High normal blood pressure, hypertension, and the risk of type 2 diabetes in Japanese men. The Osaka Health Survey.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between high normal blood pressure or hypertension and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in a large Japanese cohort.


METHODS
We enrolled 7,594 Japanese men aged 35-60 years who did not have diabetes or impaired fasting glucose at study entry. Type 2 diabetes was defined as a fasting plasma glucose level of > or = 126 mg/dl or a 2-h postload plasma glucose level of > or = 200 mg/dl. High normal blood pressure was defined as no history of hypertension and a systolic blood pressure of > or = 130 and < 140 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure of > or = 85 and < 90 mmHg. Subjects were considered to have hypertension if they had a systolic blood pressure > or = 140 mmHg, if they had a diastolic blood pressure > or = 90 mmHg, or if they were taking anti-hypertensive medications.


RESULTS
We confirmed 600 cases of type 2 diabetes during the 72,946 person-years of follow-up. Both high normal blood pressure and hypertension were associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes. Compared with normotensive men, men with high normal blood pressure had a multiple adjusted relative risk (RR) of 1.39 (95% CI 1.14-1.69), and men with hypertension had a multiple adjusted RR of 1.76 (1.43-2.16). Even among lean men (BMI < 22.7 kg/m2), men with high normal blood pressure had a multiple adjusted RR of 1.71 (1.20-2.42), and men with hypertension had a multiple adjusted RR of 2.02 (1.34-3.05) compared with normotensive men.


CONCLUSIONS
High normal blood pressure and hypertension are associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Hayashi
T
T
Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, Osaka City University Medical School, Japan.
Tsumura
K
K
Suematsu
C
C
Endo
G
G
Fujii
S
S
Okada
K
K
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D001794:Blood Pressure; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003971:Diastole; D015444:Exercise; D005215:Fasting; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking; D013599:Systole
D001786:Blood Glucose