Patients Have Time To Learn Lifestyle Changes Following Diagnosis Of Diabetes, Hypertension, Before Drugs Become Necessary
A new study suggests that middle-aged adults recently diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension have time to try to learn how to control their high blood pressure without medications, but not too much time. The consequences of delaying effective hypertension treatment for up to a year were small - a two-day reduction in quality-adjusted life expectancy - according to a study by University of Chicago researchers published online for the Journal of General Internal Medicine. But as the delay gets longer, the damages multiply.
Routine Aspirin More Likely To Harm Than Benefit Healthy People
Taking a regular dose of aspirin is more likely to harm than benefit healthy people with no history of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack or stroke, given the risk of internal bleeding that arises from such routine use of the drug, according to a UK-led study published online in the Archives of Internal Medicine on Monday. Senior author Kausik Ray, professor of cardiovascular disease prevention at St George's University of London, and colleagues, analyzed data from 9 clinical trials covering over 100, 000 healthy people, where half took aspirin for an average of six years and half took a placebo.
Team Care Improving Depression And Diabetes
The growing number of people with multiple physical and mental chronic conditions are among the toughest - and costliest - to care for. The TEAMcare collaborative care program is a promising solution. In the January/February 2012 Annals of Family Medicine, Group Health Research Institute and UW Medicine researchers have found how this program works: through primary-care doctors starting and adjusting medications sooner and more often to reach goals ("treating to target"); and motivating patients to participate in their own care and monitor their illnesses.