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Diabetes and hypertension often go hand in hand: according to the German Hypertension League, around 50% of diabetics suffer from hypertension. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hypertension is responsible for 9.4 million deaths each year.
Hypertension is the leading cause of premature death and disability worldwide: it damages blood vessels and organs such as the heart, kidneys and brain. Practical studies have shown, for example, that four out of five hypertensive patients are overweight or obese; along with diabetes, this often leads to arteriosclerosis, also known colloquially as vascular calcification, according to the Hypertension League. This can have dangerous consequences, especially for diabetics: According to the 2015 health report, diabetics with high blood pressure have a ten times higher risk of stroke, three out of four diabetics die from cardiovascular complications such as heart attacks and strokes, which they can also be attributed to hypertension. Studies in the context of primary and secondary prevention in patients with diabetes and hypertension show that optimal therapy for hypertension is even more important in diabetics than in non-diabetics.
For diabetics, the following applies: both blood glucose and blood pressure are determining factors for possible vascular disease and should therefore be taken into account in therapy – values should be within the normal range if possible, if this can be achieved without side effects, writes Prof. Dr. Dr. Diethelm Tschöpe, University Clinic of the Ruhr University of Bochum, for the German Hypertension League. Lowering the sugar alone is not enough.
Good regulation of blood glucose and blood pressure also improves prognosis in advanced heart disease, added Prof. Tschöpe. If diabetic values are in the desired range before, during and after an operation, the patient’s survival rate is higher. At the same time, the risk of having vascular problems again within a short period of time is significantly lower, says Prof. Tschöpe.
What should be the values for diabetics?
According to diabetesDE – German Diabetes Aid, they are slightly inferior to those of healthy people. An optimal value for people with diabetes is around 140/80 mmHg when measured in the clinic and 130/75 mmHg when measured at home.
On the one hand, drug treatment is an option for hypertension; according to diabetesDE there are a number of effective drugs, such as B. ACE inhibitors, beta blockers or diuretics. But those affected can and should do something about their high blood pressure (so-called basic therapy): this includes weight reduction (each kilogram lowers blood pressure by about two mmHg, according to diabetesDE), a low-salt diet and healthy, regular sports and exercise in everyday life, quitting smoking and consuming less alcohol.
Source: Findings Diabetes 1/2015
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