Prothrombotic effects of environmental stress: changes in platelet function, hematocrit, and total plasma protein.

Mental stress can affect a range of variables relevant to hemostasis and thrombosis. However, research has not clarified whether these effects occur as part of a generalized sympathoadrenal response or whether stress-induced increases in catecholamines and blood pressure have selective and independent effects on hematologic variables. This study assessed the effects of mental and cold pressor stress on platelet activation, hematocrit, and total plasma protein and the relationship of these changes to sympathoadrenal and hemodynamic mechanisms.

Effects of acute mental stress on serum lipids: mediating effects of plasma volume.

The present study assessed the acute effects of mental stress (mental arithmetic) on serum cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), and the extent to which stress-induced changes are attributable to decreases in plasma volume. Total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-C, and LDL-C were assessed in 18 healthy men (35 +/- 7 years) during a resting baseline (30 minutes), challenging mental arithmetic (math; 10 minutes), and recovery (30 minutes). Five additional subjects served as controls receiving no stress intervention.