Blood pressure and symptoms of depression and anxiety: a prospective study

Abstract

This study investigated whether symptoms of depression and anxiety were related to the development of elevated blood pressure in initially normotensive adults. The study's hypothesis was addressed with an existing set of prospective data gathered from an age-, sex-, and weight-stratified sample of 508 adults. Four years of follow-up data were analyzed both with logistic analysis, which used hypertension (blood pressure > or =140 mm Hg systolic or 90 mm Hg diastolic) as the dependent variable, and with multiple regression analysis, which used change in blood pressure as the dependent variable. Five physical risk factors for hypertension (age, sex, baseline body mass index, family history of hypertension, and baseline blood pressure levels) were controlled for in the regression analyses. Use of antidepressant/antianxiety and antihypertensive medications were controlled for in the study. Of the 433 normotensive participants who were eligible for our study, 15% had missing data in the logistic regression analysis focusing on depression (n = 371); similarly, 15% of the eligible sample had missing data in the logistic regression using anxiety as the psychological variable of interest (n = 370). Both logistic regression analyses showed no significant relationship for either depression or anxiety in the development of hypertension. The multiple regression analyses (n = 369 for the depression analysis; n = 361 for the anxiety analysis) similarly showed no relationship between either depression or anxiety in changes in blood pressure during the 4-year follow-up. Thus, our results do not support the role of depressive or anxiety symptoms in the development of hypertension in our sample of initially normotensive adults.

Antidepressants and cardiovascular outcomes in patients without known cardiovascular risk

“…Antidepressant agents were also independently associated to a 25% increase in the risk of beginning treatment for hypertension. Although the results of the studies examining the association between depression and hypertension are contradictory [15,[30][31][32][33][34][35][36], among our large study population, we found a significant association between these conditions. Our results are in accordance with the results of an epidemiological study of young adults without hypertension at baseline followed up for 5 years [15,16].…”

Tooth Loss Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Hypertension in Postmenopausal Women

“…34 Tooth loss might be a reflection of previously continuous pain and mental stress that may contribute to an increased risk of hypertension. 35,36 However, there was no previous study that can support such a hypothesis in postmenopausal women. There were no significant differences in plasma ACE activity, plasma renin activity, or plasma angiotensin II concentration between subjects with and without missing teeth.…”

Prevalência de transtorno depressivo maior em centro de referência no tratamento de hipertensão arterial

“…Nas últimas décadas, investigações clínicas e revisões têm sugerido a associação entre transtornos depressivos (TD) e hipertensão arterial (HA), com alguns estudos mostrando consistência quanto às interações entre essas enfermidades, tanto no aspecto psicossocial quanto genético, e notadamente quanto ao fato de que a depressão pode ser um fator de risco independente para HA, tanto em homens quanto em mulheres [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] . O transtorno depressivo maior (TDM) é considerado uma das mais prevalentes e graves doenças entre todas as enfermidades médicas.…”

“…É importante ressaltar que a atividade física é componente obrigatório tanto do tratamento de TDM quanto de HA 7,9,21 , e esse fato pode contribuir para diferenças importantes no resultado terapêutico.…”