Blood Pressure and Cholesterol in Diabetes

Most people with diabetes track one number closely and two barely at all. Blood pressure and cholesterol do at least as much to decide what happens over the next twenty years.

Blood pressure

The usual target is below 140/90 mm Hg, though your doctor may set a lower one. It matters for two organs at once: high blood pressure drives heart disease and stroke, and it is one of the two main things that slows or accelerates kidney damage.

This is why ACE inhibitors and ARBs — two families of blood pressure medicine — are prescribed so often in diabetes. They protect the kidneys specifically, not just the blood pressure reading.

Cholesterol

Targets here are set individually rather than by one universal number, and a statin is commonly recommended for people with diabetes over 40, sometimes even when cholesterol looks acceptable — because the aim is reducing cardiovascular risk rather than correcting a single value.

Have all three checked on a schedule, not only when something feels wrong: HbA1c at least twice a year, blood pressure at every visit, and lipids as your doctor advises.

See also what to check beyond blood sugar.