Abnormalities of glucose, insulin, and lipoprotein metabolism are common in patients with hypertension. These changes can also be discerned in normotensive first-degree relatives of hypertensive patients. They are not present in patients with secondary forms of hypertension, do not necessarily improve when blood pressure is lowered pharmacologically, and may even be made worse by some forms of antihypertensive treatment. These metabolic abnormalities may play a part in both the pathogenesis and the complications of hypertension in many patients. We hypothesize that the metabolic abnormalities are linked to the hypertension by a pathophysiologic process that involves the sympathoadrenal system and exerts . . .