Diabetes and Hypertension

The association of diabetes mellitus and hypertension has been well known for a long time. However, the important impact of hypertension on the development of chronic complications of diabetes and on the prognosis of the diabetic patient has only recently been realized. The increasing number of patients with endstage diabetic nephropathy who need regular dialysis or renal transplantation reflects only one important aspect of this problem. As new targets for the treatment of hypertension were considered, it became evident, that drug treatment of hypertension in diabetics must take side effects into account which may be negligible in the nondiabetic patient. Basic research has granted much new insight into the mechanisms which function to link diabetes, kidney function, hypertension, and vascular disease. As a result of the high specialisation in research, such new information diffuses only slowly out of the circles of experts into clinical practice. Therefore, it was a most rewarding initiative of the Bayer Company to sponsor a conference which aimed at a mutual exchange of ideas between clinicians and researchers who are experts in either hypertension or diabetes.