Voice of the Diabetic

Voice of the Diabetic

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DIABETES AND HYPERTENSION

Dorland's Medical

Dictionary defines hypertension as "persistently high arterial blood pressure,

generally defined as in excess of 140/90. Why is this dangerous? What does it

feel like? What can you do about it?

Even if you don't

have diabetes, high blood pressure imposes strain on the eyes, the kidneys,

the brain, blood vessels, and the heart. High blood pressure, by itself, increases

the risk of stroke, heart attack, and certain types of blindness. The principal

symptom of diabetes is hyperglycemia, high blood sugar.

The excess blood sugars

of untreated diabetes glycosylate, they bond with any available protein, including

capillary walls -- in the blood vessels, in the eye, and in the kidneys. Even

without generalized hypertension, it is possible to experience it locally, in

the eyes and kidneys. Your doctor can tell for sure.

Add diabetes and high

blood pressure, and you have a recipe for trouble -- avoidable trouble. It can

hurt you, if you don't take action. You've got to know your BP numbers are elevated,

first.

Without testing devices,

you can't tell if your blood pressure is high. There is no pain, nothing to

tell you "time to get help!" You can "feel fine" and still need action. You

need to be tested. Elevated blood pressure is so common that EVERYBODY needs

to be tested.

If the doctor finds

you have high blood pressure, there are a number of things you can do to bring

it down. First, get your diet under control. Eat healthy foods, and in healthy

portion sizes. Limit your salt! (Salt raises your blood pressure!)

Second, being sedentary

raises the risks of blood pressure, and good, regular exercise cuts blood pressure.

Talk to your health care team about an exercise program appropriate for you.

Almost anyone can exercise -- there will be activities right for you.

Third, there are a

number of blood-pressure-reducing medications. Some of them are appropriate

for diabetic use. One class of these medications, the ACE inhibitors, also serves

to moderate the localized high pressures that follow diabetic kidney disease.

Even if your generalized blood pressure is OK, your kidneys might benefit from

the ACE inhibitors. Talk to your doctor.

Fourth, get your blood

sugars under good control, and keep them there. Just as high blood sugars lead

to glycosylation, helping cause high blood pressure, a sustained period of euglycemia,

normal blood sugar, can cut glycosylation, reducing risk of complications like

eye disease, kidney disease, nerve damage, and the complications of high blood

pressure.

If you have diabetes,

remember that although heart complications are the number one killer, there

is plenty you can do about it -- if you get involved, and take the necessary

action.

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