Seasonal variations in hematological and hemodynamic parameters

Background: Seasonal fluctuation in incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis and coronary heart disease etc has been reported since long time. So, the present study was conducted to evaluate the seasonal variation in hematological and hemodynamic parameters, heart rate and blood pressure in the month of November, February and May. Materials and methods: 15 male subjects in the age group of 18.5±1 year were matched on haematological parameters, heart rate and blood pressure in three different seasons and the results were compared. Results: Packed cell volume in winter (February), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate in summer (May) were increased (P< 0.001) as compared to basal level in November month with non significant variation in Hemoglobin concentration and Red Blood Cell count. Total Leukocyte count significantly increased (p <0.001) in winter, while on differential and absolute leukocyte count Eosinophil, Basophil, Monocyte, Lymphocyte (%) were elevated (p <0.001) and Neutrophil (%) decreased (p <0.001) in summer. Total Protein concentration, serum Albumin level was higher in winter. Heart rate shows insignificant seasonal changes but blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic was lower (p< 0.001) in summer and rate pressure product (RPP) was higher (p<0.05) in winter. Conclusion: So, these findings indicate that variations in different parameters do occur to adapt to the environmental conditions which may be responsible for susceptibility to different diseases e.g. asthma and ischemic heart diseases in different seasons.