Hypertension and cardiometabolic disease

Hypertension has a central role in cardiometabolic disease and is usually associated with metabolic disorders, such as insulin resistance, obesity, and dyslipidemia. Hyperinsulinemia may increase cardiovascular (CV) risk through its promotion of hypertension, which is possibly a result of chronic enhancement of sympathetic nervous system activity, stimulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system leading to increased renal tubular sodium reabsorption, modulating cation transport, or inducing vascular smooth muscle cell hypertrophy. The body mass index value is associated with hypertension, but additional analyses showed that the strongest link existed between visceral obesity and hypertension. In a cross-sectional study, we have already shown that pulse pressure (PP) amplification, heart rate (HR), and pulse valve velocity (PWV), but not augmentation index (Aix), are increased in patients with metabolic syndrome (MS). The basis of therapy for hypertension in MS lies in a changed way of life, involving caloric intake reduction, increased quality of food, increased physical activity, and medicamentous therapy. Such a therapy has a favorable impact not only on blood pressure (BP), but on all the components of MS, and is able to delay the onset of diabetes.