Hormones together with the arterial cellular walls regulate blood flow and blood pressure and play a huge role in cardiovascular disease. So, does that mean when we lose our temper, blood flow is choked and cardiovascular disease triggered? The short answer is YES.

There are many channels from which hormones trigger a cascade of mechanisms that deleteriously affect blood flow and cardiovascular system.

Hormones are dynamically collected by capillaries to generate pulses, which are then decoded by target tissues to mount a biological response.

To generate hormone pulses, endocrine systems have evolved mechanisms to tightly regulate blood perfusion and oxygenation, coordinate endocrine cell responses to secretory stimuli, and regulate hormone uptake from the perivascular space into the bloodstream. Based on recent findings, we review here the mechanisms that exist in endocrine systems to regulate blood flow, and facilitate coordinated cell activity and output under both normal physiological and pathological conditions in the pituitary gland and pancreas.

Activation of cardiovascular hormonal systems such as the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) translates into progression of the underlying disease and/or development of cardiovascular comorbidity associated with an increased risk for major adverse cardiac events.

A study which appeared in the December 18, 2008 of American Journal of Hypertension, found a hormone linked to high blood pressure and blood vessel disease in African-Americans. Scientist still can’t explain how it is that African Americans have this predisposition to high blood pressure.

"In this study we have found that aldosterone may not only contribute to high blood pressure but also to related changes in blood vessel function in the kidneys and extremities." According to Dr. Kotchen.

They found that those with high blood pressure had higher levels of aldosterone. Their heart output was lower, extremity blood vessel stiffness was greater, kidney blood flow was lower, and kidney resistance to blood flow was higher than those with normal blood pressure.

"These observations suggest that aldosterone contributes to high blood pressure and its related heart, kidney, and blood vessel disease in African Americans," says Dr. Kotchen.

Hormones play a decisive role in controlling blood pressure, sending messages to control the heart's output of blood, the stiffness of arteries and changes in blood volume. For example, the body releases certain hormones (such as adrenaline) when it is under stress and needs more blood and oxygen.

In addition, sex steroids have important roles in the cardiovascular system. A number of epidemiological studies have shown that sex differences are apparent in the incidence of atherosclerotic disease. The incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), such as hypertension and coronary artery disease, is lower in younger women than in men of the same age. However, it rises after menopause and, with age catches up to that among men. These phenomena have been explained by the atheroprotective action of endogenous estrogen and its deprivation in postmenopausal women.

By contrast, the actions of androgens on the cardiovascular system remain unclear. In the process of atherosclerosis, androgens may exert complex effects on vessel walls. Both beneficial and detrimental effects have been reported. For many years, it was widely believed that androgens have unfavorable roles in the development of atherosclerosis. Recently, however, the link between androgen deficiency and atherosclerosis has been demonstrated in a number of studies. Various epidemiological and experimental studies have also demonstrated that androgens exert beneficial influences on CVD via the direct and indirect action of androgens on the blood vessels.