Even if a person doesn't have diabetes, having high blood pressure increases the risk of stroke and heart attack. With diabetes, these risks increase along with the added risks of kidney disease and blindness.

People need to know their blood pressure numbers. Just like high blood sugar, without testing devices, you cannot tell if your blood pressure is high. There is usually no pain or outward signs to warn you to get help. In fact, you can feel fine and still need action. This is true for people who have diabetes and high blood pressure.

Elevated blood pressure is so common that everyone should be tested, says Dr. Evelyn Crayton, Extension foods and nutrition specialist. High blood pressure is defined as persistent arterial pressure in excess of 140/90.

If you have high blood pressure, there are many things you can do to bring it down, says Dr. Evelyn Crayton, a foods and nutrition specialist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

"Get your diet under control, eat healthier foods and in smaller servings, limit your salt intake and exercise more. Being sedentary raises the risks of developing high blood pressure and high blood sugar. Exercising regularly can help reduce both," she says.

There are a number of blood pressure-reducing medications. Some are appropriate for diabetic use. Ace inhibitors are one such class of these medications. ACE inhibitors help moderate the high blood pressures that follow diabetic kidney disease.

Get blood sugars under good control, and keep them there. Just as high blood sugars lead to glycosylation -- a condition that raises blood pressure in localized areas -- maintaining normal blood sugar can cut glycosylation, reducing the risks of eye or kidney disease, nerve damage and other complications of high blood pressure.

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