Stress Reactions of Normotensives and Hypertensives and the Influence of Female Sex Hormones on Blood Pressure Regulation

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses stress reactions of normotensives and hypertensives and the influence of female sex hormones on blood pressure regulation. In order to properly estimate the stress response, comparative tests are carried out under strict basic metabolic conditions in hyper- and normotensive subjects. A number of physiological reactions reflecting the activity of the autonomic nervous system varied proportionately to resting blood pressure in male and female subjects under strict resting conditions. Thus, involuntary muscle activity and the rate of metabolism are likewise proportionate to the blood pressure at rest; they are higher in the group of hypertensives than in the group of normotensives. According to the hypothalamus theory, essential hypertension is primarily based on one single pathogenetic mechanism, which consists of a hyperactivity of hypothalamic structures of the sympathetic nervous system. In this hyperactivity, besides other factors stressors also play an important role. Reactions generated by stressors are influenced by the following factors—adaptation, intensity and kind of stimuli, age, sex, relationship to certain blood pressure groups. From the clinical point of view the influence of sex hormones is of central importance.