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Increased blood pressure reactions to acute mental stress are associated with 16‐year cardiovascular disease mortality
Author(s) -
Carroll Douglas,
Ginty Annie T.,
Der Geoff,
Hunt Kate,
Benzeval Michaela,
Phillips Anna C.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2012.01463.x
Subject(s) - blood pressure , disease , cardiology , etiology , medicine , diastole , psychology
Exaggerated cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress may be involved in the etiology of cardiovascular pathology. The present analysis examined the association between the magnitude of systolic and diastolic blood pressure reactions to stress and cardiovascular disease mortality. Participants were 431 (229 women) from the W est of S cotland Twenty‐07 Study, aged 63 years at the time of stress testing, where blood pressure was measured during resting baseline and mental arithmetic stress. Participants' vital status was tracked for the next 16 years, during which time 38 had died of cardiovascular disease. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure reactions were positively associated with cardiovascular disease mortality. This association could reflect the long‐term erosive effects of exaggerated reactivity on the vasculature as well as its short‐term capacity to trigger acute cardiovascular events.