RELATIVE ROLE OF OBESITY AND OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS ON AUTONOMIC MODULATION

In the present day world every occupation induces various degrees of stress on individual although the perception may vary in individual to individual and in certain occupation it is greatest and such occupations are called hazardous occupation. The driver who is taking driving as a profession and exposed in transport industry also has to do shift work. Stress induces a wide range of physiological and or behavioral changes that have evolved along phylogeny which take place under different situations1. Shift work is associated with an increased rate of cardiovascular disease and accidents. Discordance between circadian rhythm of stress related biological variables and the work sleep schedule explains the reduced efficiency of work. In obese persons we see increased sympathetic modulation of arterial pressure. Studies showed that there was a decreased LF and HF component of HRV in obese individual when compared with normal11. Spectral analysis showed that obese individual will have low LF component. This low LF power of heart rate reflects the diminished adrenocepter responsiveness12. Thus both obesity and driving (hazardous occupation) have got profound adverse effect on autonomic activity. The present study was devised to evaluate the chief determinant factor among these drivers in the modulation of autonomic activity.