Sympathetic Nervous System Fires and Causes High Blood Pressure

The sympathetic nervous system is very important for increasing blood pressure by retaining water in the body and constricting vessels. During acute inflammation situations and in fight or flight responses, the sympathetic nervous system and the cortisol stress axis are activated simultaneously, the stress systems cooperate. This cooperation is designed for short-term inflammatory processes. In chronic inflammation and prolonged stress response, the activity of the cortisol stress axis wanes, and the activity of the sympathetic nervous system increases to compensate for the lack of the cortisol stress axis. Something very similar is also seen during aging. The constant activation of the sympathetic nervous system with the hormone systems dependent on it (renin, angiotensin, aldosterone) leads to an increase in blood pressure. A chronic increase in blood pressure can cause subsequent problems such as stroke and heart attack.