title: Mental stress and hypertension, an evolutionary framework: some historical perspectives of the 1960 World Health Organization Prague Hypertension Meeting.
abstract: Emotional stress acutely and repetitively causing blood pressure increase or aggravating existing hypertension is usually not reflected by norepinephrine and epinephrine increase but by a sudden rise of dopamine, the third "defensive" catecholamine coping with the damaging neuropsychological and cardiovascular actions of the first two. This double-edged sympathetic response to emotional stress evolves during human lifespan and long-term evolution of hypertension. In the course of philogenesis it carries a potential mismatch between the normal physiology of the human dopaminergic system and current environmental (emotional particularly) conditions in industrialized countries. This offers a rational support to a mental stress-cardiovascular diseases relationship proposed 40 years ago in a WHO report which followed a memorable 1960 Prague Hypertension Meeting.
authors.affiliation: University of Montreal, 34 Kenaston Avenue, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3R 1L8. okuchel@videotron.ca
authors.forename: Otto
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kuchel
mesh_terms: D018153:Czech Republic; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000266:history* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000266:history* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014944:World Health Organization / Q000266:history
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine