Reduced systolic blood pressure in patients with type 2 diabetes was found to be associated with a decreased risk for death and cardiovascular events.
The research was conducted in the largest meta-analysis to date by scientists at the George Institute for Global Health, Oxford University.
Lead researcher Kazem Rahimi, DM, and colleagues examined 100,000 participants in different trials which reported on type 2 diabetes patients and how they responded to treatment to lower blood pressure.
Studies from 1966 to 2014 were included, with researchers aiming to assess whether BP-lowering treatment was linked to mortality, microvascular and macrovascular outcomes. Follow-ups ranged between six months to more than eight years.
Blood pressure outcomes
A significantly reduced risk of death, cardiovascular events, stroke and coronary heart disease was linked to a 10-mm Hg reduction in systolic blood pressure. This reduction was also associated with a lower risk of retinopathy and albuminuria.
Additionally, there was strong evidence that patients with a systolic blood pressure of 140mm Hg or less displayed decreased risks for stroke, retinopathy and albuminuria compared to patients with a higher systolic baseline.
“These findings are timely, clear, and important and lend support to current guideline recommendations to consider offering patients with type 2 diabetes antihypertensive therapy when their systolic blood pressure is 140 mmHg or greater,” said Bryan Williams, MD, at University College London.
The results of the study were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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