Response to Mental Stress, Arterial Stiffness, Central Pressures, and Cardiovascular Risk

Abstract

HomeHypertensionVol. 56, No. 3Response to Mental Stress, Arterial Stiffness, Central Pressures, and Cardiovascular Risk Free AccessLetterPDF/EPUBAboutView PDFView EPUBSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationsTrack citationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InMendeleyReddit Jump toFree AccessLetterPDF/EPUBResponse to Mental Stress, Arterial Stiffness, Central Pressures, and Cardiovascular Risk Yoichi Chida Andrew Steptoe Yoichi ChidaYoichi Chida Department of Medical Science, Happy Science Clinic, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa, Japan, Psychobiology Group, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom Search for more papers by this author Andrew SteptoeAndrew Steptoe Psychobiology Group, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom Search for more papers by this author Originally published6 Jul 2010https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.110.156679Hypertension. 2010;56:e29Other version(s) of this articleYou are viewing the most recent version of this article. Previous versions: July 6, 2010: Previous Version 1 Vlachopoulos et al1 argue that research on mental stress, physiological responses, and future cardiovascular disease would benefit from a broadening of outcomes to measures such as arterial stiffness and central hemodynamics. We fully agree that these newly established hemodynamic indices are relevant to stress and cardiovascular disease, as well as being valuable predictors of future risk.2 Research indicates that arterial stiffness is directly influenced by acute mental stress. Additionally, Ellins et al3 demonstrated recently that inflammatory responses to stress (increases in plasma fibrinogen and tumor necrosis factor-α) were positively associated with vascular stiffness measured 3 years later, independent of covariates. Other intermediate cardiovascular risk markers, such as impaired endothelial function4 and coronary artery calcification,5 are also associated with mental stress. These measures are likely to provide more insight into the role of emotional stress in cardiovascular risk than the more commonly assessed variables, such as blood pressure level.DisclosuresNone.1 Vlachopoulos C, Xaplanteris P, Stefanadis C. Mental stress, arterial stiffness, central pressures and cardiovascular risk. Hypertension. 2010; 56: e28.LinkGoogle Scholar2 Vlachopoulos C, Aznaouridis K, Stefanadis C. Prediction of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality with arterial stiffness: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010; 55: 1318–1327.CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3 Ellins E, Halcox J, Donald A, Field B, Brydon L, Deanfield J, Steptoe A. Arterial stiffness and inflammatory response to psychophysiological stress. Brain Behav Immun. 2008; 22: 941–948.CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4 Ghiadoni L, Donald A, Cropley M, Mullen MJ, Oakley G, Taylor M, O'Connor G, Betteridge J, Klein N, Steptoe A, Deanfield JE. Mental stress induces transient endothelial dysfunction in humans. Circulation. 2000; 102: 2473–2478.CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5 Hamer M, O'Donnell K, Lahiri A, Steptoe A. Salivary cortisol responses to mental stress are associated with coronary artery calcification in healthy men and women. Eur Heart J. 2010; 31: 424–429.CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Previous Back to top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited By Brindle R, Ginty A, Phillips A and Carroll D (2014) A tale of two mechanisms: A meta-analytic approach toward understanding the autonomic basis of cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress, Psychophysiology, 10.1111/psyp.12248, 51:10, (964-976), Online publication date: 1-Oct-2014. September 2010Vol 56, Issue 3 Advertisement Article InformationMetrics https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.110.156679 Originally publishedJuly 6, 2010 PDF download Advertisement SubjectsEpidemiology