AGING OR DISEASE - CARDIOVASCULAR REACTIVITY IN FINNISH MEN OVER THE MIDDLE YEARS

Cardiovascular responses to psychological events may mediate the influ ence of stress on cardiovascular disease. In this study the authors as ked whether cardiovascular responses to psychological challenge change d with age and whether such changes were intrinsic to aging or could b e attributed to the influence of disease and medications. Cardiovascul ar reactivity to mental challenge was examined in 902 men ranging in a ge from 46 to 64 years who participated in the Kuopio Ischemic Heart D isease Risk Factor Study. A battery of 4 tasks was used to induce card iovascular responses. Current disease status, age, and medication use were entered into hierarchical regression analyses to assess their rel ation with measures of cardiovascular reactivity. Age and hypertension contributed independent, approximately equal, but small amounts of va riance in the cardiac and vascular reactivity indexes. Medications als o influenced reactivity independently of age and disease. Performance on the tasks was more consistently altered by age than by disease or m edication. Cardiac and vascular reactivity increased with increasing a ge and the presence of hypertension. The authors conclude that both ag e and disease state must be considered when examining cardiovascular r eactivity as a risk factor for disease.