Why is my blood pressure important if I have diabetes?

Why is my blood pressure important if I have diabetes?

Anne Peters, MD, FACP, CDE (Professor and Director of Clinical Diabetes Programs, USC Keck School of Medicine) gives expert video advice on: Does taking additional insulin correct a high blood sugar level?; Why is my blood pressure important if I have diabetes?; What are the most common causes of death for people with diabetes? and more...

Blood pressure control is incredibly important for people with diabetes, for a variety of reasons. First of all, people with type 2 diabetes tend to have hypertension. Patients with type 1 diabetes may not have hypertension, but if their blood sugar goes up, it needs to also be treated. The reason for treating blood pressure is as follows. People with diabetes tend to get heart disease at much higher rates than people who don't, and treating hypertension lowers risks of heart disease. In people with diabetes, treating high blood pressure helps prevent blindness because it lowers the pressure on the back of the eyes. It helps prevent kidney disease, particularly if people have some kidney damage. As a result, hypertension treatment is just vitally important. We actually have lower standards regarding blood pressure in diabetes patients. We say the blood pressure should be less than 130/80 in patients with diabetes, which is a different treatment target than people without, because we really think that having a normal blood pressure can make a big difference. Also really, just in terms of overall health, I think it's an important thing to do.