Keeping BP levels lower than standard offers no benefits for diabetics

While it is suggested that blood pressure levels in people with diabetes should be kept lower than the standard for people without diabetes, a new study does not find support for this practice.

"It's been clinical practice to try to decrease blood pressure as much as possible in this group in order to reduce both mortality and morbidity," said Jose Agustin Arguedas, M.D., professor in the department of clinical pharmacology at the University of Costa Rica.

The researchers studied five trials with a total of 7,314 participants to evaluate whether lower blood pressure targets for people with diabetes were better than standard blood pressure targets. The review determined that setting blood pressure targets lower than 140 over 90 mmHg in people with diabetes did not lower the risk of heart attack, stroke or death.

John E. Anderson, M.D. president for science and medicine at the American Diabetes Association, said that for some populations even more aggressive blood pressure targeting might be appropriate if it can be done without undue burden of medication.