Diabetes incidence in users and non-users of antihypertensive drugs in relation to serum insulin, glucose tolerance and degree of adiposity: a 12-year prospective population study of women in Gothenburg, Sweden.

As part of a prospective population study in Gothenburg, Sweden, women aged 50 years were subjected to an intravenous glucose tolerance test on entry to the study and followed up for 12 years. Manifest diabetes was the only end-point registered in this part of the study. Of 352 initially non-diabetic women, 17 (4.8%) subjects developed diabetes, with a fourfold increased risk in women taking antihypertensive drugs (diuretics or beta-blockers, or both) compared with women who were not taking such medication. The increased risk was observed independently of initially measured glucose metabolism variables and degree of adiposity, although the incidences were higher overall if the use of antihypertensive drugs was combined with fasting hyperinsulinaemia and adiposity. This study provides further evidence to support the view that diuretics and beta-blockers are precipitators of type 2 diabetes mellitus.