Increased Response to Physical and Mental Stress in Men With Hypertensive Parents

Blood pressure and heart rate responses to isometric handgrip exercise were studied at age 31 and after 5 years in young nonhypertensive men with positive family histories of hypertension (n=13) and in those with negative family histories of hypertension (n=13) for two generations to test whether subjects with positive family histories established a pattern of increased blood pressure and heart rate responses during the 5-year follow-up period. At follow-up the response to mental stress (Stroopʼs color word test) was also studied. Baseline blood pressure and heart rate at rest did not differ, initially or at follow-up, between the groups. At the initial examination, absolute blood pressure levels were significantly higher during isometric handgrip exercise just before exhaustion in subjects with positive family histories. At follow-up the absolute blood pressure level (p