Stress and Hypertension [antikvár]

Preface This volume presents the proceedings of the 9th Nephrological Symposium on 'Stress and Hypertension' held at the Medical School,Hannover, May 22-23, 1981. The conference was mainly devoted to the study of stress in relation to the pathophysiology and clinical features of hypertension. High blood pressure has been considered, for several decades, to be partly due to stress - stress in different meanings and causes. About 20 years ago, Jan Brod clearly set out the evidence that the pattern of hemodynamic response to emotional stress in normal subjects with renal and skin vasoconstriction and muscle vasodilatation was similar to that of unstimulated essential hypertensives. Many of the contributions of this symposium are results of investigations stimulated by this observation. S'e/je, the pioneer of modern work on stress, characterized stress as 'the unspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it', this demand being called a 'stressor'. According to this far-reaching definition of stress, four main sessions were organized: (1) Environmental stress and hypertension. (2) Epidemiological aspects of hypertension. (3) The cardiovascular system in hypertension. (4) The role of salt in hypertension. A special session was dedicated to Prof. Jan Brod on the occasion of his retirement. Prof. Brod has headed the Division of Nephrology at the Medical School of Hannover since 1969. This session was introduced by J. Ledingham, H.P. Wolff and G. Richet, who warmly lauded the life, personality and scientific work of Jan Brod. The opening section of this monograph, also dedicated ioJan Brod, consists of these speeches. The encouraging advice and cooperation of all chairmen in performing the scientific sessions is gratefully acknowledged. We are very much indebted to the participants for all their efforts in preparing and taking part in both the meeting and the proceedings. We must mention that the organization of the meeting would not have been possible without the traditional help of the whole staff of our Division of Nephrology. We are deeply indebted to the Thyssen-Stiftung and the pharmaceutical firms who generously supported the meeting. Hannover, February 1982 Jens Bahlmann, Hartmut Liebau