Effects of Obesity and Diabetes Mellitus on the Prevalence of Hypertension

The effects of obesity and diabetes mellitus on blood pressure have not been fully elucidated. We studied the influence of the body mass index, glucose intolerance, age, and sex on the prevalence of hypertension in 5546 sujects who had taken health examinations.The subjects were divided into 5 groups according to the body mass index : thin, somewhat thin, somewhat overweight, overweight, and obese. They were also divided into 4 groups using an oral glucose tolerance test: normal (NOR), borderline (BOR), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and diabetes mellitus (DM). Thereafter we checked the hypertensive cases of each subgroup in accordance with WHO criteria.The following results were obtained:1) Men 40 to 49 years olda) No hypertensive cases were shown in the thin subgroup with NOR.b) The prevalence of hypertension in the somewhat overweight subgroup with NOR was significantly higher than in the thin and somewhat thin subgroup with NOR.3) The prevalences of hypertension in the somewhat thin subgroup with IGT and DM was significantly higher than in this subgroup with NOR and BOR.2) Men 50 to 59 years olda) The prevalences of hypertension in the overweight and obese subgroup with NOR was significantly higher than in the thin or somewhat thin subgroup with NOR.b) The prevalence of hypertension in the somewhat overweight subgroup with DM was significantly higher than in this subgroup with NOR.3) Men 60 to 69 years olda) The prevalence of hypertension in the obese subgroup with NOR was significantly higher than in the thin and somewhat thin subgroup with NOR.b) The prevalence of hypertension in the somewhat overweight subgroup with DM was significantly higher than in this subgroup with NOR.4) Femalea) No significant findings were made between the 5 subgroups by body mass index level with NOR. We concluded the following:(i) The prevalence of hypertension was high even in the early stages of obesity.(ii) Diabetic cases were frequently accompanied by hypertension even without obesity.