Study Offers More Evidence Stress Can Raise Blood Pressure

If you often feel stressed out, your blood pressure may rise over time, along with higher risks of other heart problems, according to a new study.

Researchers found that adults with normal blood pressure but high levels of stress hormones were more likely to develop high blood pressure within six to seven years than those with lower stress hormone levels.

“The stress hormones norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine, and cortisol can increase with stress related to life events, work, relationships, finances, etc. And we have confirmed that stress is a key contributor to risk. ‘hypertension and cardiovascular events,’ said the study’s author. Dr Kosuke Inoue, Assistant Professor of Social Epidemiology at Kyoto University in Japan.

The study, published Monday in Hypertension, included more than 400 people, aged 48 to 87, who participated in a larger study on atherosclerosis – clogged arteries that can lead to heart disease – involving six U.S. communities.

They participated in a 12-hour nighttime urine test between July 2004 and October 2006.

The researchers analyzed their levels of norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine, and cortisol.

The first three are related to the autonomic nervous system, which regulates heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. Cortisol is a steroid hormone that is released during stress.

“Although all of these hormones are produced in the adrenal gland, they have different roles and mechanisms for influencing the cardiovascular system, so it is important to study their relationship to hypertension and cardiovascular events, individually,” said Inoue in a press release.

It is also affiliated with the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Participants were followed until June 2018 to see if they developed high blood pressure, or hypertension, and cardiovascular events such as chest pain, requiring an artery opening procedure, heart attack or a cerebral vascular accident.

A growing body of research refers to the mind-heart-body connection, which suggests that a person’s mind can positively or negatively affect the risk of heart disease and stroke.

“Previous research has focused on the relationship between stress hormone levels and hypertension or cardiovascular events in patients with existing hypertension. However, studies in adults without hypertension were lacking,” he said. declared Inoue.

The research team found that over a follow-up period of about 6.5 years, each doubling of the four stress hormone levels was associated with a 21% to 31% increase in the risk of developing high blood pressure.

And over a median of 11 years, every doubling in cortisol levels was associated with a 90% increase in the risk of heart events or strokes.

“It is important to examine the impact of stress on adults in the general population, as it provides new information on whether routine measurement of stress hormones should be considered to prevent hypertension and cardiovascular illnesses. [cardiovascular disease] events, ”said Inoue.

The authors recognized some limitations of the study: It did not include people who already had high blood pressure and did not use other tests to measure stress hormones.

More information

The American Psychological Association offers some healthy suggestions for reducing stress.

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