Blood pressure-lowering treatment among patients with type 2 diabetes is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and heart disease events and improved mortality, according to a study in JAMA. Kazem Rahimi, D.M., M.Sc., of the George Institute for Global Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K., and colleagues conducted a review and meta-analysis of large-scale randomized controlled trials of BP-lowering treatment including patients with diabetes, published between January 1966 and October 2014.

The researchers found that each 10-mm Hg lower systolic BP was associated with a lower risk of mortality, cardiovascular disease events, coronary heart disease events, stroke, albuminuria and retinopathy. The associations between BP-lowering treatments and outcomes were not significantly different, irrespective of drug class, except for stroke and heart failure.

Although proportional associations of BP lowering treatment for most outcomes studied were diminished below a systolic BP level of 140 mm Hg, data indicated that further reduction below 130 mm Hg is associated with a lower risk of stroke, retinopathy, and albuminuria, potentially leading to net benefits for many individuals at high risk for those outcomes. “Among patients with type 2 diabetes, BP lowering was associated with improved mortality and other clinical outcomes. These findings support the use of medications for BP lowering in these patients,” the authors write.                                               

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