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Introduction to Parasympathetic and Sympathetic Monitoring

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Clinical Autonomic Dysfunction

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Abstract

This introductory section starts with a review of the “Old School” information commonly taught in medical school, including the anatomy of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and its two branches, the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems; the biochemistry of the ANS; general physiology associated with the two ANS branches; and methods of measuring the ANS. Measuring the ANS includes older noninvasive measures and the newer method to be the basis of this book. This section concludes by answering the “So What?” question behind the development of a newer method of measuring the ANS, specifically, a general introduction to why it is important to specifically measure the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems, independently (in a mathematical sense) and simultaneously. The newer method removes many of the assumptions and approximations required by the older methods, improving specificity, sensitivity, reliability, and repeatability and thereby improving patient outcomes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Autonomic Laboratory Department of Cardiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Joseph Colombo PhD

  2. ANSAR Medical Technologies, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Joseph Colombo PhD

  3. Department of Medicine, Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, North Chicago, IL, USA

    Rohit Arora MD, FACC, FAHA, FACP, FSCAI

  4. Department of Cardiology, The Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, IL, USA

    Rohit Arora MD, FACC, FAHA, FACP, FSCAI

  5. Department of Cardiology, Hahnemann Hospital Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Nicholas L. DePace MD, FACC

  6. Department of Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School Strelitz Diabetes Research Center, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Aaron I. Vinik MD, PhD, FCP, MACP

Authors
  1. Joseph Colombo PhD
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  2. Rohit Arora MD, FACC, FAHA, FACP, FSCAI
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  3. Nicholas L. DePace MD, FACC
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  4. Aaron I. Vinik MD, PhD, FCP, MACP
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© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Colombo, J., Arora, R., DePace, N.L., Vinik, A.I. (2015). Introduction to Parasympathetic and Sympathetic Monitoring. In: Clinical Autonomic Dysfunction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07371-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07371-2_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-07370-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-07371-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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