Risk for hypertension and pain sensitivity in women

To evaluate the possible negative association between risk for hypertension and pain sensitivity in women, 24 healthy young adult women with a parental history of hypertension and 24 without a parental history of hypertension participated in 2 laboratory sessions in which electric shock and the cold-pressor test were administered. To assess the possible role of stress-induced analgesia in blood pressure-related hypoalgesia, the sessions were identical with the exception of the fact that participants were exposed to a stressful 20-min videogame before the pain stimuli on one occasion and a nonstressful control task on the other. Women with a parental history of hypertension and high blood pressure reactivity to the videogame displayed a reduced sensitivity to electric shock on both days, suggesting that risk for hypertension is associated with reduced sensitivity to at least some pain stimuli in women. Blood pressure reactivity to stress-associated baroreceptor stimulation was not implicated as a mediator of decreased pain perception. However, other analyses revealed an effect of family history on shock pain only among women who reported relatively high anxiety, suggesting that other aspects of the stress response may be involved in this phenomenon.