Background: Hypertension is an important worldwide public health challenge because of its high frequency and concomitant risks of cardiovascular and kidney disease. The cold pressor test (CPT) as a tool to measure cardiovascular reactivity, specifically blood pressure (BP) changes, in response to stress. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study is to see the effect CPT on hypertensives and age and gender-matched normotensive (NT) individuals. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in 60 individuals aged between 30 and 60 years consisting of 30 known cases of hypertension and 30 age and gender-matched normotensive (NT) from outpatient department of Mc Gann Hospital, Shimoga. Keeping CPT as the stimulus, the response was recorded in all the individuals and they were divided into normoreactors and hyperreactors. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 21. Results: Hypertensives showed a significantly higher increase in systolic and diastolic BP and greater number of hyperreactors (P > 0.01) when compared to the NT for the CPT. Conclusion: CPT has been used for the diagnosis of cardiovascular reactivity in NT and hypertensive individuals and the responses to CPT may help identify NT candidates at future risk of suffering from hypertensive disease. It also helps implement early preventive measures to halt the progression to sustained hypertension developing at a future date.

Background:The increase in diabetes among the elderly is of concern because in addition to the wide range of traditional diabetes complications, evidence has been growing that diabetes is associated with memory decline. Short-term memory plays a very important role in daily activities. Aims and Objectives: To find out the effect of glycemic control on short-term memory in Type 2 diabetics. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in 150 individuals aged between 40 and 65 years consisting of 100 diagnosed cases of Type 2 diabetes mellitus who were further divided into Group I: Controlled diabetes with glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA 1C ) levels < 7% and Group II: Uncontrolled diabetes with HbA 1C level > 7% compared with control group consisting of 50 non-diabetics HbA 1C < 6% from outpatient department of McGann Hospital, Shivamogga. Rye's auditory verbal learning test, verbal fluency test and Benton visual retention test to assess short-term memory. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 21. Results: Uncontrolled diabetics showed a significantly reduced score compared to non-diabetics and controlled diabetics (P < 0.001) and controlled diabetics showed a significantly (P < 0.001) reduced score compared to non-diabetics for all the three memory tests used to assess short-term memory. Conclusion: The main hypothesis to explain the pathophysiology of decline in short-term memory in Type 2 diabetes may be glucose dysregulation, accumulation of senile plaques, metabolic oxidation products associated with hyperglycemia, insufficient action or effect of insulin due to insufficient secretion, activity, or both.

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Background:The increase in diabetes among the elderly is of concern because in addition to the wide range of traditional diabetes complications; evidence has been growing that diabetes is associated with increased risk of cognitive decline. Aims and Objectives: Aims and objectives of the study were to find out if there is any association between cognitive function and diabetes. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in 200 individuals aged between 40 and 65 years consisting of 100 diagnosed cases of type 2 diabetics and 100 age and gender matched nondiabetics from outpatient department of McGann Hospital, Shimoga. Short term and working memory were assessed using neuropsychologial tests. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 21. Results: Scores of all the memory tests in type 2 diabetics were significantly reduced (P < 0.001) when compared to the memory scores of age and gender matched nondiabetics. Conclusion: The decreased memory status in type 2 diabetics may be due to many factors such as hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, vascular disease, insulin resistance, and amyloid deposition.