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Nervous System

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Disorders of Blood Pressure Regulation

Abstract

The sympathetic nervous system plays an important role in the multifactorial pathogenesis of hypertensive disease. The objective of this chapter is to describe the role of adrenergic activation in the development of hypertension and to understand the neuroendocrine mechanisms contributing to the pathogenesis of hypertension.

The first part will describe methods used to investigate the adrenergic tone. In the second part, the physiological effects of sympathetic activation will be covered, as well as the pressor mechanisms of sympathetic activity that might result in hypertension. The third part will take into account the evidences indicating increased sympathetic activity in the different stages of the hypertensive disease. The last part will describe the mechanisms leading to sympathetic activation and new mechanisms hypothesized by data collected in recent years.

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Correspondence to Guido Grassi .

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Seravalle, G., Brambilla, G., Pizzala, D.P., Grassi, G. (2018). Nervous System. In: Berbari, A., Mancia, G. (eds) Disorders of Blood Pressure Regulation. Updates in Hypertension and Cardiovascular Protection. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59918-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59918-2_6

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