Stress, the sympathetic nervous system and hypertension.

Stress may be an important contributor to the pathogenesis of idiopathic (essential) hypertension. The probable pathway involves activation of the sympathetic nervous system and thereby an increase in peripheral resistance. This paper reviews the hemodynamics of early hypertension and attempts to relate them to stress-mediated overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system. Attention is also given the relations between obesity, race, sex and geography to hypertension.