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Hypertension increases diabetes risk

Women with high blood pressure are up to 3 times more likely to develop Type 2 Diabetes compared to women with normal blood pressure levels. The new study reported in Yahoo Health was published in The European Heart Journal this month.

The study

The Harvard Medical School research team tracked the blood pressure levels of 38,000 women over a 10 year period.

After 10 years, 9.4% of the women who had blood pressure levels over 140mmHg systolic and 90mmHg diastolic developed Type 2 Diabetes. This compared with only 1.4% of women who had optimal blood pressure of below 120 mmHg systolic and below 75mmHg diastolic.

Researchers conclusions

Lead author Dr David Conen said, "We found that obesity was also a strong and independent risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes. However, statistical analyses showed that the relationship between blood pressure and the onset of type 2 diabetes was similar among women who were normal weight, overweight or obese."

He concluded, "There was a threefold increased risk from the lowest to the highest BP category within all three weight categories."

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