Blood Pressure and Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus is the medical term for a group of metabolic disorders that share one feature: elevated blood sugar levels or detectable sugar in the urine. In many cases, reduced or absent insulin production may be the cause of the high blood sugar. A typical example is type 1 diabetes, where the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas have been destroyed by autoimmune reactions. In type 2 diabetes, however, sufficient insulin production can still be detected (at least early in the disease). However, for various reasons the biological activity of the insulin is impaired. As a result, the pancreas produces more insulin to compensate, and over time this overwork causes the pancreas to lose its ability to produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. It is often associated with being overweight.
Sugar-related damage
Kidneys, blood pressure and diabetes
One organ that is particularly affected by diabetes is the kidney, whose job is to filter the blood. In diabetes, glycation occurs in kidney tissue-especially in the filtration apparatus (the glomeruli)-which has a lasting adverse effect on kidney function. But the kidney does more than just clean the blood. It plays a major role in regulating blood pressure. If diabetes-related damage occurs in the kidney, usually reducing its filtration performance, the kidney interprets this as a need to increase the blood pressure to improve kidney blood flow and thus the filtration rate. That lays the first cornerstone for high blood pressure. If this condition remains untreated, glycation increases and the damage causes a further rise in blood pressure. But even without diabetes, long-term hypertension damages the kidneys. In combination, diabetes and hypertension damage the glomeruli over the long term.
This interaction of destructive factors can, in extreme cases, lead to total kidney failure and make dialysis or a transplant necessary.
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This article is from Tensana – the leading app since 2011, helping hundreds of thousands of people monitor their blood pressure every day.
Our content is based on carefully researched, evidence-based data and is continuously updated (as of 01/2026).
Author Sabine Croci is a qualified medical assistant with many years of experience in internal medicine and cardiology practices as well as outpatient care, and has headed the specialist editorial team at Tensana since 2015. Thanks to her extensive additional qualifications as an emergency medical technician, first responder, and in various areas of therapy and emergency care, she provides well-founded, practical, and reliably verified information.
Author Sabine Croci is a qualified medical assistant with many years of experience in internal medicine and cardiology practices as well as outpatient care, and has headed the specialist editorial team at Tensana since 2015. Thanks to her extensive additional qualifications as an emergency medical technician, first responder, and in various areas of therapy and emergency care, she provides well-founded, practical, and reliably verified information.
