Job Stress, High Blood Pressure Connection?
May 11, 2006
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Feeling stressed-out at work? Think it's to blame for high blood pressure? Well, think again. It seems the stress brought on by work only causes a temporary rise in blood pressure, according to a study by researchers from New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Samuel J. Mann, M.D., and colleagues say they want to set the record straight with their study published in this month's Current Hypertension Review. He writes, "Given the large number of studies performed to date, it is now time to stand back and address this longstanding question: Does job stress contribute to persisting blood pressure elevation?"
To find the answer, Dr. Mann analyzed 48 studies that examined the relationship between job stress and blood pressure. In the end, he found very little evidence connecting the two.
His study comes as a follow up to a 2003 study by French researchers that indicated job stress has no effect on hypertension. Dr. Mann writes, "So, I wondered, if this very large, well-conducted trial found nothing, why did smaller trials sometimes say otherwise?"
He discovered many studies indicating there may be a small connection, but that connection is limited to a subgroup of study participants and not to the group as a whole. Also, other studies tended to focus on one measure of job stress and ignored all other factors that did not have an impact. Finally, Dr. Mann learned many studies focused on the rise in diastolic blood pressure, ignoring the lack of effect on systolic pressure -- the better indicator of cardiovascular risk.
These findings also explain why potential remedies for chronic stress did not lower blood pressure.
Based on the results of their review, Dr. Mann concludes day-to-day stress does not contribute to hypertension. In addition, he does deny that short-term blood pressure rise can be seen following a particularly stressful incident.
SOURCE: Current Hypertension Review, 2006;2:127-138
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