Physiologic neuroendocrine arousal by mental arithmetic stress test in healthy subjects.

Mental stress results in sympathoadrenal stimulation that may elicit or aggravate myocardial ischemia and cardiac dysrhythmias in patients with coronary artery disease.1 A mental arithmetic stress test is a simple way to induce mild mental stress.2,3 Several studies have examined the effects of arithmetic stress on systemic and coronary hemodynamics3,4; however, few studies have been reported regarding neuroendocrine and metabolic responses to arithmetic stress.3,5 The purposes of this study were (1) to quantify the simultaneous neuroendocrine and hemodynamic responses to arithmetic stress, (2) to analyze the relation between these neuroendocrine and cardiovascular parameters in healthy volunteers, and (3) to provide insights into pathophysiologic mechanisms for the induction or aggravation of myocardial ischemia and cardiac arrhythmia during arithmetic stress.