High Pressure and Diabetes: Learn About the Risks of This Silent Villain Duo

High pressure and Diabetes: a pair of sneaky villains. Know the risks!

High pressure and diabetes are two chronic and silent diseases that are increasingly worrying both doctors and health professionals around the world. Because they are both asymptomatic, many consider them silent villains for health, since when the individual has symptoms it is because the clinical picture is already more serious.

Studies show that millions of people in the world suffer from these two pathologies. And the health risk increases even more when the patient suffers from both high pressure and diabetes. And the numbers have increased exponentially as it is largely due to the lifestyle that people have, with a sedentary lifestyle and poor diet being some of the main risk factors.

And this dangerous combination of both diseases mainly affects the elderly, over 60 years old, which are the cause of most heart attacks and strokes.

For this and more, it is so important to address the issue so that it serves as a warning to the population. In today’s article, we will learn about the risks of this very dangerous combination. Keep reading and find out more!

What is high blood pressure?

High pressure and diabetes: learn about the risks!

High pressure or arterial hypertension is when blood pressure levels are above 140 x 90 mmHg. To diagnose the disease, it is necessary to take two or more pressure readings, as well as to perform an electrocardiogram, urine tests and total cholesterol.

If the diagnosed patient does not follow the proper treatment, he may suffer from serious health complications, such as heart attack, stroke, arterial aneurysm, kidney disease and heart failure. Therefore, it is so important that the patient strictly follows medical recommendations and pharmacological treatment.

What is diabetes?

This disease is characterized by increased blood sugar levels, which is caused by the absence or alteration of insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas. Insulin has the function of controlling the entry of glucose into the body’s cells, and then, when a failure occurs, an accumulation of glucose is generated.

The link between high pressure and diabetes

As mentioned above, there are some common risk factors between both diseases. Also, one of them can directly contribute to the aggravation or appearance of the other.

Diabetes can cause hypertension to appear because insulin resistance makes it difficult for cells to access circulating glucose. As a result, blood sugar levels rise, causing the arteries to harden and increase blood pressure.

Diabetic patients are also more likely to suffer from kidney problems. Therefore, the malfunction of the kidneys, which are responsible for filtering the blood, can raise blood pressure. Also, diabetic patients suffer from faster oxidation of blood vessels due to high blood sugar levels. Due to this, the arteries can clog more easily.

However, unfortunately, the relationship between these two pathologies does not stop there. Hypertension can also be a risk factor for the patient to develop type 2 diabetes. This is largely due to the fact that the causes for both diseases to appear in the body are similar.

Therefore, it is always important to emphasize that awareness and prevention are important tools. When there are changes in habits, it is possible to reduce the risks of suffering from some of these diseases. Therefore, health professionals work hard so that the population is informed and aware of how to acquire healthy habits.

It is even important that the patient has an early diagnosis, since if these diseases are not treated properly, they can bring serious health complications, affecting organs such as the heart, kidneys and eyes.

Risk factors

It is important to know the risk factors for both diseases. See the continuation:

• Obesity;
• Alcohol consumption;
• Smoking;
• Sedentary lifestyle;
• Excess salt intake;
• Bad eating habits.

Food for Hypertension and Diabetics

Food can be a great way to prevent and treat both pathologies. If the person has proper medical follow-up, makes use of prescribed medications and adopts new healthy habits, he or she can achieve a better quality of life and keep both diseases under control.

Therefore, there are foods that can contribute or even aggravate their clinical condition. Check out the continuation:

Foods that should be avoided

• Foods rich in sodium: ketchup, soy sauce, ham, mortadella;
• Foods with trans and saturated fats: margarine, biscuits, cakes, fatty meats;
• Canned vegetables: olives, hearts of palm, corn, peas;
• Processed and frozen foods.

Foods that should be consumed

• Omega 3: cold water fish, such as sardines and tuna;
• Legumes: lentil, beans, beak grain;
• Avocado, olive oil, oleagin fruit.

Healthy habits that help prevent and treat high blood pressure and diabetes

• Practice some physical activity regularly;
• Control sodium (salt) consumption;
• Avoid the consumption of alcoholic beverages;
• Quit smoking;
• Decrease stress levels;
• Sleep well.

See also our post: Tips for controlling blood sugar naturally. It will certainly be very useful and help you to clear doubts about the subject. And it doesn’t stop there, we have many other relevant topics to share.