The effects of VDT work on the regulation of hemodynamics compared with aging.

Urinary excretions of aldosterone, blood pressure, and heart rate were examined for three age groups of volunteers searching for target words on VDT for two hours. Aldosterone excretion did not change in the young and middle-aged groups, but increased in the elderly group. Blood pressure decreased midway through the work in the young group, and increased during the work in the middle-aged and elderly groups. Aldosterone excretion did not increase during hard-copy work or during VDT work with large letters, but increased during VDT work with small letters. During VDT work with both large and small letters, blood pressure increased. During hard-copy work, neither blood pressure nor heart rate changed, although blood pressure increased after the work. These data suggest that the sympathetic nervous activation represented by the increases in aldosterone excretion and blood pressure occurred definitively during VDT work with small letters under the conditions of this study. It is also suggested that this effect is enhanced by aging.