Cardiovascular reactivity to stress predicts future blood pressure status

Cardiovascular reactivity to stress may have a pathophysiological role in neurogenic hypertension. We studied the value of measuring blood pressure change during standardized mental and physical challenges to prediction of resting blood pressure status 6.5 years later among 206 middle-aged adults and their 164 children, with the latter group originally being tested while enrolled in elementary through high school. After adjustment for age, resting blood pressure, and body mass index at study entry, as well as length of follow-up, larger systolic and diastolic blood pressure responses to a combination of mental and physical challenges were associated with higher subsequent resting diastolic blood pressure 6.5 years later among adults. Among boys, but not among girls, larger systolic and diastolic blood pressure responses to challenge were associated with higher subsequent resting blood pressure. These data suggest that people who are at high risk for elevated blood pressure might have an exaggerated stress-induced cardiovascular response at a younger age.