Table of Contents  
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Year : 2012  |  Volume : 5  |  Issue : 1  |  Page : 84-85  

Heart rate variability tests in healthy young adult males and females


1 Department of Physiology, Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Pune, India
2 Department of Physiology, R G Kar Medical College, Kolkata, India

Date of Web Publication20-Jun-2012

Correspondence Address:
Arunima Chaudhuri
Department of Physiology, Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra
India
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/0975-2870.97532

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How to cite this article:
Borade NG, Chaudhuri A, Roy A. Heart rate variability tests in healthy young adult males and females. Med J DY Patil Univ 2012;5:84-5

How to cite this URL:
Borade NG, Chaudhuri A, Roy A. Heart rate variability tests in healthy young adult males and females. Med J DY Patil Univ [serial online] 2012 [cited 2024 Mar 29];5:84-5. Available from: https://journals.lww.com/mjdy/pages/default.aspx/text.asp?2012/5/1/84/97532

Sir,

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in many developed countries. Lower heart rate variability (HRV) has been proven to be associated with a greater risk for developing hypertension among normotensive men, and hypertension is one of the major risk factor of CHD. Acute myocardial infarction is accompanied by decreased HRV, which is due to reduced vagal or increased sympathetic outflow to the heart. The relation of estrogen and CHD has been discussed in many studies. The cardiac vagotonic and sympatholytic effects of estrogen can explain why premenopausal women compared with postmenopausal women have a lower CHD incidence and mortality rate. A metabolite of progesterone exerts a sympathoinhibitory effect and attenuates sympathetic baroreflex responses via a central mechanism. [1],[2],[3],[4]

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 30 premenopausal women and 30 age, BMI matched men without any significant systemic disease. None of the subjects were athletes, nor were they on any regular exercise or on any drugs. Subjects with family history of hypertension and heart disease were also excluded. Heart rate variability tests were recorded during postural change (30:15 R-R Intervals Ratios), deep breathing, Valsalva Maneuver (VR) with a multi channel physiograph, Polyrite-D. Differences between groups were tested by unpaired Student's t-test.

Significant differences in pulse rate, blood pressure, and 30:15 R-R interval ratios were noticed between males and females as shown in [Table 1].
Table 1: Shows Mean and SD values of Age, BMI, Pulse, Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Variability Test results of young adult Males and Females

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Healthy adult males are at a higher risk of developing acute myocardial infarction and CHDs due to decreased HRV and lack of estrogen may be the cause of this difference in heart rate variability among males.

 
  References Top

1.Carr MC. The emergence of metabolic syndrome with menopause. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2003;88:2404-11.  Back to cited text no. 1
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2.Fu CH, Yang CC, Lin CL, Kuo TB. Alteration of cardiovascular autonomic functions by vegetarian diets in postmenopausal women is related to LDL cholesterol levels. Chin J Physiol 2008;51:100-5.  Back to cited text no. 2
[PUBMED]  [FULLTEXT]  
3.Liu CC, Kuo TB, Yang CC. Effects of estrogen on gender-related autonomic differences in humans. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2003;285:H2188-93.  Back to cited text no. 3
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4.Tanaka M, Sato M, Umehara S, Nishikawa T. Influence of menstrual cycle on baroreflex control of heart rate: Comparison with male volunteers. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2003;285:R1091-75.  Back to cited text no. 4
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