Hypertension frequently coexists with diabetes mellitus, occurring twice as frequently in diabetic as in nondiabetic persons.
It accounts for up to 75% of added cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in people with diabetes, contributing significantly to
the overall morbidity and mortality in this high-risk population. Patients with hypertension are two times more prone to have
diabetes than are normotensive persons. Hypertension substantially increases the risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke,
retinopathy, and nephropathy. In patients with type 2 diabetes, hypertension usually clusters with the other components of
the cardiometabolic syndrome, such as microalbuminuria, central obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, hypercoagulation,
increased inflammation, and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). In type 1 diabetes, hypertension often occurs subsequent to
the development of diabetic nephropathy. Hypertension in people with diabetes is characterized by volume expansion, increased
salt sensitivity, isolated systolic blood pressure (BP) elevation, loss of the nocturnal dipping of BP and pulse, and increased
propensity toward orthostatic hypotension and albuminuria. Among the treatment strategies tested in hypertensive diabetic
persons, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol lowering to less than 100 mg/ dL and aggressive BP control to less than
130/80 mm Hg have proven effective in CVD risk reduction. The combination of two or more drugs is usually necessary to achieve
the target BP.