The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7407 p6
1 July 2006

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Insulin use in type 2 diabetes linked with hypertension

?Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who take insulin may be at a higher risk of developing hypertension than those who do not, a recent study has shown (Archives of Internal Medicine 2006;166:1184).

Investigators in Taiwan looked at data from 87,850 patients with type 2 diabetes, 5,927 of whom were using insulin. Compared with patients who did not use insulin, hypertension was more likely in patients who had been taking insulin for 10 years or more (adjusted odds ratio 1.46, 95 per cent confidence interval 1.24–1.74), five to nine years (1.35, CI 1.18–1.54) and less than five years (1.14, CI 1.06–1.23), after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, duration of diabetes, smoking and family history of hypertension.

The relationship between exogenous insulin use and hypertension needs to be studied further, the authors conclude.