Blood pressure reactivity and sympathetic hyperactivity. Predictors of hypertension.

Raised sympathetic nerve activity appears to be a predictor and factor in primary hypertension. Sympathetic activation alone does not appear to be a sufficient cause of sustained hypertension, however. Over the past two decades we have studied several populations of primary hypertensive patients and found neural hyperactivity in 25 to 30% of them. Metaanalyses of other studies have supported these findings.