Correlates of blood pressure in young insulin-dependent diabetics and their families.

We compared the correlates of blood pressure in 163 young patients with insulin-dependent diabetes and in 232 of their non-diabetic siblings. A single observer recorded blood pressure in all subjects, plus all their available parents, using a standardized technique. Other variables recorded included age, weight, height, presence of diabetes and urinary albumin. The major factors accounting for over 50% of the variance of systolic blood pressure (SBP) in both groups were age, weight, paternal SBP and sex. In addition, in the diabetic group the logarithm of the random urinary albumin concentration was a significant explanatory variable. For diastolic blood pressure (DBP) approximately 16% of the variance was explained by age, weight and maternal DBP. Parental blood pressure was an important determinant of blood pressure in both the diabetic and non-diabetic sibling groups. The similarity of the correlates of blood pressure in the two groups suggests that the determinants of blood pressure in young insulin-dependent diabetic patients and in the general population are similar.