Effect of Acute Stress on Cardiac Output and Systemic Peripheral Resistance in Obese Young Adults

Obesity is major problem in present population especially in children and young adults. Obesity is a state of excess adipose tissue mass. Stress is inevitable in the present scenario. Obesity adversely affects almost all the systems of the body including cardiovascular and respiratory system and reduces exercise tolerance & stress tolerance. Exposure to sudden extreme stress is commonly seen in medical students. Therefore the present study was conducted to assess the effect of acute stress on cardiac output and systemic peripheral resistance in obese young adults. Sixty asymptomatic healthy male medical students, aged 17–25 years, participated voluntarily in the present study. Subjects were divided in to two groups of 30 each. Group A comprised of non-obese (BMI<25, control group) and group B comprised of obese subjects (BMI> 30). Cold pressor test (CPT) was used to induce acute stress which involves immersion of hand in cold water of 8°c for 2 minutes. Cardiac output and peripheral resistance were measured by using Impedance Cardiovasograph (Nivomon). All the parameters were recorded before and immediately after cold pressor test in both the groups. Results showed significant increase in cardiac output and systemic peripheral resistance (p<0.05) immediately after exposure to cold stress for two minutes in comparison to baseline parameters in both the groups, however this increase was more significant in group B (p<0.01) than control group (p<0.05). On comparison of parameters before CPT and 5 minutes after CPT, no significant difference was observed in parameters including cardiac output and systemic peripheral resistance (P>0.05) in control group but these were significantly higher in obese subjects of group B. Results show greater increase in cardiac output and systemic peripheral resistance in obese on exposure to acute stress and delayed recovery to baseline values in comparison to non obese.