The year of care for diabetes: what can it achieve?
The Year of Care for diabetes project has its roots in the recent movement to put patient empowerment at the top of the health agenda.It reflects recent government publications,including Choosing Health: Making healthy choices easier and Our health, Our care, Our say. In this article we look at the development of the project, its aims and what it will mean in practice.
Blood glucose monitoring for people on insulin
This article will examine the issues surrounding blood glucose monitoring for people treated with insulin.It will look at the practical skills required for patients to test accurately,the roles of the individual patient and the healthcare professional in successful monitoring,and the equipment required.The aim of the article is to ensure that monitoring justifies the expense and time involved by achieving good glycaemic control.
Tracing the history of insulin
We often take modern medicine for granted,but a review of the history of a disease and its treatment can help us put the whole thing in perspective.In this article,we trace the development of understanding about the nature and cause of diabetes and the use of insulin as a key treatment.
Optimising insulin treatment in primary care
Everyone with diabetes deserves the highest standards of personalised diabetes care, no matter where, when or by whom this care is delivered.
Aspirin or Warfarin for Atrial Fibrillation
Editorial
A happy and productive 2009 to all our readers! We hope that as we all face the challenges – and, we hope, joys – that this year will bring, BJPCN can provide the practical and reliable information and advice that you tell us you find so useful.
Triglycerides: Making Sense Of The Sometimes Forgotten Lipid Fraction
The importance of lowering total and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) in the prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is so firmly established that it has,in only a short time, become part of everyday practice for all primary care health professionals.Lipids,of course,come in multiple forms,which include fatty acids,the different forms of cholesterol and triglycerides.Most practitioners have only a sketchy idea of what triglycerides are,what they do and how important they are.Few understand the intricacies of measurement, diagnosis and interpretation,and when – and how – to manage them.The story is complex and involves difficult biochemical and metabolic concepts,so we should begin at the beginning.
Working In Partnership With Patients: Developing A Diabetes Pathway With Local Service Users
This article looks at how a group of patients worked in partnership with North Lancashire Teaching Primary Care Trust (PCT) to produce a patient information leaflet for people newly diagnosed with diabetes (see page 32).The leaflet is intended to act as a guide, giving the new diabetic information and facts to help them,as well as encouraging them to find out more for themselves and enabling them to ask the appropriate questions.
Get Your Socks Off: Diabetic Foot Care In The Community
All of us delivering care to people with diabetes know that it’s increasingly common, affecting two million people in the UK,according to figures for 2007.It is also expensive,taking up about 10% of NHS costs and 5% of social costs. We also know it’s the commonest cause of non-traumatic lower limb amputations and that’s just one of the reasons that we spend so much time in clinics optimising care and detecting complications.But how well do we understand the impact of foot disease and how organised are we in assessing and treating it?
Starting On Nateglinide Or Repaglinide
Cardiac Resynchronisation: A New Approach To Managing Chronic Heart Failure
About 40% of patients with heart failure die within one year of diagnosis,underlining the need for more effective management.Nearly one-third of patients with heart failure may have an abnormality in the electrical conducting system of the heart.In this article,we review cardiac resynchronisation and its role in managing chronic heart failure.
