Abstract

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is increasing day by day across the world. Cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is the most overlooked but the most debilitating complication of diabetes mellitus. If the chance of a diabetic patient to develop CAN in the future is diagnosed at an early stage of the disease, proper measures can be suggested which will delay the development of the complication.

Aim and Objectives: The aim and objective of the study are to compare the cardiovascular autonomic functions between type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and normal individuals and to find whether cardiac autonomic neuropathy is present in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 80 male individuals. Study participants were selected from patients attending diabetic clinics based on the inclusion criteria. A total of 80 subjects were selected out of which 40 were diabetic group and 40 were normal individuals. Cardiac autonomic functions were assessed using heart rate response to a change in posture and during the Valsalva maneuver, blood pressure response to a change in posture and during sustained isometric handgrip and heart rate variability (HRV) measurements were done using Kubios HRV analyzer software version 1.1.

Results: Results were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20 software. It was found that the resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure was found to have statistically significant higher values in the diabetic group. The mean and standard deviation of the Valsalva ratio were found to have statistically significant higher values in the diabetic group. The frequency domain parameters of HRV showed significant sympathetic predominance in the diabetic group.

Conclusion: The need for early identification of cardiac autonomic neuropathy by various tests as well as the importance of lifestyle modifications were emphasized among all the participants of the study.

Key words: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus; Cardiac Autonomic functions; Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy; Heart rate; Blood pressure; Heart rate variability