The association of diabetes mellitus and hypertension has been well known for a long time. However, the important impact of hypertension on the development of chronic complications of diabetes and on the prognosis of the diabetic patient has only recently been realized. The increasing number of patients with endstage diabetic nephropathy who need regular dialysis or renal transplantation reflects only one important aspect of this problem. As new targets for the treatment of hypertension were considered, it became evident, that drug treatment of hypertension in diabetics must take side effects...