title: Risk for hypertension and pain sensitivity in adolescent boys.
abstract: Reduced pain perception has been observed in many studies of spontaneously hypertensive rats and human hypertensive patients. To determine whether a reduced sensitivity to pain could be observed in a group of clearly normotensive individuals who may be at risk for hypertension, a mild to moderate pain stimulus was administered to 177 14-year-old boys. Boys with a normatively elevated resting systolic blood pressure tolerated mechanical finger pressure significantly longer than boys with lower blood pressure. As well, boys with both normatively elevated resting systolic blood pressure and a parental history of hypertension reported significantly less pain during finger pressure than lower risk participants. These findings could not be explained by personality factors and suggest that hypertension-related hypoalgesia is associated with processes involved in the development of the disorder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. blaine@hebb.psych.mcgill.ca
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ditto
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Séguin
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Boulerice
authors.forename: R O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Pihl
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Tremblay
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005192:Family Health; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000523:psychology; D011792:Quebec; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*