Does High Blood Pressure Catalyse Diabetes?

The perils of high blood pressure are well documented in modern healthcare but of course, not all side effects are commonly evident. Smoking, excessive stress, weight issues, salt intake and genetics are all common catalysts for irregular blood pressure but in additional to the cause, there is of course the unwanted side effects of ill health. It’s been suspected that blood pressure has a considerable effect on the prevalence of diabetes for some time and now Oxford University have stepped forward with new evidence.

Taking into account over 4.1 million individuals, the study found that people with high blood pressure have a 60% higher risk of developing diabetes in their lifetime than those without. The focal goal of the study was to find a remedy to the near epidemic levels of diabetes sweeping the contemporary western world. If we can find a way to keep people’s blood pressure at a healthy rate then we can also hugely reduce the number of people at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

The specialists involved with the study were also keen to see if people using drugs to reduce their blood pressure were less at risk of developing the metabolic disease. Despite the strong indications, Professor Kazem Rahimi who acts as deputy director of the George Institute for Global Health UK at the university assured study recipients that “We can’t say for certain that one causes the other, but this study helps to connect the dots, showing that if you have high blood pressure there is a significantly greater chance of developing diabetes.”

Despite the lack of clarification, this study still gives medical experts a reassuring push towards identifying early risk factors that may lead to diabetes. Professor Rahimi further reiterated this when he commented “At a minimum we know for certain that the link exists” as well as “In particular researchers can now look at whether lowering blood pressure is an effective treatment or reduces the risk of getting diabetes.”

Here’s to an optimistic future of research and the eradication of diabetes!