Stress and its effects on blood pressure

Stress and its effects on blood pressure

As we all know, stress is a part of our everyday lives. Some of us can do it better than others, but stress is simply part of the human condition. Many studies have examined the effects of stress on our bodies, but what about blood pressure? How does stress affect blood pressure?

Intuitively, we know that stress increases blood pressure. But does this lead to high blood pressure or high blood pressure that requires treatment from a doctor? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not simple and straightforward.

As mentioned above, we know that stress affects our bodies. When we're faced with a stressful situation, we naturally feel emotionally unwell, but our bodies also release hormones into the bloodstream. These stress hormones, adrenaline and cortical, are released in response to what is known as the “flight or fight” response. You may remember this term from your previous biology studies.

The body's response to these stress hormones is a survival mechanism that increases the heart rate and constricts blood vessels to increase blood flow to the body's core as opposed to the extremities. This in turn leads to an increase in blood pressure. However, this increase in blood pressure is only temporary. When stress is relieved, blood pressure returns to pre-stress levels. This type of stress is considered situational and its effects are usually short-lived and disappear when the stressful incident is over and do not cause serious health problems.

On the other end of the spectrum from situational stress would be chronic stress. However, chronic stress is not believed to cause high blood pressure. While researchers don't know exactly what causes high blood pressure, we do know the factors that contribute: obesity, poor diet, lack of exercise and alcohol, to name a few. Since stress can cause many of these factors either directly or indirectly, we can make this connection between chronic stress and high blood pressure. In other words, chronic stress can cause behavioral changes that can increase blood pressure.

Because we can identify many of the factors that can cause high blood pressure, and we know that chronic stress, as opposed to temporary stress, can increase the occurrence of these risk factors, it is important to examine the relationship between stress and blood pressure from a behavioral perspective. This means that people suffering from chronic stress should consult not only their family doctor, but also a behavioral specialist (e.g. psychologist). By looking at the problem both physically and behaviorally, a better course of action can be developed. Over time, this should hopefully allow for more effective management of the stress in one's life and therefore a healthier and more productive existence.

Inspired by Dan Irwin