2023-07-11 07:29:34
A recent study has shown that there is a correlation between hypertension and stress, especially if forms of discrimination in the workplace generate it
Lately I’ve been very stressed, I have problems both at home and at work and the pressure has risen. Is there really a correlation? I’m a bit skeptical.
Responds to Marina Alimento, Heart Failure Operational Unit, Clinical and Rehabilitative Cardiology, Card. Monzino, Milan (GO TO FORUM CARDIOLOGY)
The most common form of arterial hypertension is usually defined as essential, yet many factors predisposing the hypertensive state are known. One of these is stress. The response to acute stress depends on the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, and the consequent release of catecholamines and cortisol, which translates into an increase in heart rate, cardiac output and blood pressure. Less known are the mechanisms by which chronic exposure to stress in the workplace, social or family environment favors the elevation of blood pressure. Taking into account the high number of hours that adults spend on average at work, it is not surprising how significant an increase in cardiovascular risk is in situations that create stress at work, such as dissatisfaction or the perception of racial or sexual discrimination. In a recent article published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, Jian Li et al. analyze data from a US prospective study, the MIDUS Study, on subjects with various occupational and educational levels. Among the patients enrolled, from 2004 to 2006, 1246 subjects were selected, mainly middle-aged, who at the starting point were not hypertensive. Participants were administered a questionnaire divided into 6 points, in order to assess the perception of ethnic, racial or sexual discrimination and/or the perception of inequalities in terms of duties or career advancement. During a mean follow-up of about 8 years, 319 new cases of hypertension developed. Based on the score obtained from the questionnaires, compared to subjects with a low level of work discrimination, those with an average level of discrimination developed hypertension 22% higher and those with a high level of discrimination achieved a 54% probability of having hypertension in the follow-up up. For the first time, in the literature, it is documented that exposure to high levels of discrimination in the workplace can lead to hypertension and that this effect is independent of sociodemographic, behavioral or other psychosocial factors. In conclusion, to answer the reader’s question, not only having ascertained that there is a relationship between stress and increased blood pressure, but the authors also go too far in suggesting social anti-discrimination policies, in the workplace, in order to reduce the onset of hypertension, which is recognized as the most important risk factor for cardiovascular events.
July 11, 2023 (change July 11, 2023 | 07:29)
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