Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: High Blood Pressure Diabetic Diet

Question:
Are there any special considerations about which high blood pressure medications a diabetic should use? Before I was diagnosed with diabetes, I had been treated with high blood pressure for years while the doctor was telling me I would be put on statins if I didn't get my cholesterol and triglycerides down with diet and exercise. (typical syndrome X, I learned too late). Can anyone post a workable high blood pressure diabetic diet? I had managed to lose some weight and improve my cholesterol numbers on the low fat (therefore high carb) diet that I followed for a year but my triglycerides were getting worse and my blood pressure was resisting efforts to control it. I had been taking Lotrel 10/20 twice a day with not so good results, on the last visit my doctor added hydrochlorothiazide 25mg twice a day and my bp quickly dropped into the

Answer:
You brought up some extraordinarily important questions; you get a bit more answer than you expected: 1. Actos and metformin are noted for knocking down the Insulin Resistance which causes a. High Triglycerides b. High LDL c. A slow increase in blood pressure Actos seems to have more powerful effect on Triglycerides, LDL and blood sugars than Avandia. 2. The ACE and ARB blood pressure meds seem to have unique and startling good effects on Type 2 diabetes complications. There is some data which indicates that the ACE at least fights the Insulin Resistance which is the underlying cause of Type 2 diabetes. The folks at McMasters Univ. in Toronto ran a study with Altace ACE inhibitor drug and Avandia anti-Insulin Resistance drug. The Altace portion of this HOPE study was surprising. In addition to almost spectacular results as a protection against premature heart attack and kidney failure, the Altace also seemed to slow the degeneration which causes the Type 2 diabetic Progression. Many doctors believe that any ACE inhibitor and any of the ARB type blood pressure drugs have the same premature heart attack and kidney failure effects. Some ARB's have been shown to have kidney protective effects.