Association between left-handedness and cardiac autonomic function in healthy young men
Sinan Işcen1, Salim Özenç, Urat Tavlasoglu
1Department of Cardiology, Diyarbakir Military Hospital, Yenişehir/Diyarbakir, Diyarbakir, Turkey.
Insights
Left-handedness is significantly associated with an abnormal QRS-T angle in healthy young men, suggesting a link to cardiac autonomic function. This finding highlights potential cardiovascular implications for left-handed individuals.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Autonomic Nervous System
- Human Physiology
Background:
- Previous research linked non-right-handedness to sudden cardiac death via sympathetic imbalance and ventricular arrhythmogenesis.
- This study investigated the potential association between left-handedness and cardiac autonomic functions in healthy young males.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between left-handedness and cardiac autonomic functions in asymptomatic young men.
- To determine if left-handedness is a predictor of abnormal QRS-T angle in this population.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 992 asymptomatic young males underwent comprehensive health evaluations, including ECG and echocardiography.
- Subjects were categorized as left-handed (52 individuals) or right-handed.
- Statistical analysis compared the prevalence of abnormal QRS-T angles between the two groups.
Main Results:
- Left-handed subjects exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of abnormal QRS-T angles (34%) compared to right-handed subjects (1.4%) (P < 0.001).
- No significant differences were observed in demographic, clinical, or echocardiographic parameters between the groups.
- The prevalence of abnormal QRS-T angle was notably higher in the left-handed group.
Conclusions:
- A significant association exists between left-handedness and an abnormal QRS-T angle in healthy young men.
- This finding suggests left-handedness may be linked to altered cardiac autonomic regulation in young males.
Background:
Effects of nonright-handedness on risk for sudden death associated with coronary artery disease via sympathetic imbalance contributed to ventricular arrhythmogenesis previously have been demonstrated. This study hypothesized that left-handedness might be associated with cardiac autonomic functions in healthy young men. The aim of this study was to examine the association between left-handedness and cardiac autonomic functions in healthy young men.
Methods:
A total of 992 asymptomatic young male subjects underwent routine health checkup between May 2012 and July 2013, and were included in this study. All were submitted to a standard protocol that included a complete clinical examination, laboratory evaluation, 12-lead electrocardiogram, and 2D-echocardiogram. Fifty-two subjects were left-handed; 32 subjects had abnormal QRS-T angle. Statistical analyses were performed using statistical package SPSS 15.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) and statistical significance was assessed at the two-tailed 0.05 threshold.
Results:
A total of 52 (5%) subjects were left-handed; 32 (3%) subjects had an abnormal frontal QRS-T angle. The mean age, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, current smoking, estimated glomerular filtration rate, hemoglobin, leukocyte count, platelet count, and echocardiographic parameters were not different between two groups. But subjects with left-handedness had greater prevalence of abnormal QRS-T angle. The left-handedness group had 18 subjects with abnormal QRS-T angle (34%) and the right-handedness group had 14 subjects with abnormal QRS-T angle (1.4%). The difference between two groups was significant (P < 0.001).
Conclusion:
In this study, there was a significant association between left-handedness and abnormal QRS-T angle in healthy young subjects.
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