Blood Pressure Guidelines for Diabetics Need Adjusting

Diabetics are encouraged to keep their blood pressure levels very low in order to stave off any diabetes induced heart problems. A new study indicates these guidelines are lower than they  actually need to be. Current guidelines call for diabetics to keep their systolic number below 130. A normal systolic blood pressure is 120. People with diabetes are prone to high blood pressure and the cardiovascular problems associated with the condition.

Rhonda M. Cooper-DeHoff a professor of pharmacy and medicine at the University of Florida conducted a study to evaluate blood pressure guidelines. This particular study evaluated information from 6,400 diabetics that had heart disease over a five year period. Researchers grouped the patients into three separate groups; those that had systolic readings below 130, below 140 and those over 140 were classified as uncontrolled. The study results indicate that diabetic patients who kept their systolic blood pressure reading below 140 fared as well as those who kept theirs under 130. Cooper-DeHoff thinks patients could benefit from more energy being directed at cholesterol levels and overall diet and exercise habits.

Doctors often prescribe numerous prescription medications in order to try and control blood pressure numbers in diabetic patients who have developed heart disease. This study reveals there is no real benefit to prescribing more than two medications at a time to try and get a person’s blood pressure below 130. In fact, taking more than three medications may be dangerous. The study has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.