Understanding and treating hypertension in diabetic populations

Diabetes mellitus is a major public health problem of epidemic proportions and its worldwide prevalence is expected to further increase in the near future (1,2). Patients with diabetes are at high risk of developing major cardiovascular complications, mostly including myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke and congestive heart failure, but also microvascular complications, such as retinopathy, nephropathy and peripheral artery disease (3). Moreover, the presence of diabetes not only increases the risk of experiencing major cardiovascular events, but it also increases the risk of developing hypertension. On the other hand, hypertension, a clinical entity in which insulin resistance is common, is strongly associated with higher risk of developing metabolic complications, including new onset diabetes, as compared to normotension, and it may precede the development of diabetes by several years