ESTIMATING PSYCHOMENTAL STRAIN - CIRCULAT ORY AND NEUROHUMORAL INDICATORS OF STRAIN IN PATIENTS WITH CORONARY HEART-DISEASE UNDER PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOMENTAL STRESS

20 male patients with angiographically documented coronary heart disea se (CHD) were investigated by standardized bicycle ergometry, a restin g test and three psychomental stress tasks: delayed auditory feedback (DAF), mental arithmetics, and a racing car simulator (RCS). Heart rat e (HR), blood pressure and plasma concentration of vasopressin, ACTH, cortisol, noradrenaline (NA), adrenaline, blood lipids, glucose, potas sium and hematocrit were measured. The rate-pressure product (RPP) was calculated. The increases of HR, systolic blood pressure, RPP and NA in ergometry and of systolic and diastolic blood pressure during DAF a nd RCS were significant. All other strain indicators showed no signifi cant differences neither among the stress tests nor in comparison to t he resting test. The physical strain of patients with CHD induced by p sychomental stress must be estimated on a lower level than the strain caused by standardized bicycle ergometry. Neither a favored method to induce psychomental stress responses nor the identification of a stres s-specific strain indicator can be deduced.