High blood pressure is part of the metabolic syndrome. This
means that almost all of us who have diabetes also have high
blood pressure. We have lots of ways to help us control our
blood pressure, including pills. But if you, like me, prefer to
avoid taking prescription medicine, researchers have now
discovered two ways that seem much better. The researchers
reported their findings Thursday at the American Heart
Association High Blood Pressure Research Conference in Chicago.
Formal papers will probably follow. One study shows that younger
women tripled their risk of having high blood pressure later in
life when their levels of vitamin D were low. Those who were
deficient in vitamin D -- that is with less than 80 nanomoles
per liter of blood -- when the Michigan Bone Health and
Metabolism Study measured it for 559 women in 1993 were more
likely to have high blood pressure when researchers followed up
with them 15 years later. Even adjusting for the effects of age,
obesity, and smoking, the women who had been d