Taking Blood Pressure Meds At Night May Lower Diabetes Risk

Timing is everything, right? Well, that may also be true of when people take their blood pressure medication.

According to new research at the University of Vigo in Spain, people who take blood pressure medication before they go to sleep at night might be less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. 

In an initial study, the research team analyzed blood pressure level data from 2,656 people in order to predict new-onset diabetes. All individuals had varying blood pressure levels, but did not have diabetes at the start of the study. During almost six years of follow-up, 190 people in the group developed type 2 diabetes. The team also discovered that blood pressure levels at sleep time were a “significant marker” for diabetes risk.

The team was curious to see if taking medication at a certain time of the day might be more effective at reducing the risk of diabetes. It randomly assigned 2,102 people with high blood pressure to either take their entire dose of blood pressure medication upon waking up or taking it before going to bed.

Researchers found that those who took medication at night had a 57 percent less chance of developing new-onset diabetes than those who medicated in the morning. Those in the night group (52 percent) also showed more cases of “non-dipping,” where blood pressure, compared to levels during the day, drops less than 10 percent during sleep. Only 32 percent of the morning group displayed non-dipping.

The study was published in the journal Diabetologia.

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Sourced from: Medical News Today, Blood pressure medication before bed could lower risk of diabetes