Brief historical background and principal nature of process

After a brief outline of the historical background, the biological principle of structural tissue adaptation to alterations in load is discussed with special reference to the cardiovascular system. It is stressed that adaptive changes of cardiac and vascular design to local load are rapid, precise, and, on the local level, highly appropriate. However, in hypertension, when they affect the entire systemic resistance section (structural autoregulation), as well as some major "barostats," an upward structural resetting of the entire pressure equilibrium occurs. Further, by way of the consequent vascular resistance vessel hyperreactivity, a positive feedback interaction is established with functional pressure effects and thus tends to further escalate the pressure rise. For these reasons the "normal" structural factor becomes of key importance for the initiation, maintenance, and gradual aggravation of chronic high pressure states.