Cardiovascular stress responsivity, body mass and abdominal adiposity.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the relationship between adiposity and cardiovascular stress reactivity and recovery in middle-aged men and women, and investigate the influence of impaired poststress cardiovascular recovery on changes in body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio over 3 y.


METHODS
In total, 225 healthy men and women aged 47-59 y were recruited from the British civil service.


METHODS
Laboratory mental stress testing was carried out, with blood pressure (BP), cardiac output and total peripheral resistance being measured at baseline, during moderately challenging tasks, and during recovery 40-45 min poststress. Weight, height, waist and hip circumference were assessed at the time of mental stress testing and 3 y later.


RESULTS
Behavioural tasks elicited increases in BP sustained by a combination of cardiac activation and raised peripheral resistance. BMI and waist/hip ratio were associated cross-sectionally with impaired poststress recovery of systolic pressure, diastolic pressure and cardiac index independently of age, gender, socioeconomic status, smoking, alcohol consumption and baseline cardiovascular activity. Increases in waist-hip ratio over 3 y were predicted both by impaired poststress recovery of systolic pressure and cardiac index in men, independently of baseline adiposity and other covariates. No associations between subjective stress and BMI or waist-hip ratio were observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Disturbances of cardiovascular responsivity to psychological stress, manifest through impaired poststress recovery, were associated cross-sectionally with BMI, and longitudinally with central adiposity in men. Stress-related cardiovascular dysregulation may contribute to obesity risk.
Steptoe
A
A
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, UK. a.steptoe@ucl.ac.uk
Wardle
J
J
D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002302:Cardiac Output; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000473:pathology; D008131:London; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D014655:Vascular Resistance; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio