Benefit of Blood Pressure Control in Diabetic Patients.

The coexistence of arterial hypertension and diabetes represents a devastating partnership for cardiovascular health. Thus, blood pressure and blood glucose control are essential therapeutic goals to reduce cardiovascular risk and other diabetes-related endpoints in these patients. The major benefit of blood pressure lowering in diabetes comes from a marked reduction of cardiovascular and renal endpoints. New target blood pressure values to achieve maximum cardiovascular and renal protection will be discussed. In addition to the reduction of macrovascular endpoints, blood pressure lowering therapy in diabetic patients has also been discussed to improve microvascular diseases during diabetes, in particular microalbuminuria or diabetic retinopathy. However, current clinical trial evidence is less robust than for macrovascular disease. Clinical studies showed controversial results, and will be discussed. Finally, new data from the ADVANCE-ON study about the long-term, sustained benefit of blood pressure lowering in hypertensive, diabetic patients has been recently published, and will be evaluated in the context of previous evidence. In summary, the present article will discuss selected new topics in the field of hypertension and diabetes focusing on the benefits achieved by blood pressure lowering in these patients.