Heart Rate Acceleration and its Relationship to Total Serum Cholesterol, Triglycerides, and Blood Pressure Reactivity in Men with Mild Hypertension

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Abstract
This study investigated heart rate (HR) acceleration and its relationship to serum cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure reactivity in a group of men with unmedicated mild hypertension. Each man's cardiovascular responses were monitored as he performed the Stroop Color Word Interference test and played the Pac Man Videogame. In comparison to their low HR accelerator counterparts, high HR accelerators manifested greater systolic and diastolic blood pressure responses during behavioral challenge. Moreover, high HR accelerators exhibited higher levels of serum cholesterol and triglycerides than low HR accelerators, even though these determinations were made from blood drawn during the clinic visit that preceded the clinic visit where cardiovascular reactivity was assessed. Heart rate acceleration and its positive association with serum lipids, as well as its role as a potential individual difference relevant to the profiling of persons at greater risk for the development of atherosclerosis were discussed.