In 62 healthy adults, higher chronic stress was associated with lower systolic blood pressure and epinephrine responses to acute stress, while men showed higher blood pressure during recovery.
Observational (n=62)
Does chronic stress influence cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses to acute stress and recovery, and are these effects gender-specific in healthy middle-aged persons?
Chronic stress blunts acute cardiovascular and neuroendocrine stress responses, while men exhibit poorer cardiovascular recovery compared to women, potentially contributing to gender differences in midlife cardiovascular disease risk.
This study tests the influence of chronic stress on cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses to and recovery from acute stressors and whether the effects are gender specific. Sixty-two healthy, middle-aged persons (50% women) performed mental-arithmetic and public-speaking tasks and relaxed thereafter for 1 hr while their cardiovascular and neuroendocrine function was measured. Participants with higher levels of chronic stress showed lower systolic blood pressure (SBP) and epinephrine (E; men only) and marginally lower levels of norepinephrine (NE) responses to the tasks and showed lower levels of cortisol and marginally lower NE responses during recovery. Relative to women, men had high diastolic blood pressure (DBP) responses to the tasks and high SBP, DBP, and E responses during recovery. Gender differences in cardiovascular disease in midlife may be due to gender differences in the inability to recover quickly, in addition to enhanced acute-stress response.
Matthews et al. (Thu,) conducted a observational in Healthy (n=62). Chronic stress vs. Lower chronic stress / Women was evaluated on Cardiovascular and neuroendocrine responses to and recovery from acute stressors. In 62 healthy adults, higher chronic stress was associated with lower systolic blood pressure and epinephrine responses to acute stress, while men showed higher blood pressure during recovery.