RESUMO
Stress has been a topic of interest in the last century, since its description by Hans Selye. Stressors could be anything from the daily life, professional or domestic, eventually leading the deleterious health outcomes. However some types of stressors were believed to be necessary for growth, which were termed eustress. In the present study we evaluated the stress levels in software professionals (n=155) from Karnataka State, India by using Professional Life stress Score (PLSS) and Perceived Stress Score (PSS) after explaining the subjects about the questionnaire and response types and obtaining their informed consent. Ethical clearance was obtained from the institutional ethics committee before the beginning of the data collection. Apart from the responses for the questionnaire, their BMI was calculated by carefully measuring their height and weight. Their other demographic data such as age, matrimonial status were also collected. From the results we found that PLSS score was elevated to mild and moderate degree among the study group, which was not correlated with either their age or matrimonial status. However in contrast, the PSS scores were elevated to higher degree and it was well correlated with BMI, age and number of years of experience. From the results we found that these young technical professionals of Bangalore and Mangalore did not have much professional stress but they were influenced by other factors which produce overall stress as evidenced by the elevated PSS scores. Thus we herestate that this study produced results which was helpful in differentiating the professional life environment causing stress and other compounding factors influencing the psychological well being. We, therefore conclude that well employed young professional enjoy their work but other extraneous factors could lead to stress.
RESUMO
Background: Obesity is known to cause a number of life style diseases. In spite of this, the developed and developing world is faced with increasing number of people with high Body fat. In the present study we evaluated the correlation of Heart rate variability with the anthropometric parameters depicting body fat among young students recruited from our Medical school. Materials and methods: Two hundred and forty medical students (120 males & 120 females) were selected on the basis of their BMI into four groups: viz. Normal (N), Underweight (UW), Overweight (OW) & Obese (OB), [n=30 each]. Their Lean Body Mass (LBM), W/H ratio were calculated and tabulated, their HRV was recorded for 5 minutes and both time domain and frequency domain analysis was done. Results: The body fat was significantly higher in OW and OB groups as reflected in increased W/H ratio and lower LBM. (p<0.001) and significantly lesser in the UW group. But women showed significantly more W/H ratio and lesser LBM compared to men in the same group (p<0.01). Cardiac autonomic control represented by HRV showed significant reduction in the OW and Obese groups (p<0.01). HRV parameters were significantly lower in Underweight subjects when compared to Normal subjects. Conclusions: The HRV parameters showed a sympathetic predominance as the body fat increases. Females showed higher Body fat content compared to men. Therefore the treatment strategy should involve in weight reduction and diet control in vulnerable subjects and sustained physical exercise regimen may be prescribed to prevent the possible cardiovascular and endocrine disorders which they are prone. Key words: BMI, LMB, Waist hip ratio, Heart rate variability.
RESUMO
Obesity and abnormal nourishment are the biggest concerns of developed and developing societies. We analysed the nutritional status using Mini Nutrition Assessment (MNA) and correlated the findings with BMI, Waist – to – Hip (W/H) ratio in elderly population of Dakshina Kannada District of Karnataka. Total of 221 elderly subjects above the age of 50 years (105 were males and 116 were females) were recruited, who did not have any morbid diseases. Their Anthropometric parameters namely BMI and W/H were recorded and tabulated. They were grouped into Underweight, Normal, Over weight and Obese and the respective numbers were segregated and shown in table. MNA scores of each group were found out and the correlation was done. Results were analysed by using ANOVA and Tukey – Kramer test using SPSS version 16. The results suggested that there is a correlation between the BMI, W/H ratio with the MNA scores. Underweight elderly had low scores while overweight and obese subjects had higher scores. Women showed a higher tendency to become over weight and obese compared to men. This study reiterates that there is a correlation between anthropometric parameters and the nutritional status. A wider study with more number of subjects could yield more insight into the findings and be useful guide for suggesting any lifestyle modification.
RESUMO
Organisms are constantly subjected to stimuli that can be construed as stressors. Stress regulation is a highly integrated process controlled largely by the brain. The role of amygdala in stress tolerance has attracted continued interest because of its central role in processing emotional information. In the present study, the Wistar albino rats were subjected to chronic swimming (physical) stress and chronic immobilization (psychological) stress for 60 days with or without bilateral lesions of the nucleus of amygdala. Their food intake, water intake and body weight were measured. Exposure to stressors significantly decreased the body weight, food and water intake whereas amygdala lesioning significantly increased the body weight (P<0.001), food intake (P<0.001) and water intake (P<0.001).However, the stress induced decrease observed in the body weight and food intake of the amygdala lesioned groups was significantly more (P<0.001) during immobilization stress than swimming stress. It can be concluded that amygdala nucleus appears to play a prominent role in minimizing the stress induced changes in the food intake and body weight; and this role was more evident in immobilization stress than a physical stress. Thus, the present study support the notion that the amygdala nucleus play a definite role in minimizing stress induced changes in the ingestive behavior and its role in psychological stress is more prominent.