Blood sugar levels may predict future risk of high blood pressure

Japan: Fasting blood sugar levels may predict future hypertension (high blood pressure) risk in middle-aged men and women, finds a recent study.

The study, published in the American Journal of Hypertension, is the first study to demonstrate the predictive powers of diabetes parameters like levels of fasting Blood Sugar for the incidence of hypertension.

Yukako Tatsumi, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Itabashi, Japan, and colleagues aimed to investigate the association between diabetes indices including fasting Blood Sugar and incidences of hypertension. Also, it compared the predictive powers of these indices in middle-aged Japanese.

The 5-year cohort study involved 2210 Japanese 30–64 years without hypertension. The researchers assessed various diabetes indices including fasting blood sugar levels, high post-loaded Blood Glucose levels, high glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, insulin resistance and impaired insulin secretion for the incidence of hypertension using multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazard models.

Hypertension was defined as blood pressure ≥140/90 mmHg or receiving antihypertensive treatment.

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• During the follow-up, 456 participants developed hypertension.


• After adjustment for HbA1c and HOMA-IR, FBG was independently and significantly associated with hypertension.


• The hazard ratio of participants with fasting Blood Sugar ≥7.0 mmol/l was 1.79 compared with those with fasting Blood Sugar <5.6 mmol/l.


• Even among those with HbA1c <6.5%, HOMA–IR <2.5, body mass index <25 kg/m², age <55 years old, blood pressure <130/80 mmHg or non–and moderate drinking, the results were similar.


• High 120-min BG level and impaired insulin secretion did not increase the risk of hypertension.

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"Fasting Blood Sugar was a predictable index for the future incidence of hypertension in middle-aged Japanese men and women, " wrote the authors.

"Our study is the first to compare predictive powers of indices of diabetes for the incidence of hypertension (high BP)," they concluded.