Hormone Link Between Diabetes And Hypertension Identified

"Aldosterone is produced by the adrenal gland. We've known for some time that it increases blood pressure. We've recently learned it also increases insulin resistance in muscle and impairs insulin secretion from the pancreas. Both actions increase a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but the question was -- how much," said Dr. Joshua J. Joseph, lead investigator and an endocrinologist at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.

Joseph and his team followed 1,600 people across diverse populations for 10 years as part of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. They found, overall, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes more than doubled for people who had higher levels of aldosterone, compared to participants with lower levels of the hormone. In certain ethnicities, the effect was even greater. African Americans with high aldosterone levels have almost a three-fold increased risk. Chinese Americans with high aldosterone are 10 times more likely to develop diabetes.”

You may read the article in its entirety from ScienceDaily.com here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180904140545.htm