High blood pressure is common in diabetics. It may be there even before Diabetes. More than 60% of the diabetics have high blood pressure. It is the commonest cause of stroke and heart attack in diabetes. High blood pressure affects kidneys badly and kidney disease increase blood pressure raises blood pressure profoundly. So blood pressure control is very essential in diabetes. Keep it aroud 130/80 mm of hg. This may require more than 2 or 3 medicines at a time.
Cholesterol is a fat. Excess Cholesterol, especially LDL cholesterol in blood is harmful to the heart. It gets deposited on the inside lining of coronary arteries and form plaques. Different thickness, different consistency and location of the plaque decides heart attack and it`s severity. HDL cholesterol is good cholesterol. Low LDL and high HDL is ideal. In Indians everywhere it is other way round. So they are more prone to heart attack. There are effective medicines to lower LDL cholesterol. No effective medicines at present to increase HDL cholesterol. Exercise is of some help in increasing HDL cholesterol.