DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2019.v07i05.028

Pages: 1823-1828

Background: Sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic nervous system act in opposition to each other which enable us to perform our regular functions and homeostasis. Disorders of the ANS may manifest as OH (orthostatic hypotension), cardiac arrhythmia, lack of sweating bowel and bladder dysfunctions etc. The aged are particularly prone to get afflictions of the ANS. This is attributable to higher incidence of diabetes mellitus, degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, Multi system atrophy, nutritional disorders and addictions especially alcohol. The elderly’s are prone to have cardiovascular diseases and sometimes the ANS may get afflicted by these diseases directly or due to side effect of medications being taken. However, in the absence of these conditions abnormalities of the ANS are present in the elderly, possibly due to the degeneration of the ANS as part of aging. The aim of this study is to see the effect of aging on the ANS.Methods:125 elderly male and 125 elderly female patients were selected for the study. It was ensured that the patients had no evidence of illnesses which can affect the ANS, patients such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus; ischemic heart disease and arrhythmia, without addictions and habituations were selected for the study. Autonomic dysfunction was assessed based on clinical symptoms and using different tests including HR variability with deep respiration, HR Response to Valsalva maneuver, HR response to standing, BP response to standing and ColdPressor and Hand grip test. These were compared with healthy volunteers aged between 25 to 65 years. Results: We found that the prevalence of autonomic dysfunction is significant in the elderly as a part of the aging process. Conclusion: The observation that autonomic disturbances can increase due to ageing has profound implications and this factor must be kept in mind when designing treatment.