Physiological reactivity to acute mental stress in essential hypertension—a systematic review
ObjectiveExaggerated physiological reactions to acute mental stress (AMS) are associated with hypertension (development) and have been proposed to play an important role in mediating the cardiovascular disease risk with hypertension. A variety of studies compared physiological reactivity to AMS betw...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2023.1215710/full |
| _version_ | 1797744801898037248 |
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| author | Lisa-Marie Walther Lisa-Marie Walther Petra H. Wirtz Petra H. Wirtz |
| author_facet | Lisa-Marie Walther Lisa-Marie Walther Petra H. Wirtz Petra H. Wirtz |
| author_sort | Lisa-Marie Walther |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ObjectiveExaggerated physiological reactions to acute mental stress (AMS) are associated with hypertension (development) and have been proposed to play an important role in mediating the cardiovascular disease risk with hypertension. A variety of studies compared physiological reactivity to AMS between essential hypertensive (HT) and normotensive (NT) individuals. However, a systematic review of studies across stress-reactive physiological systems including intermediate biological risk factors for cardiovascular diseases is lacking.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature search (PubMed) for original articles and short reports, published in English language in peer-reviewed journals in November and December 2022. We targeted studies comparing the reactivity between essential HT and NT to AMS in terms of cognitive tasks, public speaking tasks, or the combination of both, in at least one of the predefined stress-reactive physiological systems.ResultsWe included a total of 58 publications. The majority of studies investigated physiological reactivity to mental stressors of mild or moderate intensity. Whereas HT seem to exhibit increased reactivity in response to mild or moderate AMS only under certain conditions (i.e., in response to mild mental stressors with specific characteristics, in an early hyperkinetic stage of HT, or with respect to certain stress systems), increased physiological reactivity in HT as compared to NT to AMS of strong intensity was observed across all investigated stress-reactive physiological systems.ConclusionOverall, this systematic review supports the proposed and expected generalized physiological hyperreactivity to AMS with essential hypertension, in particular to strong mental stress. Moreover, we discuss potential underlying mechanisms and highlight open questions for future research of importance for the comprehensive understanding of the observed hyperreactivity to AMS in essential hypertension. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:14:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cf798995a50346678a035a52d8e646ff |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-055X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:14:26Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-cf798995a50346678a035a52d8e646ff2023-08-11T16:23:12ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine2297-055X2023-08-011010.3389/fcvm.2023.12157101215710Physiological reactivity to acute mental stress in essential hypertension—a systematic reviewLisa-Marie Walther0Lisa-Marie Walther1Petra H. Wirtz2Petra H. Wirtz3Biological Work and Health Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, GermanyCentre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, GermanyBiological Work and Health Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, GermanyCentre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, GermanyObjectiveExaggerated physiological reactions to acute mental stress (AMS) are associated with hypertension (development) and have been proposed to play an important role in mediating the cardiovascular disease risk with hypertension. A variety of studies compared physiological reactivity to AMS between essential hypertensive (HT) and normotensive (NT) individuals. However, a systematic review of studies across stress-reactive physiological systems including intermediate biological risk factors for cardiovascular diseases is lacking.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature search (PubMed) for original articles and short reports, published in English language in peer-reviewed journals in November and December 2022. We targeted studies comparing the reactivity between essential HT and NT to AMS in terms of cognitive tasks, public speaking tasks, or the combination of both, in at least one of the predefined stress-reactive physiological systems.ResultsWe included a total of 58 publications. The majority of studies investigated physiological reactivity to mental stressors of mild or moderate intensity. Whereas HT seem to exhibit increased reactivity in response to mild or moderate AMS only under certain conditions (i.e., in response to mild mental stressors with specific characteristics, in an early hyperkinetic stage of HT, or with respect to certain stress systems), increased physiological reactivity in HT as compared to NT to AMS of strong intensity was observed across all investigated stress-reactive physiological systems.ConclusionOverall, this systematic review supports the proposed and expected generalized physiological hyperreactivity to AMS with essential hypertension, in particular to strong mental stress. Moreover, we discuss potential underlying mechanisms and highlight open questions for future research of importance for the comprehensive understanding of the observed hyperreactivity to AMS in essential hypertension.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2023.1215710/fullessential hypertensionphysiological stress reactivityacute mental stresssystematic reviewstress |
| spellingShingle | Lisa-Marie Walther Lisa-Marie Walther Petra H. Wirtz Petra H. Wirtz Physiological reactivity to acute mental stress in essential hypertension—a systematic review Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine essential hypertension physiological stress reactivity acute mental stress systematic review stress |
| title | Physiological reactivity to acute mental stress in essential hypertension—a systematic review |
| title_full | Physiological reactivity to acute mental stress in essential hypertension—a systematic review |
| title_fullStr | Physiological reactivity to acute mental stress in essential hypertension—a systematic review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Physiological reactivity to acute mental stress in essential hypertension—a systematic review |
| title_short | Physiological reactivity to acute mental stress in essential hypertension—a systematic review |
| title_sort | physiological reactivity to acute mental stress in essential hypertension a systematic review |
| topic | essential hypertension physiological stress reactivity acute mental stress systematic review stress |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2023.1215710/full |
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