Psychosocial Stress and Reactivity as Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Disease

The relationship of environmental stress to biobehavioral factors has gained recognition in the adult disorders of essential hypertension and coronary artery disease. The pathogenetic dissection of these cardiovascular diseases indicates an interrelationship of multiple biologic factors. It is now recognized that the process evolving into essential hypertension has its onset in the young. The paper discusses the interaction of biologic and psychosocial factors on the cardiovascular system in the young. The patterns of cardiovascular response to various central nervous system stressors in the young with established cardiac risk factors provide insight to the pathogenesis of essential hypertension and also establish a framework from which to develop future interventions.