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Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol 50, Issue 1 15-22, Copyright © 1988 by American Psychosomatic Society

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Caffeine, mental stress, and risk for hypertension: a cross-cultural replication

L Greenstadt, L Yang and D Shapiro
Department of Psychiatry and Biohavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles 90024.

Separate and combined effects of caffeine and mental arithmetic stress on systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) were assessed in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Thirty-six Chinese nationals, half with and half without a family history of hypertension, received either 0, 125, or 250 mg of caffeine in three separate experimental sessions, each preceded by a 12-hour abstention from caffeine consumption. Caffeine and mental stress elevated SBP, but caffeine did not potentiate the SBP response to mental stress. Caffeine did not affect HR. A positive family history of hypertension was associated with larger SBP elevations to the higher dose of caffeine. Family history of hypertension was associated with larger blood pressure elevations during mental stress, but only under conditions of high-level stimulation provided by the initial exposure to the stress. These results support previous findings of greater cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stress in individuals at high risk for hypertension.




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Copyright © 1988 by the American Psychosomatic Society