HYPERTENSION RISK-FACTORS AND CARDIOVASCULAR REACTIVITY TO MENTAL STRESS IN YOUNG MEN

Hypertension risk may be associated with increased presser response to mental stress. However, studies using family history as a predictor o f reactivity have obtained mixed results. We assessed cardiovascular r esponses to mental arithmetic stress (a 5-min serial subtraction task) in male medical students (n = 220) at three levels of hypertension ri sk based on parental history and the subject's systolic blood pressure (SEP): low (SEP < 125 mm Hg and 0 or 1 hypertensive parent), moderate (resting SBP greater than or equal to 125 mm Hg or 2 hypertensive par ents), or high (resting SBP greater than or equal to 125 mm Hg and 1 o r 2 hypertensive parents), High risk men showed the greatest blood pre ssure responses (+22/+16 mm Hg), while moderate and low-risk groups sh owed correspondingly smaller responses (+17/+13 and +14/+11 mm Hg, p's < 0.02), Family history alone did not predict differential reactivity . This study replicates and extends our previous work suggesting the i mportance of using both family history and resting blood pressure leve l in determining future risk for hypertension in studies of cardiovasc ular reactivity in relation to hypertension risk in males.