Abstract
Background: From analytical and statistical studies, it has been firmly concluded that cigarette smoking has various hazards on different systems of human being.

Aims and Objectives: The aims and objectives of this study were to determine cardiovascular sympathetic activity in habitual cigarette smokers and compare it with healthy age-matched controls and to find out any correlation between duration of cigarette smoking and sympathetic dysfunction.

Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in 40 habitual cigarette smokers (study group) and 40 normal, healthy nonsmokers (Control group) who served as age-matched controls to study sympathetic functions. The participants were in the age range of 20-45 years. The participants were selected from the habitual cigarette smoking (10-25 cigarettes/day) and nonsmoking students and employees in the medical college campus by convenience sampling method. Following the basal recording of physiological and sympathetic function parameters, the participant was required to smoke 1 full cigarette within 5 min at his usual puffing rate. 5 min after the participant completed to smoke the cigarette, the autonomic function parameters are again recorded. Blood pressure (BP) response to orthostatic test and to sustained handgrip exercise. The data were suitably arranged and were subjected to statistical analysis; the level of significance is calculated by applying t-test.

Results: Significant raise in diastolic BP after cigarette smoking in the study group.

Conclusion: Habitual smoking affects negatively the sympathetic autonomic nervous system.

Key words: Blood Pressure; Cigarette Smoking; Hand Grip Dynamometer; Sympathetic Nervous System