Patent ID: 8239028

Claim:
A method of adapting treatment of a patient having a chronic medical condition during periods of heightened stress on regulatory adaptation systems of the patient, comprising: applying a first electrical signal to a neural structure of the patient to treat the chronic medical condition, the first electrical signal defined by a first set of signal parameter values; determining a time of beat sequence of the patient's heart; determining a first index of activity of regulatory systems (IARS) value based on said time of beat sequence, the first IARS value indicative of a stress level of the regulatory adaptation systems of the patient; comparing the first IARS value to a first IARS threshold; and adjusting the first electrical signal to provide a second electrical signal to the neural structure of the patient in response to the first IARS value exceeding the first IARS threshold, the second electrical signal defined by a second set of signal parameter values, wherein at least one value of the second set of signal parameter values is different from a corresponding value in the first set of signal parameter values.