Reported April 1, 2003


UPPSALA, Sweden (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Swedish researchers have linked an increase in blood sugar levels while using common blood pressure medications leads to an increased risk of heart attack in men age 60 and over.

Several studies show patients with high blood pressure are more resistant to insulin than are patients without high blood pressure, and treatment with common high blood pressure medications, such as beta-blockers and diuretics, increases this insulin resistance. Since diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance are both associated with an increased risk of heart disease, investigators decided to measure the impact of blood pressure, blood glucose levels, and high blood pressure treatment in 1,860 men who participated in a health study at age 50.

Each of the men underwent additional tests at age 60 and then were followed for about 17 years. Those who had heart attacks after age 60 showed significantly larger increases in blood glucose between ages 50 and 60 than those without heart attacks. An increase in blood glucose was found to be an independent risk factor for heart attack in men who were being treated for high blood pressure, but not in men without such treatment. In addition, researchers found a significant link between markers of insulin resistance at the baseline testing and high blood pressure treatment on the increase in blood glucose.

Investigators believe their findings show the metabolic changes induced by high blood pressure treatment have a definite impact on heart attack risk.

SOURCE: British Medical Journal, 2003;326:681-684



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More details about this, including the study abstract, are posted by OldSalty in the Research/Media forum ... http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...4051#post914051