Hypertension risk and caffeine's effect on cardiovascular activity during mental stress in young men

Examined the cardiovascular effects of caffeine plus behavioral stress in men low versus high in risk of essential hypertension. Caffeine (3.3 mg/kg, equivalent to 2 to 3 cups of coffee) or placebo was given on alternate days to 19 low-risk men (negative for parental hypertension and low-normal resting blood pressure, BP) and 20 high-risk men (positive history, high-normal BP). Forty minutes later, each worked for 15 min on a demanding psychomotor task during which BP, cardiac output, and vascular resistance were determined. During rest, caffeine raised vascular resistance in both groups. During the task, it supra-additively increased the systolic BP response by enhancing the rise in cardiac output, producing equivalent BP rises in both groups. Due to the higher resting pressures of the high-risk men, caffeine plus the task resulted in 50% of these having transient BP of 140/90 mg Hg or greater. Caffeine in combination with mental stress may produce undesirable BP in those at risk for hypertension.