Anxiety and vigorous mental or physical effort can raise blood pressure
to quite a major degree. Although at first sight this might seem dangerous
yet it is a normal response of the circulation. “fight or flight” which
probably helped our forebears to survive. Healthy blood vessels can cope
with such changes in pressure without any damage.
It is possible, however, that repeated exposure of arteries to high
pressures cause thickening of their walls and that this limits the flow of
blood through them and so causes permanently high blood pressure. It has
been suggested that the repeated “spikes” of blood pressure produced by the
stress of everyday life accounts for the fact that high blood pressure
becomes much more frequent when people move from “primitive” to
“civilised” conditions. An alternative view is that the primitive. people are
protected from high blood pressure by components of their diet. These ideas
are speculative at the moment, although there is support for the lay view that
high blood pressure is a disease of developed societies. Relaxation could,
therefore, theoretically be beneficial. Nevertheless, some studies using
relaxation exercises, meditation and biofeedback have shown that blood
pressure is slightly lowered, although there is no convincing evidence for
long-term benefit. The advice to take things easily’ is a counsel of
perfection which few people find it possible to obey! 