Hypertension and Type 2 Diabetes Portland OR

Hypertension is a type of cardiovascular disease characterized by elevation of blood pressure above the level considered normal for people of similar racial and environmental backgrounds. When blood pressure is taken on two or more subsequent days and reads 140/90 or above this is considered to be high blood pressure. Because it affects the entire circulatory system, hypertension can be detrimental to all the major organs, including the heart, brain, and kidneys. It may contribute to death from heart failure, heart attacks, stroke, and even kidney failure. One in five Americans (and one in three adults) has high blood pressure. 

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic condition in which the body does not produce or does not use insulin effectively. It is not simply hyperglycemia, or too much glucose (sugar) in the blood. Ninety percent of individuals with diabetes have type 2. Most of these individuals are over 40 years old. Heart disease is the leading cause of diabetes-related deaths, with adults having two to four times higher heart disease death rates than adults without the disease. Patients with diabetes develop more atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) than people without diabetes, and some 60-65 percent of patients with diabetes have high blood pressure.

Researchers reported in a study published in the European Heart Journal that high blood pressure may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. They followed 38,172 healthy women who did not have diabetes or cardiovascular disease at baseline for 10 years. The results were 9.4 percent of the women developing hypertension over the course of this time also developed type 2 diabetes in comparison with the normal group at 2.9 percent. The authors concluded that hypertensive women had 3 times the risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to women with normal blood pressure.¹

¹ Conen D, Ridker PM, Mora S, et al. Blood pressure and risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus: The Women's Health Study. Eur Heart J. Oct2007.