|
Psychobiology of
Stress and Hypertension Risk
The goal of this program is to develop a knowledge base
to help us understand how stress and other psychological
factors contribute to the risk for hypertension development.
My collaborators and I were among the first group of
scientists to demonstrate that hypertension risk was
associated with exaggerated adrenocortical responses
to stress. Our findings have been cited and replicated
in several laboratories around the world. In addition,
we recently discovered that pain sensitivity is attenuated
in the offspring of hypertensives. This was a significant
finding in light of the observation that persons with
hypertension are less sensitive to pain, and therefore
might not readily recognize signs of a heart attack.
The ongoing research involves longitudinal and multiple
cross-sectional experiments to address the hypothesis
that hypertension and pain perception share common pathophysiological
mechanisms. The research integrates pharmacological,
physiological, and behavioral approaches to determine
the nature of the stress response in participants at
high risk for hypertension. This program employs pharmacological
probes to identify potential central nervous system
mechanisms of the exaggerated stress response in hypertension-prone
individuals. In addition, we are also evaluating pain
sensitivity and the stress response as predictors of
longitudinal changes in blood pressure.
Significance of this program. This research is
significant in that it is directed toward establishing
biobehavioral markers of hypertension risk that could
be used in combination with established risk factors
to more accurately identify individuals likely to develop
hypertension. Identifying markers of risk in young,
normotensive individuals would help in providing early
prevention efforts. Hypertension is a major risk factor
for heart disease and stroke, and reducing the incidence
of hypertension will contribute significantly towards
reducing the incidence of these devastating diseases.
|
|
|
Biobehavioral Mechanisms
of Stress and Nicotine Addiction
This program focuses
on identifying the biological processes that are responsible
for the effects of stress and other psychological factors
on nicotine addiction and smoking relapse. The program
involves multiple laboratory studies that include the
assessment of cardiovascular and neuroendocrine functions
during rest and in response to a battery of acute behavioral
challenges. In addition, we also conduct naturalistic
studies that involve the assessment of cortisol, blood
pressure, and mood measures during everyday life in
smokers and nonsmokers.
As indicated by one of the NIH study sections in a recent
review, this program is the first to address the extent
to which these responses predict relapse. This was further
acknowledged by a recent symposium convened by the National
Cancer Institute and conducted as part of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in
Seattle, WA, to which I was invited specifically to
highlight this research as a "cutting edge research"
in a symposium titled "Biology, Behavior, and Cancer
Control: Cutting Edge Research." In addition, I
was recently invited by Elsevier Science to edit a handbook
titled Stress and Addiction: Biological and Psychological
Mechanisms that will integrate available knowledge on
the interactions of stress and addiction. This is a
timely book that will provide an agenda for future research
in this important area of inquiry.
Significance of this program. Nicotine addiction
is the leading preventable cause of cancer and cardiovascular
diseases. Statistics show that the majority of smokers
relapse within two weeks of a cessation attempt. Stress
is widely cited as a cause of relapse. Mechanisms responsible
for this stress effect are not known, and without specific
knowledge of these mechanisms targeted efforts to reduce
smoking and relapse will remain limited. We expect that
data from this project will enhance our understanding
of these mechanisms and introduce new directions for
interventions to address effects of stress and relapse.
Reducing relapse rates will contribute significantly
toward reducing smoking and its harmful effects on human
health.
|
|
