1. Home>
2. Specialties>
3. General Medicine>
4. Summary and Comment

ANXIETY PREDICTS HYPERTENSION IN MIDDLE-AGED MEN.

The link between psychological stress and hypertension has been controversial because of a lack of prospective data. This investigation prospectively followed 1123 normotensive participants in the Framingham Heart Study.

Subjects' baseline levels of anxiety or tension, anger, and expression of anger between 1965 and 1967 were evaluated with a battery of questions. After 18 to 20 years of follow- up, 529 subjects had developed hypertension, as defined by the use of antihypertensive drugs and blood pressure measurement at biennial examinations.

After adjustment for confounding factors, anxiety or tension independently predicted the development of hypertension in middle-aged men (relative risk, 2.2) but not in women of any age. Anger did not independently correlate with hypertension in either sex.

Comment: Because this study used prospective clinical and psychological data, it provides important new support for the hypothesis that psychological factors promote hypertension, at least in middle-aged men. A plausible mechanism would be increased sympathetic nervous system activity.

— THL

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine December 10, 1993

Citation(s):

Markovitz JH et al. Psychological predictors of hypertension in the Framingham Study: is there tension in hypertension?. JAMA 1993 Nov 24 270 2439-2443.

• Medline abstract (Free)