Over the last thirty years decreased in heart rate variability HRV has received increasing attention as a prognostic indicator of risk associated with a variety of chronic diseases, morbidity, mortality and aging (1). Nowadays the main stream of medical society accepts HRV as one of the best predictors of nonspecific health risk. Panin and Bajevski first proved that HRV reflects the stress provoked by cosmic flights. Latter Danev et all (2) find a strong positive relationship between HRV decrease and mental effort in a series of laboratory well controlled experiments. Recently HRV is used for assessment of the harmful effect of a large class of stresses including environmental pollution, dietary problems, psychosocial discomfort or behavioral disorders. HRV was proved to reflect also the stage of development of many clinical diseases (f. ex. diabetes, hypertonia, thyreotoxicosis, leukemia, different kinds of carciomatosis (3) etc. So why in the last few decades HRV becomes one of the best diagnostic tools of the modern medical practice. The practical employment of this method in environmental and occupational aspect needs special software and hardware facilities A possible concrete realization is the proposed computerized set, named Dantest.
 
  What does Dantest measure?

Dantest is a computerized electrophysiological method, based on ECG or plethysmogram recording. From one of these signals, HRV analysis is elected. From ECG signal ECG analysis is elected. From both signals analysis of spectral coherence between and systolic blood pressure (SBP) spectra is elected. When using breathing sensor, SBP is replaced by breathing.
 
  THE NEED OF DANTEST

o Overstress and immobilization are conventional health risk factors, triggering the development of life threatening specific diseases. They are decreasing the adaptation reserves by changing the homeostatic equilibrium to heterostatic one (vagal-to-sympathetic ratio permanently shows a prevailing sympathetic tone in rest).
o The assessed by Dantest overstress and immobilization correlate positively with morbidity, absenteeism and mortality among the investigated population.
o Dantest offers possibility to control the effect of any health promoting strategy.
o Dantest is a result of more than three decades of very profound scientific research.
o Dantest is not pointing the exact diagnosis, but the actual HRV - based HEALTH RISK  (in %). A chronically increased level of health risk (for a time period longer than some months) can precede serious illness.
Dantest reveal the “dangerous” health periods in advance. This gives the opportunity their consequences to be reliably avoided.
Dantest is protected by patent application N 45417 /14.04.1995 (Institute for inventions and innovations - Bulgaria).
 
  SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND OF DANTEST

Prof. Dr. Danev MD PHD DSC developed and implemented in the practice several HRV based tests. They are enriching the possibility to obtain a more deep insight in the psychophysiological well being of the ill or healthy subjects. On this topic he published more than 100 scientific reports devoted to the usefulness of HRV for assessment of health risk. As Prof. Danev works in this area more than 25 years and is one of it’s founders (he was the first president of the European society for HRV analysis), Dantest comprise the essential of HRV knowledge captured till now.
o It was proved that the persons with increased health risk score according to Dantest are developing (in some years) more likely different kinds of pathological processes, when compared with controls.
 
  PARTS OF DANTEST

Dantest consists of two tests and two program products:
1. Stress test for assessment of: pulse, extrasystoles, physical and mental stress.
2. Fitness test for assessment of: physical fitness (training).
3. Health risk program for assessment of: level of potential health risk for developing health-threatening diseases. Health risk assessment is an outcome of the data obtained by Stress and Fitness tests.
4. Data Base for statistical evaluation of mean groups values.
 
  For more information visit www.dantest.com.