Blood Pressure and Stress
One of the most important causes of high blood pressure is stress. Therefore, it makes sense to avoid stress or, if it cannot be avoided, to learn methods for reduction or stress relief. The better the body learns to cope with stress or process its effects, the lower the increase in blood pressure under stress.
What is Stress?
Stress is the reaction to strain. Therefore, it is also important to avoid extreme stress whenever possible.
Stress from Exercise
If maximum performance is demanded from an untrained body, it reacts with stress. Blood pressure rises due to the unfamiliar strain on blood vessels, and the values can reach dangerous heights. Therefore, it is important to gradually acclimate to the stresses of exercise. Light endurance sports under medical supervision support the medication therapy.
White Coat Effect
You arrive at the doctors office out of breath, perhaps having walked up to the second floor, and the visit is always associated with some excitement? It is only understandable that your measured blood pressure may be higher than normal. Not for nothing do doctors advise their patients to sit quietly for a few minutes to allow their heart rate to normalize. The worry that the measured value will be too high again, the fear of blood draws, or the general excitement of having to see the doctor again (White Coat Effect), can cause blood pressure to be higher than when measured at home in a familiar environment.
How Does Stress Work?
Under stress, not only does blood pressure rise. The increase in blood pressure during stress and all other bodily processes are effects desired by nature. Our ancestors experienced stress when they felt threatened. To react quickly, adrenaline is released - an increased heart rate, faster and deeper breathing, and increased blood flow to the brain and large muscle groups are the result: Now it is possible to fight or flee. If stress persists or new stress occurs shortly after, the organism does not have the opportunity to return the adrenaline level to normal. Thus, the heightened state of alarm with higher blood pressure remains for a longer time and can become chronic with continued stress. In addition to adrenaline, other hormones such as cortisol (which constricts blood vessels in the brain to allow oxygen to reach the brain faster) and growth hormones are released, which stabilize metabolism or inhibit certain bodily processes (such as pain perception or digestion) that are not useful to humans under stress.
An increased release of glucose raises blood sugar levels to supply the muscles with energy. The elevated blood sugar calls the pancreas into action - insulin is released. Blood sugar is broken down by insulin, and subsequently, a feeling of hunger arises. Therefore, one tends to eat too much under stress. At the same time, digestion is inhibited, so that food cannot be well utilized. This, in turn, can lead to a disturbance of the bacterial flora in the intestines and thus to a deficiency of nutrients in the body. A constantly elevated blood sugar level can lead to diabetes, which in turn has further consequences. Increased muscle tension often leads to headaches and neck pain. Disturbed digestion or even impotence can be long-term consequences.
Persistently elevated blood pressure can damage both the heart and blood vessels as well as other organs. The hormones adrenaline and cortisol, as well as growth hormones, ensure that the release of insulin is disturbed, as the muscles need the available sugar. However, if the muscles are not moved, because neither fight nor flight is part of our modern behavioral repertoire, these hormones remain in the body and prevent insulin release - diabetes can develop. Cardiovascular problems are the most common late effects of chronic stress. The accompanying symptoms of too much cortisol also include its anti-inflammatory properties. If there are no inflammations in the body, the production of antibodies is reduced. When common pathogens such as cold bacteria or flu viruses come into play, the stressed person is much more susceptible than the balanced individual.
Even with a low-salt diet (which is recommended to lower blood pressure), there can be a dangerous increase in some metabolic values. For example, an increase in the stress hormones renin, aldosterone, adrenaline, and noradrenaline has been observed. Therefore, it is also important to find the golden mean when reducing salt in the diet.
Sources:
Relaxation for High Blood Pressure
The relaxation guide from BloodPressureDB
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By Sabine Croci.
This article is medically reviewed. Last updated (04/2024).
Information on the website and within the app cannot replace a consultation with a doctor, but can certainly complement it.
