Ergometry as a Basis for Judging the Antihypertensive Effect
The duration and degree of blood pressure reduction produced by antihypertensive drugs is usually assessed by measuring blood pressure at rest; however, these measurements are strongly influenced by the time ofday and the subject's physical and emotional state (Kronig 1976; Schulte et aI. 1978; Taylor 1975;Von Eiffet aI. 1978). Moreover, arterial hypertension is characterised both by an elevated resting blood pressure and, especially, by an excessive pressure response to physical and emotional stress (Franz 1986).There is a close correlation between systolic pressure during exercise and the degree of left ventricular hypertropy (Nathwani et aI. 1975; Ren et aI. 1985).Therefore, it may be appropriate to assess antihypertensive efficacy during standardised exercise testing. In a double-blind controlled study, we evaluated the effect ofurapidil and nitrendipine on blood pressure at rest and also during and after standardised ergometric exercise. This method of exercise testing is reported to provide reproducible data regarding the blood pressure response to physical activity (Franz 1982, 1987).