Methods and apparatus are provided for assessing endothelial function in a mammal. The methods involve applying to the artery a substantially constant external pressure, where the pressure is provided via a cuff adjacent to and/or around a region of the mammals body determining, over the course of one or more cardiac cycles, changes in pressure in the cuff resulting from cardiac activity of the mammal to establish a baseline value for a parameter related to endothelial function in the mammal applying a stimulus to the mammal determining, over the course of one or more cardiac cycles, changes in pressure in the cuff resulting from cardiac activity of the mammal to establish a stimulus-effected value for a parameter related to endothelial function in the mammal wherein differences in the baseline value and the stimulus-effected value provide a measure of endothelial function in the mammal.
