What is the relationship between hypertension and acromegaly?
Although human growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 (somatomedin C) may increase blood pressure a little (and treatment of normotensive people with acromegaly lowers blood pressure a little), most authorities attribute the higher-than-expected prevalence of hypertension in patients with acromegaly to their hypertrophied hearts and vascular systems; sleep apnea also plays a role. Octreotide and other antagonists of growth hormone have little antihypertensive effect. Treating hypertension in acromegaly probably improves their prognosis because most of them die of premature cardiovascular disease.