The Autonomic Nervous System and Hypertension: Ethnic Differences and Psychosocial Factors.
Published online
Journal Article (Review)
PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW: In the present paper, we overview emerging research examining the autonomic nervous system (ANS), especially the parasympathetic nervous system as indexed by heart rate variability (HRV), and the impact of psychosocial factors on hypertension-related disease in African Americans. RECENT FINDINGS: A growing corpus of studies has shown that (1) usual patterns of compensatory sympathetic-parasympathetic regulation differ between African Americans and European Americans; (2) despite their enhanced cardiovascular disease risk profile, African Americans tend to exhibit higher HRV relative to European Americans; and (3) racial discrimination and other forms of psychosocial stress are associated with diminished HRV among African Americans. Significant disparities in hypertension-related disease exist such that African Americans have greater risk. The underlying factors associated with this increased risk are, to date, not fully understood. The present review provides evidence for a unique pattern of ANS regulation in African Americans and shows that psychosocial factors such as racial discrimination may contribute to this paradoxical situation.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Hill, LK; Thayer, JF
Published Date
- February 28, 2019
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 21 / 3
Start / End Page
- 15 -
PubMed ID
- 30820683
Pubmed Central ID
- 30820683
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1534-3170
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1007/s11886-019-1100-5
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States