In patients experiencing an episode of highly elevated blood pressure, also known as acute hypertensive crisis, without organ damage, antianxiety treatment effectively lowers blood pressure (BP) and may be considered as a first step in therapy, researchers from Israel suggest in a report in the American Journal of Hypertension.

Many patients who have hypertension that is normally controlled with medication may have an episode of highly elevated blood pressure "sometimes accompanied with headache and other non-specific complaints," Dr Ehud Grossman from The Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Tel-Hashomer noted in comments to Reuters Health. "In many cases, these hypertensive crises are related to anxiety or panic attacks."

Copyright Reuters, 2005