Having hypertension appears to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, and having type 2 diabetes increases the risk of hypertension. Both hypertension and diabetes may have some underlying causes in common, and they share some risk factors. They also contribute to a worsening of each other’s symptoms.
The factors involved in this association include:
*The frequency for both diseases increases with age;
*They have the same predisposing factors;
*Hypertension is secondary to the diabetic complications, usually nephropathy in type 1 diabetes;
*Hypertension in type 2 diabetics could appear before, or could be related to, diabetic nephropathy.
Diabetes damages the small blood vessels, causing the walls of the blood vessels to stiffen. This increases pressure, which leads to high blood pressure.”
The combination of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes can greatly increase the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
Hypertension contributes to the development and progression of microvascular (retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy) and macrovascular (atherosclerotic) complications of diabetes.
Patients with hypertension often exhibit insulin resistance and are at greater risk of diabetes developing than are normotensive individuals.
Hypertension and diabetes relationship
