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April 02 2000
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Drug For High Blood Pressure Treatment Increases Diabetes Risk -

 

It was traditionally believed that some drugs used to treat high blood pressure might cause diabetes. Previous research has suggested that beta-blockers and other drugs called thiazide diuretics may lead to diabetes. However the results of a new study show that beta-blockers are the only blood pressure drugs linked to the disease.

Potential mechanisms by which beta-blockers may contribute to the development of diabetes include weight gain, attenuation of the beta-receptor-mediated release of insulin from pancreatic beta cells, and decreased blood flow through the microcirculation in skeletal-muscle tissue, leading to decreased insulin sensitivity.

The results are based on a study of more than 12,000 people aged 45 to 64 who did not have diabetes. At the start of the study, participants underwent a physical examination, which included blood pressure measurements and an interview about the medications they were taking.

The study also found that just having high blood pressure more than doubles a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which usually begins in adulthood. Interestingly, the data from both short-term and long-term studies indicate that ACE inhibitors may actually improve insulin sensitivity and decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes.

The New England Journal of Medicine 2000;342:905-912, 969-970



Dr. Mercola Dr. Mercola's Comments:

This is a great study that helps clear up some of the confusion about drugs and the risk of diabetes. I had always told patients that most water pills (thiazide diuretics) increase the risk of diabetes. This does not appear to be the case, but the beta blockers (drugs like Inderal and Tenormin) increase the risk by nearly 30 percent.

However, the cardiovascular benefits of the beta-blockers might outweigh the risk of diabetes for some people. Plus, beta-blockers are very inexpensive, which makes them an important option for people who cannot afford other medications.

Beta-blockers should still play an important role in the treatment of people with high blood pressure and heart disease and even in those with high blood pressure and diabetes, who are particularly at risk for heart disease. They are particularly good for high anxiety people who are very stressed out.

HOWEVER, they are clearly NOT the long-term option. They don't address the reason one developed high blood pressure. The reason the study found that high blood pressure doubled a person's risk of diabetes is that the same thing that causes type 2 diabetes causes most high blood pressure problems.

That, of course, is too many grains and sugars. If you follow the food choices I recommend, along with get about one hour of cardiovascular exercise per day, you will go a long way toward resolving the cause of these diseases.
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[ Joined on 08/06 ] [ Posted on November 1, 2008 ]
       
   
 
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I've been taking atenolol (tenormin) for over 20 years to help control my skipped heart beats, arythmias, and tachycardia, and thank God I so far have not got diabetes.

I was taking the highest dose of 100 mg before I was having so many strong skipped beats that I was at my utmost end and actualy lowered the dose within a years time (gradualy and under a Doc's care) and am now down to 25 mg a day, and I attribute this to having the willpower and telling myself I can try to get off this junk, and when I exercise I feel better too.

I was at one time diagnosed as having a heart murmur as well as mitral valve prolapse, and the last time I seen my cardiologist and had an echo done, they were undetectable.

I would love to be completely off the drug but when I try to go lower than 25 mg a day my heart beats faster and I get more skipped beats.

I was diagnosed by an MD through tests that I have PVC's and PAC's, so I would love to overcome these some day.

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