INTRAARTERIAL BLOOD-PRESSURE AND HEART-RATE REACTIVITY TO BEHAVIORAL STRESS IN NORMOTENSIVE, BORDERLINE, AND MILD HYPERTENSIVE MEN

Intra-arterial blood pressure (BP) stress reactivity was studied in ne wly detected, World Health Organization-classified (1978), age-matched normotensive (NT; n = 33), borderline hypertensive (BHT; n = 30), and hypertensive (HT; n = 32) men recruited through routine health examin ations. They underwent a relaxation baseline followed by 8 standardize d behavioral challenges. BHT and HT men displayed exaggerated BP react ivity compared with NT men, particularly on perceptual-motor and socia l tasks, and HT men showed higher reactivity than NT men in the cold p resser test. These results are the first to show reactivity difference s between NT men and BHT or HT men in an intra-arterial experiment. Di astolic BP (DBP) discriminated the groups better than systolic BP (SBP ) or heart rate (HR). The few differences in SEP compared with DBP amo ng the groups combined with hardly any differences in HR indicate the predominance of vascular factors in middle-aged as opposed to younger men with borderline or mild hypertension.