Since hypertension is a key modifiable contributor to diabetic retinopathy progression, researchers assessed blood pressure (BP) status in adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes attending a retina clinic at an academic center in Virginia, US. The analysis included 172 patients with a mean age of 66.6 years. Only 14 (8.1%) had BP within the normal range, while 91 (52.9%) had stage 2 hypertension and 18 (10.5%) had BP readings consistent with hypertensive crisis. Among the 144 patients with a known history of hypertension, 131 were on antihypertensive medication.
Despite 100 reporting their BP control as good or excellent, 115 had stage 1 hypertension or higher at the clinic visit. Elevated BP was also common among the 28 patients without a prior hypertension diagnosis. Of these, 24 had abnormal BP readings, including 10 with stage 2 hypertension and 3 with hypertensive crisis. The…
