HYPERTENSION AND HYPERGLYCEMIA

The association of hypertension and hyperglycemia has attracted the attention of a number of clinical observers. In 1910, Neubauer ¹ noted this and offered the unproved theory that excessive activity of the suprarenals was the underlying factor. In this country, O'Hare ² first established the fact of a decline in tolerance for carbohydrate in certain examples of high blood pressure. He offered the theory that sclerosis of the arteries of the pancreas might be the pathologic background of the condition. Pearce and Keith³ suggested that, because a diseased kidney is unable to utilize the ordinary amount of sugar brought to it by the blood, diminished sugar consumption results, with increased accumulation of this substance in the blood stream. Meyers and Killian ⁴ noted the increase of the diastatic activity of the blood in examples of nephritis, and expressed the idea that this might account for the hyperglycemia often noted