A review of the experience of running a fully-remote, nationwide clinical trial centered around intermittent fasting and its effects on cognitive health in a midlife population that is living with stress, obesity, and a memory that is not as good as it used to be. As the two project managers, we had a myriad of responsibilities, which came with many challenges and successes. The preliminary results have been analyzed and the study is now in the process of manuscript development.

Objective: To examine the change in caregiver burden, stress, and heart rate variability (HRV) scores when family caregivers (FCG) of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) used heart rate variability biofeedback (HRVB). Additional factors that could potentially moderate the effects of HRVB, such as education and income level, were separately examined. Methods: An 8-week HRVB intervention was compared to a music listening control (MLC) condition for 30 family caregivers (FCGs) of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (and related dementias: ADRD). Analysis per education and income level were separately conducted. Results: The HRVB intervention with higher education and lower-income individuals showed more favorable HRV outcomes (noted to be slightly decreased in higher-income individuals). Perceived stress was reduced for both intervention groups, and caregiver burden levels decreased for all income groups, particularly in those with lower incomes. Discussion: Future researchers should increase the sample size, explore stratification based on income and education levels, and consider gender-based divisions, as these factors could yield valuable insights.

Informal caregivers to persons with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) commonly experience high levels of perceived burden, stress, and low quality of life— outcomes that negatively affect the quality of care provided. Yet to be explored are the effects of heart-focused breathing, a self-regulation deep breathing technique, on perceived caregiver burden and heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of autonomic nervous system function. Considering the high attrition rates of many previous in-person AD caregiver interventions, it may be necessary to implement an online intervention to address perceived caregiver burden. This study aimed to test the trends in effects of a 2-week online heart-focused breathing intervention using HeartMath’s Heart Lock-In® technique on perceived caregiver burden, perceived stress, quality of life, anxiety, inner haven, self-compassion, and HRV in a population of AD caregivers. Ten informal AD caregivers participated in the study with five participants randomized into the waitlist control group and five into the intervention group. The intervention group practiced a 10-minute heart-focused breathing protocol using their smart device (i.e., phone) every day for a 2-week period. Participants completed pre- and post- self-report questionnaires online via Google Forms and HRV assessments via the Welltory mobile application. The HRV assessments measured rMSSD, high frequency, and low frequency. The intervention group did not experience improvements related to perceived caregiver burden, perceived stress, anxiety, inner haven or high frequency waves. However, the study results suggest positive trends in quality of life, self-compassion, rMSSD, and low frequency waves among the AD caregivers. Additional research within a larger and more diverse population is needed.
Keywords: Informal Alzheimer’s caregivers, perceived caregiver burden, heart-focused breathing, heart rate variability