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Diabetes and High Blood Pressure – Are You Falling Victim?

Article by Jamesina Goulbourne

Diabetes and High Blood Pressure – Are You Falling Victim? – Health – Diseases and Conditions

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Diabetes and High Blood Pressure are the end results of long term insulin resistance. Both conditions are associated with a group of other health problems that are caused by a metabolic disfunction. Taking a look at why this metabolic process goes wrong will help guard you against developing it, or what you need to do to reverse the problem.

The truth that diabetes and high blood pressure are by-products of bad eating habits is well sounded. But are you taking note of it? Could you be facing these serious health problems? What does your diet consist of?

Out of all people who suffer from diabetes, 75% have type 2, and then around 50% of them will further develop high blood pressure with far reaching implications.

Weight gain, elevated triglycerides, decreased HDL cholesterol, insulin resistance, usually occur before diabetes and high blood pressure are diagnosed. This group of symptoms are known as Metabolic Syndrome X. The cells of organs involved in this cluster of conditions, are affected by a metabolic processing that goes wrong through the habitual eating of high glycemic foods.

Glycemic foods make glucose. Those that cause a high level are white bread and rolls, sugar, chips, baked potatoes, white rice, broad beans, most breakfast cereals. These are just a selection, but they are common foods that people world wide consume regularly.

The Symptoms of Insulin Resistance

Even if we eat high glycemic food, the remarkable pancreas can function quite efficiently. It`s an amazing organ. The insulin hormone released from it`s beta cells, will stimulate “gateways” (cell receptors) to receive glucose (sugar). It all functions perfectly. Insulin will also stimulate your liver and muscle cells to store any excess glucose as glycogen when too much is produced, and that reserve will be used when the glucose levels dip, maintaining a regular level of 70-110 mg per dl.

If you habitually eat a diet of glycemic foods, that`s when problems will begin to surface. Glucose levels will be too high in the blood too often, and your beta cells will continue to supply extra insulin to off-set the load. The results are damaging to those liver, muscle, and fat cell receptors. When that occurs, then the beta cells will work even harder to produce more insulin, trying to force insulin into the cells. More cell receptors are destroyed and the cycle of destruction repeats.

Your cells at this phase, become insulin resistant, with Diabetes and high blood pressure looming as a real threat, along with the other metabolic syndrome X symptoms.

After the cell receptors become insulin resistant, it has an affect on the metabolic processes within those cells. Take the fat cells for example. When their receptors become insulin resistant, triglycerides break down and are released into the blood stream, raising the level of fat. What about the muscle cells? When they become insulin resistant, their contribution of taking up glucose is greatly reduced which elevates the amount in the blood further. And what is the effect of liver cells when they become insulin resistant? Only some of the excess glucose will be able to enter the cells to be stored as glycogen, adding even more to the saturation of glucose in the blood. Now your condition is diabetic. Blood pressure begins to rise due to the defective insulin metabolism, and if you do not already suffer from the following health problems, you are at high risk of developing them.

Hardened arteries
Damaged artery walls
Narrowed blood vessels
Vitamin and mineral deficiencies
Weight gain
Switched off fat burning mechanism
Kidney damage

Your pancreas, that was so efficient is now weakened by the over-production of insulin. It`s beta cells are rapidly burning out, and before long you will need to rely on insulin injections in addition to all the other problems you now have to cope with. But I hope all this hasn

Diabetes and Blood Pressure

Article by John Ngijseh

Did you know that controlling your blood pressure may be more important then controlling your blood sugar? This is because persistently high blood pressure could increase your chances of heart attack and stroke. To make matters worse, diabetics already have a greater risk of heart disease or stroke just because they are diabetic. So any diabetic with high blood pressure is in the high risk bracket. Controlling your blood pressure is one of major ways to help reduce this risk especially if you are diabetic.

What should my blood pressure be?

There have been a lot of studies and research into the ideal blood pressure for diabetics and in truth there isn’t one ideal answer. The experts, National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), recommend that BP for Type 2 diabetics should be under 140/80 mmHg, and for Type 1 diabetics should be under 135/85. Your physician may well have a lower or different target for you and aim to follow what your physician recommends.

What to use to measure blood pressure (BP)?

The most convenient way to check BP would be to use an automatic “arm” blood pressure monitor. The other type of blood pressure monitors are wrist monitors. However, blood pressure readings from arm monitors tend to be more reliable then wrist. We would recommend you use a BHS (British Hypertension Society) validated blood pressure monitor. These monitors have an official stamp of approval which meet the BHS’s stringent validation requirements. Like most products be careful of “cheap” monitors which may not be reliable and can brake down very easily. From our own experience we have found the Omron brand to be a very reliable.

How can I lower my blood pressure?

There are steps that you can take to help reduce your blood pressure. These include

* Reduce dietary salt intake to less than 6g of salt per day (the less the better).

* Avoid too much coffee (>5 cups)

* Avoid stress (this is easier said then done but stress can play a major role in high bp)

* Try relaxation therapies (e.g. stress management, meditation, etc.) can reduce BP

* If you smoke, stop. This will make a huge benefit to your heart disease risk

* Exercise, ideally aerobic exercise for 30-60 minutes, three to five times each week. (Check with your doctor that you can do this)

* Limit alcohol consumption

If your blood pressure is still high after making these lifestyle changes then your doctor may decide to prescribe you antihypertensive medicines which lower blood pressure.

It is important to monitor your blood pressure and know what your blood pressure is. If it is persistently above the target ranges described then get it checked by your doctor. Knowing your blood pressure allows you to take control and take action.

We hope you have found this article useful. In this article we have talked about dietary changes that can help your blood pressure. In the diabetes and food article we discuss the role of food in controlling diabetes. Have a read of this article to learn more.

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