Lower cardiovascular responsiveness in men with a positive family history of hypertension who remain normotensive in middle age.
Within the framework of a primary preventive study in 760 research workers aged 30-59, laboratory examinations of cardiovascular responsiveness to upright posture, cold and mental stress (Stroop word-colour interference test and ranking of three-digit numbers) were performed. Twenty men with essential hypertension (Stage I-II) not treated with antihypertensive drugs were selected from this population (Group 3) and matched with normotensive subjects with a negative (Group 1) and positive (Group 2) family history of hypertension, according to age, weight, neuroticism and Type A behaviour. Hypertensive men showed higher pressor responses to cold and mental stress tests than normotensive ones. Significantly lower anticipation and test responses were found in Group 2 as compared with Group 1 and 3, i.e. in those subjects who remained normotensive to higher age in spite of having a positive family history of hypertension. This fact suggests an important--intrinsic or modulating--role of cardiovascular responsiveness to physiological and psychological challenges in the manifestation of the genetic disposition for essential hypertension.
4th Department of Medicine, Charles University, Praha.
A
A
Slabý
E
E
Frantík
M
M
Horváth
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000367:Age Factors; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001835:Body Weight; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003080:Cold Temperature; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011187:Posture; D012907:Smoking; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D014434:Type A Personality
D002784:Cholesterol