CARDIOVASCULAR RESPONSE TO CHRONIC TOBACCO SMOKING WITH REFERENCE TO ELECTROCARDIOGRAM AND BLOOD PRESSURE

In India smoking is a common habit prevalent in both urban and rural areas. Cigarette smoking has extensive effect on cardio-vascular function and is clearly implicated in the etiology of number of cardio-vascular diseases particularly atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction and hypertension. All attempts have been made to study cardio-vascular functions among smokers and non-smokers populations in a rural area at Rural medical College Loni (Ahmednagar, Maharashtra) . Blood pressure and electro-cardiogram were recorded in 100 healthy male subjects comprising of 50 healthy smokers and 50 non-smokers. Systolic blood pressure and heart rate are increased immediately after smoking.