months of continued abstinence. On initial investigation six subjects had vagal neuropathy. On the second occasion only two subjects had vagal neuropathy and significant improvement was seen in the total patient group with regard to heart rate responses to standing, Valsalva's manoeuvre and atropine infusion. Vagal neuropathy in alcoholics may be reversible with abstinence and/or improved nutrition.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Cannabidiol (CBD) products for pain: ineffective, expensive, and with potential harms. Moore 2023 J Pain.
- Inciting events associated with lumbar disc herniation. Suri 2010 Spine J.
- Prediction of an extruded fragment in lumbar disc patients from clinical presentations. Pople 1994 Spine (Phila Pa 1976).
- Characteristics of patients with low back and leg pain seeking treatment in primary care: baseline results from the ATLAS cohort study. Konstantinou 2015 BMC Musculoskelet Disord.
- Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision in reducing risk of mental health problems and promoting well-being in adolescence: the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial. Kuyken 2022 Evid Based Ment Health.