WPADE.org

A Little Humor

wpadeorg — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:40:43 +0000

Two men encounter a bear in the forest. One of the men pulls his running shoes out of his knapsack and puts them on. The other man says, incredulously, “You don’t think that those shoes are going to help yo outrun that bear?” The other man replies, “I don’t have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you!”

The candidate has been talking on and on for about an hour. Finally, he said “Now are there any questions?” “Yes”, came a voice from the rear, “Who else is running?”

The good thing about being young is that you are not experienced enough to know you cannot possibly do the things you are doing.

It is impossible to support both the government and family on one salary.

Annette Karnash

Filed under: 2010 Newsletters

Dark Chocolate

wpadeorg — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:33:02 +0000

Eating a small portion of dark chocolate every day may help lower blood pressure. Researchers randomly assigned 44 adults with hypertension to eat 30 calories worth of dark chocolate daily for 18 weeks. In that period, blood pressure among those who ate white chocolate remained the same. But those who ate dark chocolate saw small reductions. Their systolic pressure decreased by an average of nearly 3mmHg, and their diastolic pressure decreased by almost 2mmHg. But don’t binge on chocolate. Though the studies participants did not gain weight, regularly eating large amounts would certainly pack on pounds.

Annette Karnash

Filed under: Upcoming Programs

Pillboxes

wpadeorg — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:21:31 +0000

Haphazard pillbox use can lead to errors. In a study, over three quarters of older adults who used pillboxes did not follow recommended practices, such as using different compartments for different days, consulting written directions or medication labels for dosage regimens or having a second party check that they had filled the box correctly.

Annette Karnash

Filed under: 2009 Newsletters, 2010 Newsletters

Arthritis

wpadeorg — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:15:49 +0000

There is a definite correlation between arthritis and diabetes. Studies have shown there is double the number of diabetics with arthritis (52%) as compared to the general population (27%). Arthritis affects 52% of people with diabetes in the 45-64 age group and 62% of those 65 and older- significantly higher than in these populations as a whole. Surprisingly, arthritis affects about 28% of individuals with diabetes who are 18-44 years old. This is 2 1/2 times the rate for that age group in the general population.

Consequently, individuals with diabetes alone are more physically active than those who have diabetes and arthritis. Despite this, exercise is most important in both conditions- to control weight and blood gugar levels for diabetes and to maintain mobility and control the pain of arthritis. Those individuals with both diseases, unfortunately, are reluctant to get as involved as is needed with exercise because of painful, still joints and the fear of further injuring these joints.

Annette Karnash

Filed under: 2010 Newsletters

Oral Hypoglycemic Agents

wpadeorg — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:09:34 +0000

There are 16 drugs in 9 different pharmacologic classes that are approved by the FDA for the management of type 2 diabetes because they lower blood sugar and glycosolated hemoglobin levels in the blood. These test are used to diagnosis, monitor and are the baisi to approve new drugs to treat type 2 diabetes.

A recent article in Worst Pills, Best Pills addressed several concerns. Diabetes places people at risk for macrovascular long term complications, but there is no evidence that type 2 diabetes drugs currently on the market reduce these risks. The FDA even requires package inserts to warn prescribers that;

There have been no clinical studies establishing conclusive evidence of macrovascular risk reduction with any oral anti-diabetes drug.

It should not be assumed that lowering blood sugar levels means that a patient’s diabetes is under control and that in turn reduces the risk of developing complications. The article suggests that this is an inadequate way to determine which drugs should be approved and approval should be based upon the ability of the drug to decrease long term complications as a condition of approval.

The FDA has recently required that manufacturers prove that new type 2 diabetes drugs do not present an unacceptable level of heart risk, but they have not required that the studies be completed prior to marketing.

The article states that one reason that the lifestyle changes, such as proper diet, exercise and weight reduction, are not heavily promoted to prevent and manage type 2 diabetes, amy be that the only one who would profit would be the patient. However, they did advise not to stop taking any diabetes medications without first consulting the prescriber.

Annette Karnash

Filed under: 2010 Newsletters