The stress of everyday life is thought to influence blood pressure in a number of ways which include the effects of emotions, diet, physical and mental activity, and other environmental factors. The overall purpose of this study is to examine the relationship among these factors, neuroendocrine activity, and blood pressure during a typical day in a sample of 120 healthy females recruited from the technical and clerical staff at The New York Hospital. Three main questions will be addressed by the research: 1) Does blood pressure follow neuroendocrine activity (as reflected in the levels of urinary catecholamines) during the course of a typical working day? 2) What aspects of daily life contribute most to the variation in blood pressure and neuroendocrine activity?, and 3) How do the factors which influence blood pressure and neuroendocrine activity change and interact over the course of the day? Ambulatory monitoring will be used to measure blood pressure. Timed urine specimens will be collected to measure rates of urinary catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) excretion. The relationship between and among blood pressure, sympathetic activity, and aspects of daily life will be examined using linear regression and covariance structure models. The results of this study will add to our understanding of how daily stresses contribute to elevations of blood pressure.
