Abstract
In order to investigate a possible link between smoking habit and cardiovascular stress responsiveness, the cardiovascular and affective responses to a cognitive problem solving task (Raven's matrix test) as the mental stress test were compared between non-smoking healthy young men (N=16) and regular smokers randomized to overnight abstinence (N=14) and to smoking 30 minutes prior to testing conditions (N=17). Subjects in the overnight abstinent condition were associated with reduced diastolic blood pressure at rest and with enhanced diastolic pressure and emotional responses to the task, as compared with subjects in the non-smoking and smoking 30 minutes prior to testing conditions. Recent smokers showed significant elevated heart rates when compared with the non-smokers and abstinent subjects, but did not differ from these groups in blood pressure responses. The behavioral performance of the abstinent subjects was impaired, and their smoking craving was greater than that of recent smokers. Both groups of smokers reported more dysphoric mood than non-smokers, and showed only limited recovery of emotional equilibrium following tests. These results indicate that habitual smoking affects cardiovascular stress responsiveness, and these stress-induced changes in blood pressure and heart rate are dependent on smoking recency or temporally abstinence for regular smokers. The results are discussed in relation to mechanisms linking among smoking, stress responsiveness and cardiovascular disease risk.
