CARDIOVASCULAR RESPONSE TO ACUTE COLD STRESS IN NON-OBESE AND OBESE HEALTHY ADULTS

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a global epidemic with important health care and financial implications. Thecold pressor test (CPT) which is considered to be a sympathy-excitatory manoeuvre is a simple,noninvasive and validated test. The objective of this study was to assess and compare the cardiovascularresponse to cold pressor test in non-obese and obese healthy adults.METHODS: The study included 400 subjects, of which the study group included 200 adults who hadbody mass index (BMI) of more than 30 Kg/m, 2 and 200 non-obese adults were enrolled as controls withBMI less than 25 kg/m 2 . The study was conducted for a period of two months. CPT was used to assesscardiac response to acute cold exposure in the present study. Baseline systolic and diastolic bloodpressure recording was done using mercury sphygmomanometer during resting condition and followingcold pressor test. The results were expressed as mean, standard deviation, and data were analyzed usingANOVA test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.RESULTS: The mean change in systolic blood pressure before and after cold pressor test (CPT) was lessin obese (7.12 ± 5.28) as compared to non-obese subjects (10.38 ±6.35). This was statistically significantwhich indicates impaired sympathetic function in otherwise healthy obese.CONCLUSION: The study concluded that blood pressure response to cold pressor test was reduced inobese compared to non-obese subjects indicating reduced sympathetic activity in healthy obese adults.