Anthropometric measurements as predictors of intraabdominal fat thickness.

Central obesity is known to be an important risk factor in the development of metabolic syndrome and intraabdominal fat thickness has been found to be a reliable indicator of central obesity. Many anthropometric indicators have been suggested for measuring intraabdominal fat. The aim of this study was to relate various anthropometric measurements to intraabdominal fat thickness and to determine which among these is a better predictor of intra abdominal fat in normal subjects. This cross sectional study was carried out. in 60 healthy subjects (32 males and 28 females) in the age group of 25–55 years. Anthropometric measurements such as BMI, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio were assessed by using standard methods. Subcutaneous and visceral fat were measured 1 cm above umbilicus by ultrasonography. Intraabdominal fat thickness was correlated with the anthropometric measures by Pearson’s test. Multivariate linear regression test was used to find the best anthropometric measurement as a predictor of abdominal fat. Waist circumference showed a significant positive correlation with subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. Waist circumference was found to be the best predictor of intraabdominal fat thickness in normal subjects and therefore of central obesity.

A comparative study of median nerve somatosensory evoked potential in the totally blind and normal subjects.

The totally blind individuals are often considered to be compensated for their visual loss by augmentation in the auditory and tactile perceptions as against the normal sighted individuals. The objective of the present work was to study the somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) after median nerve stimulation in the wrist of totally blind and normal sighted individuals. SEPs were recorded after median nerve stimulation in the wrist of 15 Braille reading totally blind females and compared with 15 age matched normal sighted females. Latency and amplitudes of SEPs (N9, N13, and N20) were measured and analyzed statistically. Amplitude of N20 SEP was significantly larger in the totally blind than in normal sighted individuals (P < 0.05). The amplitudes of N9 and N13 SEPs and the latencies of all SEPs showed no significant differences. The congenitally blind individuals have larger N20 amplitude, suggestive of greater somatosensory cortical representation than normal sighted individuals.

Evoked electromyogram as a function of facial nerve.

Compound muscle action potentials were recorded bilaterally from alae nasi muscles following stimulation of facial nerve in 45 normal subjects in the age group of 20-30 years. Latency, amplitude and total duration of the compound muscle action potential were compared on both sides. A significant positive correlation between the three parameters with the highest for the amplitude was observed. Therefore it is suggested that amplitude is a better parameter for comparison while testing for side to side facial nerve integrity.