Somatotyping in Essential Hypertension
Recent anthropometric studies suggest that some of the diseases e.g. coronary insufficiency, diabetes, irregular menstruation etc. can be predicted by mapping the somatotype of an individual according to the method of Carter (1980). With these observations in mind efforts were made to correlate hypertension with the physical type of an individual and if we can predict the onset of such a disease. Studies on 38 male patients from the Varanasi region suffering from essential hypertension suggest that hypertension as a disease of individuals with endo-mesomorphic somatotype as classified by Carter (1980). This findings encourage risk reduction programmes emphasizing changes in dietary and exercise habits.
Department of Anatomy, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
