No abstract

No abstract

Beside the previously described changes in capillary resistance occurring after a period of latency and lasting for several days or weeks, another type of response was found in both human subjects and experimental animals which sets in promptly and wears off within 4 hours. It is suggested that this be termed ‘immediate capillary stress response’ for the sake of distinction from the ‘late capillary response.’ Both immediate and late responses may show patterns of increase, decrease and biphasic reaction or there may be upon the same stress no change in the capillary resistance at all. Since the immediate capillary stress response, in contrast to the late response, appears in the adrenalectomized animal as well as in the intact animal, it is postulated not to be dependent on the adrenal cortex.

Trained standardized dogs were fasted until the blood pressure declined to the stuble fasting level and were realimented with isocaloric diets high in protein (horse meat) or in carbohydrate (rice or cracker meal). Realimentation was at low maintenance or luxus consumption levels of caloric intake. At the former level, there was no difference between the diets, but at the latter level, the systolic blood pressure and pulse rate were higher on the carbohydrate diet, while the diastolic pressure was normal or low. Preliminary fasting was necessary to obtain a prolonged effect of the carbohydrate diet. Meat appears to antagonize carbohydrate.A REVIEW of the pertinent literature on the effects of nutrition on blood pressure 1 has disclosed the following: (a) Blood pressure tends to rise and fall with body weight both in normotensive and hypertensive human subjects and dogs, the effect being more pronounced on the systolic than on the diastolic pressure, (b) Increasing or decreasing the protein intake nearly always fails to cause corresponding elevation or depression of the blood pressure of normotensive or hypertensive human subjects or dogs. On the other hand, in normotensive or hypertensive rats, the blood pressure tends to vary directly with the protein content of the diet, (c) The effect of carbohydrate and fat has been the subject of fewer studies but the conclusions are that they have no effect, or that they effect blood pressure only if they increase body weight, (d) Increasing or decreasing the sodium intake elevates or depresses the blood pressure in some, but not all, cases of human hypertension. In general, the sodium intake has little or no effect on the blood pressure of normal or hyperFrom tin;