Adding pharmacists to docs’ offices helps patient outcomes, study shows

From a November 15, 2010 Eureka news alert

Adding pharmacists to the primary care team right in doctors’ offices may help patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes better manage associated risks, a new University of Alberta study had found. The blood pressure of patients with Type 2 diabetes dropped significantly when pharmacists were included in the on-site clinical examination and consulting process, the U of A study showed. Among 153 patients whose hypertension was inadequately controlled at the beginning of the study, the 82 who had advice from a pharmacist were more likely to reach blood pressure treatment targets recommended by the Canadian Diabetes Association. As well, the study showed that with input from pharmacists, the predicted 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease for patients with Type 2 diabetes will drop by three per cent. The results were reported online by Diabetes Care, and are scheduled to appear in the January 2011 issue of the journal. The study can currently be found online at http://diabetes.org/diabetescare. “Pharmacists can play a more active role in primary care and community clinics,” said Scot Simpson, lead author of the study. “We’ve already been actively collaborating on health care teams for years in hospitals.” Placing pharmacists in the doctor’s office instead of in a more traditional role at the neighbourhood pharmacy allows for a more collaborative frontline approach to medication management in primary care, Simpson said. “The doctors, nurses and pharmacists can directly discuss issues specific to any one patient, and by doing so, have the best outcome for the patient.” High blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors are common in people with diabetes, so effective management of medications is key to helping reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke, Simpson added. ### For more information on the study contact: Scot Simpson, associate professor Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences University of Alberta 780-492-7538 ssimpson@pharmacy.ualberta.ca

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When pride in achievement leads to a large order of fries (Want fries with that achievement??)

From a November 15, 2010 Eureka news alert

You aced that test; now it’s time for a treat.

Sometimes pride in an achievement can lead people to indulge in unhealthy choices, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

[ For a related article, go to Notions of Personal “Sacrifice” Help Docs Take Gifts From Industry ]

“Across four studies in the food consumptions and spending domains, we show that pride is associated with two opposing forces; it promotes a sense of achievement, which increases indulgence, and it promotes self-awareness, which facilitates self control,” write authors Keith Wilcox (Babson College), Thomas Kramer (University of South Carolina), and Sankar Sen (Baruch College).

The authors set out to examine the effect of pride on consumer self-control decisions, and discovered that pride has different varieties. One variant—pride in a sense of achievement—leads to people wanting to reward themselves with indulgences. Another kind of pride features increased self-awareness; this type of pride leads to less indulgence.

In their first study, the researchers asked students to write about a proud moment and then make a choice that involved self-control. Participants were able to choose between two gift certificates: a less-indulgent one that could be used for school supplies or one that could be used for entertainment. “As we predicted, when the sense of achievement factored more heavily into the decision, students that wrote about a proud moment were more likely to select the entertainment gift certificate,” the authors write.

In subsequent studies, the authors found that consumers who experienced pride in a sense of achievement were more likely to choose French fries over a salad with their lunch entrée. The authors also found that happiness, another positive emotion, did not have the same effect on consumer choice as pride.

“Because a number of key societal issues, such as the credit and obesity crises, have been attributed to poor self-control in money and health decisions, this research has important implications for improving consumer welfare,” the authors conclude.

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Keith Wilcox, Thomas Kramer, and Sankar Sen. “Indulgence or Self-Control: A Dual Process Model of the Effect of Incidental Pride on Indulgent Choice.” ***Journal of Consumer Research: June 2011 (published online November 5, 2010). Further information: http://ejcr.org.

*** Click here for possible ways to get this article for free.

Is heart disease genetic destiny or lifestyle?

From a November 15, 2010 Eureka Alert

2 studies confirm a healthy lifestyle has biggest impact on cardiovascular health

CHICAGO — Is cardiovascular health in middle age and beyond a gift from your genes or is it earned by a healthy lifestyle and within your control?

Two large studies from Northwestern Medicine confirm a healthy lifestyle has the biggest impact on cardiovascular health. One study shows the majority of people who adopted healthy lifestyle behaviors in young adulthood maintained a low cardiovascular risk profile in middle age. The five most important healthy behaviors are not smoking, low or no alcohol intake, weight control, physical activity and a healthy diet. The other study shows cardiovascular health is due primarily to lifestyle factors and healthy behavior, not heredity.

The studies will be presented Nov. 15 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2010 in Chicago.

[Nice small image library for the media may be found here]

“Health behaviors can trump a lot of your genetics,” said Donald Lloyd-Jones, M.D., chair and professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a staff cardiologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. “This research shows people have control over their heart health. The earlier they start making healthy choices, the more likely they are to maintain a low-risk profile for heart disease.”…

….Why Many Healthy Young Adults Become High Risk

The first Northwestern Medicine study investigated why most young adults, who have a low-risk profile for heart disease, often tip into the high-risk category by middle age with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and excess weight.

The unhealthy shift is the result of lifestyle, the study found. More than half of the young adults who followed the five healthy lifestyle factors for 20 years were able to maintain their low-risk profile for heart disease though middle age. (The five healthy lifestyle factors are not smoking, low or no alcohol intake, weight control, physical activity and a healthy diet.)….

….Both Northwestern Medicine studies build on previous research from the department of preventive medicine that has provided the core for the national definition of cardiovascular health over the past decade, noted Lloyd-Jones.

“We really need to encourage individuals to improve their behavior and lifestyle and create a public health environment so people can make healthy choices,” Lloyd-Jones said. “We need to make it possible for people to walk more and safely in their neighborhoods and buy fresh affordable fruit and vegetables in the local grocery store. We need physical activity back in schools, widely applied indoor smoking bans and reduced sodium content in the processed foods we eat. We also need to educate people to reduce their calorie intake. It’s a partnership between individuals making behavior changes but also public health changes that will improve the environment and allow people to make those healthy choices.”

Related Web sites

• Heart Diseases: MedlinePlus
• American Heart Association

• Heart and Vascular Diseases(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
• Heart Disease(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)

• Cardiac Risk Assessment(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
• Cholesterol Test(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
• hs-CRP (High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein)(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
• Lipid Profile(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
• MedlinePlus: Heart Diseases–Prevention(National Library of Medicine

• Heart Disease Risk Questionnaire(Siteman Cancer Center)
• Palpitations(DSHI Systems)
• Play the Electrocardiogram Game(Nobel Foundation)

 

Home (disaster) preparedness

From a GMR listserv posting (US National Libraries of Medicine- Greater Midwest Region)

Hi everyone,

Do any of you stress home preparedness in your disaster planning,
especially for those staff on the response team? (We do to a point, but
probably not enough.) Do you know who has an emergency generator?
Four-wheel drive? Do you know where they live and how accessible they are
to a major road? I’m asking these questions because I heard them last
night when I attended a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) meeting
that was convened for members interested in manning our county’s 979-INFO
line, which is activated following a disaster for non life-threatening
questions.

By the way, I found this handy calculator
(http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/epr/calculator/index.html) from What If?
Colorado. You can use it to build a 72-hour home emergency preparedness
kit.

Dan

Dan Wilson, MLS
Assoc. Dir. for Collection Management & Access Services
Coordinator, NN/LM National Emergency Preparedness & Response Initiative
University of Virginia Health Sciences Library
Charlottesville, Virginia 22901

NN/LM Emergency Preparedness & Response Toolkit