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If you have diabetes, regardless of your blood pressure, there's a case for being on blood pressure lowering medications, according to a study. One of the largest ever trials of its kind involving people with diabetes has come up with both a life and kidney saving treatment. The study has confirmed that if you have diabetes, regardless of your blood pressure, there's a case to be on blood pressure lowering medications. One of the nastiest things about diabetes is that it plays havoc with your arteries - both the large ones like those in the leg and the small ones which supply oxygen to the back of the eye. Diabetes also damages your kidneys, making them leak protein into the urine and can lead to kidney failure. The Australian team which ran the trial had previously found that people at high risk of a heart attack or stroke benefited from going onto a blood pressure reducing medication - even if their blood pressure was in the normal range. No-one's sure why but it's probably that when you're at high risk, you need to get everything as low as possible. Anyway in this five year trial of 11,000 people with diabetes across several countries, blood pressure treatment - irrespective of a person's blood pressure, reduced the rate of kidney damage by about 20 per cent and saved one life for every 80 people treated over five years. So if you or someone close to you has diabetes, have a chat to your GP about what this study means for you.
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