Prevalence, impact and management of hypertension-mediated organ damage in type 2 diabetes patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence, impact and management of hypertension-mediated organ damage (HMOD) according to the presence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). METHODS: IBERICAN is an ongoing multicenter, observational and prospective study, including outpatients aged 18-85 years who attended the Primary Care setting in Spain. In this study, the prevalence, impact and management of HMOD according to the presence of T2DM at baseline were analyzed. RESULTS: At baseline, 8066 patients (20.2% T2DM, 28.6% HMOD) were analyzed. Among patients with T2DM, 31.7% had hypertension, 29.8% dyslipidemia and 29.4% obesity and 49.3% had ≥1 HMOD, mainly high pulse pressure (29.6%), albuminuria (16.2%) and moderate renal impairment (13.6%). The presence of T2DM significantly increased the risk of having CV risk factors and HMOD. Among T2DM population, patients with HMOD had more dyslipidemia (78.2% vs 70.5%; P=0.001), hypertension (75.4% vs 66.4%; P=0.001), any CV disease (39.6% vs 16.1%; P=0.001) and received more drugs. Despite the majority of types of glucose-lowering agents were more frequently taken by those patients with HMOD, compared to the total T2DM population, the use of SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists was marginal. CONCLUSIONS: In patients daily attended in primary care setting in Spain, one in five patients had T2DM and nearly half of these patients had HMOD. In patients with T2DM, the presence of HMOD was associated with a higher risk of CV risk factors and CV disease. Despite the very high CV risk, the use of glucose-lowering agents with proven CV benefit was markedly low.

Prevalence of hypotension in hypertensive treated patients within the Primary Care setting. The PRESCAP 2010 study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of hypotension and associated factors in hypertensive patients treated in the Primary Care setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive, and multicentre study was conducted with a total of 2635 general practitioners consecutively including 12,961 hypertensive patients treated in a Primary Care setting in Spain. An analysis was performed on the variables of age, gender, weight, height, body mass index, waist circumference, cardiovascular risk factors (diabetes, dyslipidaemia, smoking, obesity, sedentary lifestyle), fasting plasma glucose, complete lipid profile, as well as the presence of target organ damage (left ventricular hypertrophy, microalbuminuria, carotid atherosclerosis) and associated clinical conditions. Hypotension was defined as a systolic blood pressure less than 110mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure less than 70mmHg. A multivariate analysis was performed to determine the variables associated with the presence of hypotension. RESULTS: The mean age was 66.2 years, and 51.7% of patients were women. The mean time of onset of hypertension was 9.1 years. A total of 13.1% of patients (95% confidence interval 12.4-13.6%) had hypotension, 95% of whom had low diastolic blood pressure. The prevalence of hypotension was higher in elderly patients (25.7%) and in those individuals with coronary heart disease (22.6%). The variables associated with the presence of hypotension included a history of cardiovascular disease, being treated with at least 3 antihypertensive drugs, diabetes, and age. CONCLUSIONS: One out of 4-5 elderly patients, or those with cardiovascular disease, had hypotension. General practitioners should identify these patients in order to determine the causes and adjust treatment to avoid complications.

[Orthostatic hypotension; that great unknown]. / La hipotensión ortostática, esa gran desconocida.

Orthostatic hypotension is an anomaly of growing interest in scientific research. Although certain neurogenic diseases are associated with this phenomenon, it can also be associated with non-neurological causes. Although orthostatic hypotension is defined by consensus as a decrease in the systolic blood pressure of at least 20mmHg, or a decrease in diastolic blood pressure of at least 10mmHg, within 3min of standing, the studies differ on how to diagnose it. Orthostatic hypotension is associated with certain cardiovascular risk factors and with drug treatment, but the results are contradictory. The purpose of this review is to update the knowledge about orthostatic hypotension and its treatment, as well as to propose a method to standardise its diagnosis.