Diabetes and hypertension have evolved as two of the modern day epidemics affecting millions of people around the world. These two common co-morbidities lead to substantial increase in cardiovascular disease, the major cause of morbidity and mortality of adults around the world. In Diabetes and Hypertension: Evaluation and Management, a panel of renowned experts address a range of critical topics -- from basic concepts in evaluation and management of diabetes and hypertension, such as dietary interventions, to evaluation and management of secondary hypertension in clinical practice. Other chapters focus on high cardiovascular risk populations such as those with coronary heart disease, chronic kidney disease and minority patients. In addition, evolving concepts and new developments in the field are presented in other chapters, such as prevention of type 2 diabetes and the epidemic of sleep apnea and its implication for diabetes and hypertension evaluation and management. An important title covering two of the most troubling disorders of our time, Diabetes and Hypertension: Evaluation and Management will provide the busy practitioner with cutting edge knowledge in the field as well as practical information that can translate into better care provided to the high-risk population of diabetics and hypertensive patients.

Samy I. McFarlane, MD, MPH, MBA
Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension, SUNY-Downstate and Kings County Hospital, Brooklyn, NY, USA

George L. Bakris, MD
Department of Medicine, ASH Comprehensive Hypertension Center, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA

Hypertension and diabetes show a strong epidemiologic association. About 75% of adults with diabetes have blood pressure levels =130/80 mmHg or use antihypertensive medication and this percentage goes up to 90% if microalbuminuria is also present. On the other hand, individuals with hypertension are 2.5 times more likely to develop diabetes within 5 years of diagnosis. The presence of hypertension in patients with diabetes substantially increases the risk for both cardiovascular and renal diseases and is associated with a 7.2-fold increase in mortality, whereas in those with diabetes and diabetic nephropathy, hypertension causes a 37-fold increase in mortality.

Hypertension in type 1 diabetes generally results from the underlying nephropathy and in type 2 diabetes it usually occurs in the context of the cardio- metabolic syndrome. Understanding the pathophysiological context and the overall cardiovascular risk assessment together with the current therapeutic modalities for people with diabetes and hypertension is a sine qua non for effective management of this growing patient population.

In this book we present to the primary care providers as well as to the sub-specialists an integrative approach to hypertension and diabetes including lifestyle and pharmacological approaches, focusing on overall cardiovascular risk reduction with special emphasis on high- risk population. We also provide an overview of the preventive measures for both hypertension and diabetes in the light of the most recent clinical trials. Finally, we discuss the future outlook for the epidemic and the ongoing clinical studies together with the various innovative diagnostic modalities.

Epidemiology of Hypertension in Diabetes.- Evaluation and Management of Secondary Hypertension.- Hypertension in African-Americans.- Hypertension in Chronic Kidney Disease.- Diabetes and Hypertension in People with Sleep Apnea: Risk Evaluation and Therapeutic Rationale.- Resistant Hypertension: Etiology, Evaluation and Management.- Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease.- Hypertension, Diabetes and the Eye.- Predictors of Kidney Disease in Diabetic, Hypertensive Patients.- Antihypertensive Therapy and New Onset Diabetes.- Global Cardiovascular Risk Reduction in People with Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension.- Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes: Evidence from Clinical Trials.- Dietary and Lifestyle Approaches to Hypertension in the Population with Diabetes.- Novel Pharmacological Approaches in Hypertension Treatment.