Impaired fasting glucose, blood pressure and cardiovascular disease mortality

Impaired fasting glucose (fasting plasma glucose 6.1 to 6.9 mmol/L [110 to 125 mg/dL]) is a common glycemic disorder which usually progress to diabetes mellitus. The relationships between impaired fasting glucose, other risk factors including blood pressure, and mortality have never been clearly investigated. We studied 63 443 consecutive men (ages 21 to 60 years), each of whom had a routine health examination with a fasting plasma glucose measurement. Men with known ischemic cardiac disease and treatment for diabetes or hypertension were excluded. Impaired fasting glucose was found in 10 773 (17.0%) of these men. Mean body mass index, serum triglyceride and cholesterol levels, and systolic, diastolic, and pulse blood pressure were significantly higher for men with impaired fasting glucose compared with those men with normal fasting glucose (fasting plasma glucose 3.9 to 6.0 mmol/L). When adjusted for confounding variables, relative risk of 8-year cardiovascular mortality associated with impaired fasting glucose was dependent on systolic blood pressure level (1.02 [95% CI: 0.62 to 1.70] when <140 mm Hg and 2.10 [95% CI: 1.16 to 3.80] between 140 and 160 mm Hg). Inversely, relative risk of 8-year cardiovascular mortality associated with moderate systolic hypertension (140 to 159 mm Hg) compared with normal systolic blood pressure (<140 mm Hg) was highly dependent on the glycemic status (2.97 [95% CI: 1.58 to 5.55] for men with impaired fasting glucose compared with 1.35 [95% CI: 0.84 to 2.18] in those with normal fasting glucose). Similar results were found concerning overall mortality. In conclusion, the presence of moderate systolic hypertension can identify subjects with impaired fasting glucose who are at risk of cardiovascular and overall mortality, and vice versa, probably through the metabolic syndrome.