RESUMO
It was shown in a prior study that mildly hypertensive patients performed significantly less effectively on several sensory-perceptual, cognitive, and psychomotor tests than did matched normotensive controls. To determine whether these deficits are attributable to elevated blood pressure per se, hypertensive and control subjects were recalled for reexamination 15 months after the original tests. Results indicated that those hypertensives in whom blood pressure had been lowered with antihypertensive drugs showed significant restoration of performance scores toward the levels of normotensive subjects. Hypertensives who had not received active treatment remained deficient as compared with controls. These results indicated that behavioral deficits in mild hypertension may be reversible consequences of the effects of elevated blood pressure on the central nervous system.
Assuntos
Anti-Hipertensivos/uso terapêutico , Hipertensão/psicologia , Desempenho Psicomotor/fisiologia , Adulto , Sistema Nervoso Central/fisiologia , Feminino , Seguimentos , Humanos , Hipertensão/tratamento farmacológico , Hipertensão/fisiopatologia , Masculino , Testes Psicológicos , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
Tests made of the sensory-perceptual, cognitive, and psychomotor abilities of untreated young patients with essential hypertension have revealed a pattern suggesting a slight functional impairment of the central nervous system. Reduced performance was most marked for those tasks requiring speed and psychomotor coordination, particularly when the behaviors observed were self-initiated. Lowered scores were more evident among female hypertensives; no differences in performance by race were noted. The deficits measured by these sensitive tests do not appear to be great enough to intrude on everyday activity nor to impair work ability. Changes that may result from blood-pressure-lowering therapies will require further study.
