Blood Pressure Drugs Not Linked to Diabetes

There is some evidence that various types of drugs used to treat high blood pressure could hasten or impede the development of type 2 diabetes, but the latest findings don’t support that idea.

According to the results of a study in the medical journal Diabetes Care, the risk of type 2 diabetes does not appear to be increased or decreased in elderly hypertensive patients who use any of the major classes of blood pressure-lowering medications. Dr. Raj Padwal, of the University of Alberta Hospital, Canada, and colleagues examined the occurrence of type 2 diabetes among previously untreated elderly patients who started treatment for high blood pressure. A total of nearly 40,000 subjects were on ACE inhibitors, some 20,000 were taking beta-blockers, and about 20,000 were given calcium channel blockers. More than half of the subjects (53 percent) were excluded from the analysis because of medication discontinuation, and 17 percent were dropped from the study after another medication was added. The team found that neither ACE inhibitors nor beta-blockers were associated with a significant difference in type 2 diabetes incidence compared to that seen with calcium channel blockers. Similar results were obtained when a sub-analysis looked at patients who were taking a diuretic in addition to another drug. Padwal’s group thinks diabetes should not be a concern when high blood pressure is being treated. “We suggest that clinicians guide their choice of initial antihypertensive therapy on the basis of more established factors, such as the available evidence regarding efficacy, economic considerations, and the presence of comorbid medical conditions,” the researchers conclude. (SOURCE: Diabetes Care: Reuters Health: October 2004.)