People with type 2 diabetes who consistently have elevated blood pressure in the morning may be more likely to suffer complications such as kidney disease, eye disease, heart disease and stroke, new study findings suggest.

Dr. Kyuzi Kamoi of Nagaoka Red Cross Hospital in Niigata, Japan and colleagues published their current report in the December issue of the journal Diabetes Care.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body loses its ability to respond to the effects of insulin, a hormone that helps the body to use sugar as fuel.

The condition is associated with obesity and increases the risk of heart disease, kidney failure, blindness and limb amputations. The longer people live with type 2 diabetes, the more likely they are to have devastating medical complications.

Previous research has shown that morning blood pressure can predict mortality risk in people who have hypertension, according to the Kamoi and colleagues.

In the current study, the investigators aimed to see how well regular home morning blood pressure readings for people with type 2 diabetes predicted complications related to their disease compared to blood pressure readings taken at a clinic. A total of 170 people participated. All were being treated with blood-pressure-lowering and anti-diabetic medications.

Both high blood pressure at home and in the clinic were defined as systolic blood pressure-the higher number in a blood pressure reading--equal to or above 130 millimeters of mercury (mmHg), and/or diastolic pressure, or the lower number, equal to or above 85 mmHg.

There were no significant differences in the prevalence of kidney disease, eye disease heart disease or cerebrovascular disease between people whose blood pressure measured high at the clinic and those whose did not. But the researchers did find that people whose morning readings revealed higher blood pressures were more likely to have diabetes-linked complications and heart disease than those whose blood pressure did not climb in the morning.

"In summary, in patients with type 2 diabetes, hypertension based on self-measurement of blood pressure in the morning after awakening is strongly related to...complications, especially (kidney disease)," the authors write.

"It is concluded that control of morning hypertension may prevent vascular complications in type 2 diabetic patients."

Source: Diabetes News: Diabetes Care.

January 2003 News Article Index