The relationship between post-load plasma glucose and blood pressure at different resting heart rates

Previous studies have indicated that heart rate and post-load plasma glucose are independently related to blood pressure. This study explores these relationships further. Of 39,665 adults screened in Chicago firms between late 1967 and early 1973, 27,117 white men and women aged 18-64, not receiving drug treatment for hypertension or diabetes, are the focus of this study. Within each age sex group, the sample was stratified by heart rate. Within each heart rate group a multiple linear regression analysis was done with blood pressure the dependent variable and plasma glucose, serum cholesterol, relative weight, age and number of cigarettes per day the independent variables. Within each age sex group glucose was progressively higher with higher heart rates. In addition, the glucose coefficients tended to be larger at higher heart rates, especially in men age 25 and over, i.e. the glucose blood pressure association was stronger in men with high heart rate. These results suggest that there exists a population of individuals with the triad of high blood pressure, high heart rate, and high glucose whose hypertension may have a distinct etiology and/or pathogenesis.