Variation and association of body mass index with myocardial oxygen consumption: A gender based study in young population

Abstract

Background: Regular exercise improves health and prevents many diseases. Exercise testing can be used as a diagnostic tool to unmask subclinical conditions such as coronary artery diseases and also monitor the effectiveness of therapeutic measures. Rate pressure product is a measure of stress put on cardiac muscle based on heart rate and systolic blood pressure. Numerous studies attempting to explain gender differences in cardiovascular response to isometric exercise are inconsistent at best and conflicting. Aims and Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if the cardiovascular responses to dynamic exercises differ between healthy normotensive men and women students depending on their BMI ratio. Materials and Methods: This study consisted of young individuals (127 men and 123 women) of age group 18–20 years studying in first-year MBBS. Depending on their anthropometric measurements, classification was done as, normal, overweight, and obese groups based on WHO recommendations. Blood pressure and heart rate were recorded before, immediately after cessation of exercise, after 3 min, and after 5 min of recovery. MVo2 was measured by the rate pressure product (RPP) calculated as product of heart rate and systolic blood pressure. Result: Postexercise HR, SBP, DBP, and RPP were significantly greater in men than women. Highly significant increase in postexercise HR, SBP, DBP and RPP was observed in men compared to women. Conclusion: Men undergo significant changes in cardiac output, total peripheral resistance, or increase in level of circulating catecholamines mainly epinephrine with many possible explanations.