Influencia de la prediabetes en el pronóstico cardiovascular del paciente hipertenso

The different characteristics of patients who have an elevated risk of developing diabetes mellitus have recently been described, the main ones being higher serum glucose concentration, increased body mass index, elevated systolic blood pressure, low HDL-cholesterol value and presence of previous antihypertensive treatment. However, little is known about the long term prognosis of this group of patients, also called “prediabetics”. The prediabetic state has been defined by the presence of hydrocarbonate intolerance of abnormal fasting glycemia. The accumulated evidence suggests that individuals with hyperglycemia in the non-diabetic range (prediabetics) have increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. This review analyzes the need to recognize prediabetic hypertensive patients early to develop cardiovascular protection strategies and, in this way, to decrease the consequences of the precipitation of the development of diabetes and its cardiovascular and renal harmful effects.