The role of anxiety and emotional stress as a risk factor in treatment-resistant hypertension.

Depression and anxiety are both known to be co-morbid with coronary heart disease. Given the high prevalence of coronary heart disease today, specifically the aspect of hypertension, it seems more important than ever to investigate whether or not treatment of these co-morbidities can have an effect on reducing hypertension. This article summarizes the limited amount of literature that has been published in this area and highlights what we believe to be a missing key element that will guide our own future research in this area.