A Study of the Cardiovascular Function and Aerobic Capacity in Overweight and Obese Subjects

Obesity is an important risk for cardiovascular disease and has a severe impact on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, being a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease. In this paper, using a previously developed model, that described the complex links between respiration, heart rate and arterial blood pressure (Psa) during cardiovascular regulation, we investigate the variation of heart rate as response of vagal and sympathetic activities. For this reason, the amplitude and frequency of breathing are varied. The correlation between breathing frequency and variations of the heart rate, is studied. The implementation of the model was done using Matlab-Simulink. This study also analyzes, the effects of weight gain on cardiac performance in overweight and obese patients. The study was conducted on 35 subjects of both sexes, age group ranging from 28 to 60 years. Based on echocardiographic determinations and analysis of body mass distribution, the correlations between Fat Free Mass (FFM) values, body mass index (BMI) and left ventricular mass (LVM) index, Cardiac Output (CO) and Stroke Volume (SV) were investigated.