[Pathophysiology of essential hypertension. Recent findings (author's transl)]

The blood pressure is regulated by the relationship of cardiac output and peripheral resistance to each other. Both parameters are influenced by the heart, by the kidneys and by the resistance vessels. For a long time the main objective of hypertension research has been directed towards these end organs of circulatory regulation. The functional condition of the heart, kidneys and arterioles is, however, decisively controlled and integrated by the brain. The newly discovered neuropeptides of recent years seem to fulfil an important function in the central mechanisms of circulation regulation. The autonomic nervous system and the hypothalamic and hypophyseal hormones have been discussed as peripheral mediators of the cardiovascular control centers in the brain.