[Aggression inhibition and increased sympathetic nervous reactivity in the development of essential hypertension].
Suppressed aggression and activity of the sympathetic nervous system were assessed in two risk groups for essential hypertension, viz. 24 borderline hypertensives (18 men, 6 women, age range 18-24, 18 with a family history of hypertension) and 24 normotensive offspring of hypertensive parents, and in a control group exactly matched for age, sex and socioeconomic status. In the Rosenzweig Picture-Frustration test, both potential hypertensive groups were significantly less aggressive compared with the controls, and additionally the borderline hypertensives internalized their aggression. Plasma noradrenaline concentrations, as a marker for sympathetic nervous system activity, increased significantly before and during mental stressors (Stroop colour-word conflict test, mental arithmetic) in both groups, whereas in normotensive controls no significant increase occurred. These findings point to a psychosomatic factor in the development of essential hypertension.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000097:blood; D011386:Projective Techniques; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*
D009638:Norepinephrine
Aggressionshemmung und gesteigerte Sympathikusreaktivität bei der Entwicklung der essentiellen Hypertonie.