Diabetes and hypertension. Blood pressure in clinical diabetic patients and a control population.

Blood pressure was recorded in a group of 514 randomly selected Swiss diabetic patients (267 men and 247 women; 164 early-onset and 350 late-onset diabetics) aged from 35 to 54 years. These patients were compared with a control group from a population survey in Switzerland (877 men and 850 women). Mean systolic pressure (+/- SD) in the diabetic population was 139.3 +/- 21 mm Hg as compared with 125.5 +/- 17 mm Hg among controls. Mean diastolic pressure was 85.4 +/- 12 mm Hg in diabetic subjects as compared with 79.1 +/- 12 mm Hg in controls. The difference was reduced by about 25% after adjustment for body mass, age, and sex; 30.7% of diabetic subjects as compared with 8.2% among controls were hypertensive. Sixty-two percent of the hypertensive diabetic patients and 45% of the hypertensive controls were receiving antihypertensive treatment. In a multivariate analysis, presence of proteinuria and larger body mass had an important influence on systolic and diastolic blood pressures and the risk of hypertension. Diabetes duration had a significant influence only on systolic blood pressure. Efforts are needed in the clinical and research field to limit and clarify the harmful effects of elevated blood pressure in diabetes.