Large Artery Stiffness Accompanies the Insulin Resistance Syndrome
I am a firm believer that, as we discover more and more about the arteries and their modulation by insulin, that the concept of “essential” hypertension will fall by the wayside. 90% of HTN is essential with no known cause. It very well may be that the real cause of a large chunk of this hypertension is hyperinsulinemia adversely affecting the contractility of the arterial walls. The inter-related nature of physiology and organ systems really becomes apparent when you look at problems and solutions from a different angle–exercise is known to lower blood pressure. Could it be that exercise does this by increasing insulin sensitivity and lowering blood pressure through this pathway???
JCEM — Abstracts: Westerbacka et al. 86 (11): 5262