[Arterial hypertension and insulin resistance]

Insulin resistance manifested by hyperinsulinism is an important risk factor for the development of cardiovascular diseases. When associated with characteristic disorders of the lipid metabolism and arterial hypertension it is regarded today as a metabolic syndrome X. To detect hyperinsulinism in patients with arterial hypertension in everyday practice, it is advisable to determine the rations "circumference of the waist, circumference of the hips", while its abnormal values necessitate a carbohydrate challenge. Hyperinsulinism in AH patients should be born in mind when devising therapeutic measures, the mainstay of which is dietary therapy, with Calcium antagonists and inhibitors of the converting enzyme being used as hypotensive agents.