Seema Singh

Abstract

Introduction: Hypertension runs in family, and familial hypertension is one of the most important risk factor for children to become hypertensive in future life. Teenagers comprise very special group that have hypertensive first degree relatives, these should be very closely monitored. Autonomic derangement in the form of increased sympathetic tone has been seen in young offspring’s with a history of hypertension in their parents. Sympathetic nervous system over-activity is reported in hypertension. If we can detect early proneness to hypertension, it may help an individual to lead a healthy life by changing his/her lifestyle and daily activities. Objective: To study sympathetic autonomic variability in offspring’s of hypertensive parents. Materials and Methods: This is a cross sectional study. In this study 52 healthy young subjects (26 study group i.e., offsprings of hypertensive parents and 26 control group i.e., offsprings of non-hypertensive parents) age: 18-25 years both male and female were chosen. The blood pressure of the participants was recorded using a electronic blood pressure instrument (Citizen 432). The participants were asked to immerse their right hand in ice cold water (4 degree Celsius) for 1 minute. At the completion of one minute, blood pressure was measured. Five minutes after the test, the blood pressure was noted again (recovery). Body mass index was also noted of each individual. Results: It is evident from the results that in both study group and controls, a rise in systolic blood pressure occurred as a result of stress induced by cold test but in study group the diastolic blood pressure showed a significant increase whereas in controls it showed no change after stress induced by cold test. In both the study group and controls, the systolic component returned to the baseline value after a duration of 5 minutes of stress (recovery), whereas the diastolic component of controls returned to the baseline value and even below baseline but the diastolic component of study group did not returned to baseline after 5 minutes and even remained elevated. When Body Mass Index (BMI) of both the groups (study and control) was compared it was seen that predisposed subjects i.e., the study group subjects showed a significant elevated BMI when compared to non predisposed individuals i.e., controls. Keywords: Hypertension, Autonomic, Cold pressor test, Body mass index.

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Abstract

Aim and Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess and compare the changes in haematological parameters in neonates using cord blood from preeclamptic and from normal pregnancies. Materials and Methods: This is a cross sectional study based on Umbilical Cord Blood (UCB) samples taken from 40 preeclamptic and 40 normal pregnancies. 2 ml cord blood was collected immediately after delivery and transferred into an EDTA vial for CBC analysis and reticulocyte count was done using brilliant cresyl blue. The data entry and analysis was done on Microsoft Office Excel 2007. In all statistical analysis a p value<0.05 was considered significant. Results: RBC, Reticulocyte count, Reticulocyte Production Index (RPI) were found to be higher in neonatal cord blood from preeclamptic females than those from normal pregnancies. Haemoglobin and Haematocrit were found to be lower in neonatal cord blood from preeclamptic pregnancies. Conclusion: Newborns of preeclamptic mothers should be carefully monitored in terms of hematologic abnormalities. Thus, suspecting a deranged haematological profile early in the course of disease will be of great help in the preemptive management strategies that have proven to be playing a crucial role time and again in reducing the morbidities and mortalities associated with Preeclampsia. Keywords: Cord blood, Preeclampsia, RBC, Reticulocyte, RPI.

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