People with type 2 diabetes who received intensive treatment to keep their blood pressure levels at 130/80 mm/Hg or below had fewer heart attacks, strokes and other diabetes complications, according to a study published in the American Heart Association’s journal Hypertension.
People with type 2 diabetes who received intensive treatment to keep their blood pressure levels at 130/80 mm/Hg or below had fewer heart attacks, strokes and other diabetes complications, according to a study published in the American Heart Association’s journal Hypertension. These patients also had lower overall risk of dying from any cause—a benefit that was observed regardless of a person’s preexisting cardiovascular risk and baseline blood pressure, the research shows.
The findings shed new light on optimal blood-pressure targets and could help reconcile conflicting guidelines for the treatment for hypertension in people with type 2 diabetes—the more common form of the disease affecting more than 420 million people worldwide.
“Our findings demonstrate a benefit of more intensive therapy aiming for blood pressure thresholds at 130/80 or below and should help resolve some ongoing confusion over optimal blood pressure targets for people with diabetes,” said study senior investigator J. Bill McEvoy, M.B., B.C.H., M.H.S., professor of preventive cardiology at the National University of Ireland, Galway Campus, and the Irish National Institute for Preventive Cardiology.
Read more at American Heart Association
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