Type 2 diabetes, the more common form of the condition.
Most people with diabetes in the United States have Type 2, which is associated with obesity and physical inactivity. About 70% to 80% of people with Type 2 diabetes also have high blood pressure. People with diabetes are two times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease and have the same risk of a heart attack as someone who has already had one.
The new findings are based on an analysis of nearly 11,000 people with Type 2 diabetes followed over four years in 20 countries. Participants who were given the blood pressure drugs perindopril and indapamide were compared with those who received a placebo. The intensive-treatment group had fewer deaths regardless of their initial blood pressure.
“As we face the urgent task of stopping what appears to be a reversal in the decades-long decline in mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke, especially in some population groups, the millions of people who have both diabetes and hypertension are a key focus,” Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, the AHA’s chief medical officer for prevention, said in a commentary. Sanchez was not involved in the study.
“This new study provides important data to indicate that people with diabetes at moderate to high risk would benefit from more intensive blood pressure treatment.”
