Blood Pressure Medications May Help Reduce Stroke, Heart Risks In Diabetic Patients

Could a blood pressure medication also lower heart and stroke risks in diabetic patients?

Researchers at the University of Oxford in England discovered that individuals with type 2 diabetes may be less likely to die from the aforementioned issues if they also take a blood pressure medication along with their current treatment. 

"Stroke, heart attack and other circulatory diseases are the biggest cause of premature death and disability in people with diabetes," said review author Dr. Kazem Rahimi, deputy director with the George Institute for Global Health at the University of Oxford in England, via U.S. News and World Report. "Any intervention that safely reduces the risk, even if modestly, will have an important effect."

For the study, researchers analyzed 40 studies with a total of over 100,000 participants. Some of the diabetic patients received blood-pressure medications while some did not.

Findings showed a 10 mm Hg decrease in the systolic blood pressure reading. They discovered that the risk of early death was lowered by nearly 13 percent, heart attacks and related health issues were lowered by 11 percent, stroke was lowered by 27 percent and coronary heart disease by 12. Researchers also found that the risk of albuminuria (excessive protein levels found in urine) and retinopathy (an eye condition) fell by 17 percent and 13 percent.

While future studies may be able to tell health officials what diabetes has to do with lowering this risk in patients who took blood pressure medications , many believe that lowering blood pressure past current guidelines could help to solve the problem.

"Our results lead to potentially different recommendations from those made in several recent guidelines," Rahimi and colleagues added, discussing the the controversial "JNC8" guidelines that allow the threshold for those needing blood pressure lowering treatment from 130 mmHg to 140 mmHg for those with diabetes.

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