Hypertension Family History May Accelerate Type 2 Diabetes Onset

In a cohort of individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (T2D), a family history of hypertension accelerated diabetes onset by more than 2 years compared with individuals who had no family history of the condition.

In the retrospective study, which was published recently in the Endocrine Journal, researchers examined 1299 patients (78.6% men) diagnosed with T2D during a health checkup. Patient age was assessed at the time of diabetes diagnosis.

Overall, 702 patients had a family history of hypertension and 597 did not.

According to results, patients with a family history of hypertension at the time of diabetes diagnosis were significantly younger than patients who did not (49.1±10.4 years vs 51.8±11.4 years; P <.001).

Researchers also found that body-mass index at registration was higher in the arm with a family history of hypertension (25.1±4.1 kg/m² vs 24.2±3.8 kg/m²; P <.001).

However, smoking status at registration and body mass index at the age of 20 did not significantly differ between groups.

In multivariable linear regression analysis, researchers found that 3 independent variables — the family histories of hypertension and diabetes and patient gender — significantly affected patient age at the time of type 2 diabetes diagnosis (P for all <.001).

“The findings … suggest that a positive family history of hypertension might be associated with an accelerated onset of type 2 diabetes,” the researchers concluded.

“Subjects with a family history of hypertension should be informed of their personal risk at an early age accompanied by information on preventive health behaviors to reduce their chances of ever developing type 2 diabetes.”