Biobehavioral basis of coronary-prone behavior in middle-aged men. Part I: Evidence for chronic SNS activation in Type As.
In previous research using young male subjects, the Type A behavior pattern was linked with cardiovascular and neurohormonal hyperresponsivity to laboratory stressors. The main objective of the present study was to determine whether the positive association between the Type A pattern and such physiological hyperreactivity is also present among healthy middle-aged men. Subjects were 28 middle-aged (35-50 years) white males who were classified as Type A (n = 16) or Type B (n = 12) on both the Structured Interview and the Jenkins Activity Survey. In two laboratory sessions, one week apart, subjects participated in either a mental arithmetic task or a sensory intake task. Twenty-four-hour urine collection was completed on a third day. Results showed that while no A/B differences in reactivity to either task were found, Type A subjects exhibited chronic elevation of plasma neurohormones on both laboratory days. The catecholamine elevations found across experimental periods on two laboratory days among Type A men generalized to more naturalistic settings, as indexed by 24-hr urinary excretion rates. The chronic elevations in both sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function we observed in middle-aged Type A men could account for epidemiological findings of increased coronary risk in this group.
Williams
R B
RB
Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710.
Suarez
E C
EC
Kuhn
C M
CM
Zimmerman
E A
EA
Schanberg
S M
SM
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000652:urine; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014434:Type A Personality
D002395:Catecholamines; D011943:Receptors, Adrenergic, beta