[The effect of an antihypertensive drug during psychological stress. A double-blind study]

A sample of 20 patients suffering hypertension (with a moderate rise in blood pressure) was randomly divided into two treatment groups of equal size. The patients of one group received antihypertension treatment with the combination drug Briserin¿ (containing 0.1 mg reserpine, 5 mg clopamide, 0.5 mg dihydroergocristin/per tablet); the other patients who served as control group, received a matched placebo. After a fortnight's treatment, the responsiveness of both groups to five different psychologically stressing situations (those with cognitive and/or emotional overload) was tested. Analysis of covariance revealed clinically significant differences in the mean systolic and diastolic pressure scores of the two groups. The scores of the treatment group were lower not only under stress but also at rest. There was in interaction between rise of blood pressure under stress and kind of stress in the two groups, i.e., in situations with heavy emotional and/or cognitive load the differences in the pressure scores of the two groups were less substantial than in situations with a low or medium load. The treatment had no systematic effect on heart rate in this sample. In the treatment group reaction time, perceptual speed, and short-term memory were impaired as compared with the control group; but these differences did not reach a level of significance.