Recent research activity:

1. Renovascular hypertension. In collaborative studies Dr. Mann has investigated the accuracy of the captopril renal scan, with the hope of assessing its usefulness as a non-invasive means of diagnosing renovascular hypertension, a curable form of hypertension caused by narrowing of the artery to the kidney. The accuracy of the Captopril Test was studied and reported, contributing to guidelines for its interpretation. A review of the general topic of the non-invasive diagnosis of renovascular hypertension was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

2. Emotional factors and hypertension. Despite widespread assumption that emotional distress is linked to development of hypertension, studies to prove this link have been, for the most part, negative. In a recent publication I have summarized the disappointing results of this research and offered an alternative explanation for the elusive link between emotions and hypertension consisting of the repressed emotions that patients are not aware of, and, therefore, do not report to physicians or psychotherapists. This understanding may explain why decades of research on perceived stress and hypertension have not led to successful intervention. Supporting this contention, 51% of hypertensives were found to be repressors of negative emotions versus only 24% of normotensives.

Some hypertensive patients present with a syndrome of intermittent, sudden and severe blood pressure elevation. Extensive investigation consistently finds no cause for this syndrome. Again, repressed emotions that cannot be reported by the patient offer an explanation for this otherwise entirely unexplained syndrome. The syndrome resembles panic disorder, but the manifestations are autonomic rather than emotional.