A group of Spanish researchers discovered that when people took their blood pressure medications at night rather than in the morning, they were cutting their risk of developing type II diabetes by as much as half.

The link between high blood pressure and type II diabetes

A large portion of the people who have high blood pressure suffer from a condition where their blood pressure does not lower during the night when they are at rest like people with normal blood pressures do. The doctors and researchers refer to this as “non-dipping” blood pressures.

It has been discovered that people who suffer from this type of high blood pressure are twice as likely to develop type II diabetes, compared to people with other types of high blood pressure, or people who do not have high blood pressure.

Doctor Zachary Bloomgarden, who is a professor at Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine told us that the main links between high blood pressure and diabetes are created by the hormones adrenaline and angiotensin.

Angiotensin is a hormone that causes your blood pressure to rise. It has the effect of raising blood pressure because it causes the blood vessels to constrict or become smaller. This hormone also decreases a person’s sensitivity to insulin as it increases the amount of glucose that the liver secretes into the bloodstream.

By taking the blood pressure medications that target this hormone at night people can stop their bodies from being at such a great risk to type II development because the blood pressure drugs will limit the amount of the angiotensin hormone they have.

What blood pressure medications target angiotensin?

Angiotensin receptor blockers, drugs known as ACE inhibitors, and drugs known as beta blockers all help to lower angiotensin levels, and they are all effective at lowering your risk of developing type II diabetes if you take them at bedtime instead of in the morning hours.

The Study

Researchers had two thousand participants either take their blood pressure medications in the morning or at night. They watched the study participants for a period of six years. After six years one hundred and seventy one of the participants had developed type II diabetes.

Only thirty-two percent of the participants who took their blood pressure medications at night had the condition referred to as non-dipping. Fifty-two percent of the people who took their blood pressure medication during the morning had the non-dipping condition.

The participants who took angiotensin receptor blockers had a sixty-one percent lower chance that they would develop type II diabetes if they took their medicine at night.

The participants who were taking ACE inhibitors had a sixty nine percent lower chance of developing type II diabetes if they took their medication at night instead of in the morning.

The people who were taking beta blockers had a sixty-five percent lesser chance of developing type II diabetes if they took their medication at night.