Diabetes And Hypertension
Diabetes is caused by the body’s inability to produce or use insulin, a hormone that regulates blood glucose levels.
Meanwhile, hypertension (or high blood pressure) is a common condition in which the force of blood on the walls of your arteries is often too high. Arteries are the blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients in the blood away from your heart to supply your tissues.
High blood pressure and high blood sugar together may harm your body more than either one alone. Both high blood pressure and high blood sugar levels affect your blood vessels.
Diabetes is a major cause of severe atherosclerosis along with high blood pressure. Atherosclerosis is a disease of the arteries.
Atherosclerosis occurs gradually over many years that results in a buildup of cholesterol and other substances in the vessels causing the vessels to close. This can lead to stroke, the second-leading cause of death in the world and a leading cause of disability.
Elevated blood pressure may be associated with heart failure, kidney and eye disease.
Kidney scarring is particularly common in patients with diabetes and hypertension, which make them at a higher risk for chronic kidney disease.
About half of all Americans have hypertension and nearly half have diabetes or pre-diabetes.
So, it’s important to get both conditions into normal ranges
Normal blood pressure: 120/80 mmHg
Prehypertension: 120-139/ 80-89 mmHg
Stage 1 hypertension: 140-159/ 90-99 mmHg
Stage 2 hypertension: ≥ 160/ ≥ 100 mmHg
There are two readings which measure blood pressure.
Systolic pressure is the higher number; it measures the force of blood being pushed around your body when your heart contracts.
Diastolic pressure is the lower number; it measures when the heart relaxes between beats.
If your systolic pressure frequently stays above 140mm Hg, or your diastolic pressure frequently stays above 90mmHg, you have high blood pressure.
Over time, high blood pressure makes your arteries less stretchy and damages the walls of your arteries.
Treatment for diabetes and hypertension includes lifestyle changes, such as eating a healthy diet. If you are sensitive to the sodium in salt, your doctor may recommend limiting your salt intake and highly processed foods. Salt may increase both your blood volume and your blood pressure by retaining water.
You should change your lifestyle to help reduce blood pressure. For instance, you should avoid excessive alcohol intake. You should get regular exercise and lose weight if you are overweight; and quit smoking.
Your physician or healthcare provider may also recommends medications that act on your kidneys, blood vessels, or heart to help reduce your blood pressure.
Some medications that may be prescribed by your doctor such as diuretics or “water pills” to help reduce your blood volume and blood pressure. Some other types of drug that your doctor may prescribe include:
• ACE inhibitors
• Angiotensin II receptor blockers
• Calcium channel blockers
• Direct-acting vasodilators