Abstract
Conference Title: 2017 Asia-Pacific Signal and Information Processing Association Annual Summit and Conference (APSIPA ASC) Conference Start Date: 2017, Dec. 12 Conference End Date: 2017, Dec. 15 Conference Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The current study was an attempt to understand the effect of cannabis (bhang) abuse on the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the cardiac physiology of the Indian women working in paddy fields. Electrocardiogram (ECG) signals were collected from twenty-five volunteers, and RR intervals (RRIs) were extracted. Recurrence analysis of RRI series suggested a reduction in the isometric recurrence and heart rate stability in women abusing cannabis. The effect on ANS was estimated using non-invasive heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. The results suggested a decline in the sympathovagal balance and the parasympathetic activity following regular cannabis abuse. The effect of cannabis abuse on the heart was examined using timedomain and wavelet-based analysis of ECG signals. The results suggested an alteration in the cardiac electrophysiology due to the cannabis abuse. The alterations in the ANS and heart activity were also evident from the adequately efficient (> 85%) artificial neural network (ANN)-based classification of the HRV and the ECG signal features, respectively. These effects of cannabis abuse can be added to those already reported and will tender additional evidence for counseling women to stop abusing cannabis.