Stress and Hypertension

Are stress and hypertension related? While stress is not a direct cause of hypertension, there are many ways that hypertension and stress may be related.

If you are living a stressful life you could be elevating your blood pressure. BUT this does not mean that if you have been diagnosed with hypertension that you are stressed.

When stressed for a short period this can lead to increased blood pressure - but when stress goes away your blood pressure returns to normal.

At present scientists are not certain of the link between chronic stress and hypertension. There are a number of ways that stress can be associated with hypertension but the impact of stress on hypertension is less certain.

What is hypertension

Hypertension is high blood pressure.

Blood pressure is measured by a sphygmomanometer. This measures the systolic blood pressure (the blood pressure on the arterial walls on contraction of the heart) and diastolic blood pressure (the blood pressure on the arterial walls when the heart is at rest).

Typically the blood pressure is considered normal when it is 120/80. In other words when the systolic blood pressure is 120mm Hg and the diastolic is 80mm Hg.

While scientists are not agreed over what is normal blood pressure, they generally agree that a blood pressure reading of over 140/90 can be considered as hypertension.

In other words hypertension occurs when systolic blood pressure is over 140 or diastolic blood pressure is over 90.

Causes of Hypertension

Doctors only know the direct causes for about 10% of all hypertension cases.

These 10% of hypertension cases can be put down to factors such as chronic kidney disease, some adrenal gland diseases, and genetic factors, taking birth control pills, pregnancy, addiction to alcohol and thyroid dysfunction.

This means that 90% of hypertension causes are not known! This is called essential hypertension.

While the specific cause of essential hypertension may not be known, there are a number of factors that can contribute to high blood pressure.

Hypertension in the elderly. As you get older your blood pressure tends to increase. As your arteries stiffen (possibly as a result of atherosclerosis - see stress and heart disease) the systolic blood pressure for elderly may increase.

Race. Black Americans have a higher blood pressure than white Americans. Those with the lowest blood pressure are white females while those with the highest blood pressure are black females.

Family history. Hypertension tends to run in families.

Gender. Men tend to have higher blood pressure than women.

Obesity and hypertension. Many public health programs focus on the reducing obesity as a means to reduce hypertension and associated heart disease. Obese people have higher blood pressure and many doctors advise losing weight as a means to control hypertension.

Salt and hypertension. Salt can cause your blood pressure to go up. The daily recommended salt intake is about 5g, yet Americans consume at least 2-4 times that on an average day.

Often reducing sodium intake is not just a matter of dropping the salt shaker out of your diet. Many processed foods also include sodium. Read your labels on various food items and avoid those with excess sodium levels.

Exercise and hypertension. Living a life of sedentary activities can be associated with increased risk of hypertension. Exercise can help to reduce high blood pressure.

Hypertension symptoms

If you think that you have high blood pressure then there are few hypertension symptoms to look out for. This is why hypertension is called the "silent killer".

However, hypertension is a primary risk factor for heart disease and can lead to increased risk of having a stroke.

How stress and hypertension could be linked

Stress and hypertension could be related in any number of ways. The release of the stress hormones adrenaline and nor-adrenaline, or the link between vassopressin and blood pressure are some of the ways that stress and hypertension may be linked.

When your fight and flight response is activated the heart pumps blood to the muscles of the body.

You may notice that your heart is pounding in your chest as you prepare to fight or flee from the aggressor.

While this stress response serves an important purpose, many of today's stressors can be emotional and long-lasting.

Being bombarded with daily hassles, traffic jams, irate bosses or crunching deadlines can mean that the stress response is constantly activated - leading to chronic stress which may be implicated in chronic hypertension.

At the same time, your body releases adrenaline and noradrenaline.

These stress hormones further stimulate the heart – constricting the vessels and increasing blood pressure against the arterial walls.

Cortisol has a number of functions but one of them that may impact on hypertension is that:

1. cortisol inhibits the breakdown of adrenaline and nor-adrenaline (thereby making it difficult to relax), and
2. increases the amount of cholesterol in the blood.

As cholesterol increases, there is increased risk that plaque can form on the artery walls.

To use an analogy. If you can imagine watering your garden with the hose. To reach the plants at the back of the garden you may need to cover the opening of the hose with your finger - to increase the pressure of the water coming out.

Well the same with plaque build up on the artery walls.

As the same amount of blood tries to get through a smaller and smaller opening (as the plaque builds up on the walls of the artery and reduces the diameter of the artery) blood pressure will increase.

This may cause hypertension.

Vassopressin is an anti diuretic hormone. The main role of vassopressin is to regulate fluid loss in the urinary tract by absorbing water or by reducing perspiration.

This means that vassopressin can alter the volume of blood pumped through the heart - which impacts blood pressure.

Under stress vassopressin increases and this increases blood pressure and the risk of hypertension.

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