Patients often resist the advice of health care providers and thus neglect what is in their best interests. But research found that exploring a patient’s motivation for resistance, through a process call motivational interviewing, can greatly increase compliance.

Just a 1.3-g/day reduction in sodium, translates into a 5-mm-Hg smaller rise in systolic blood pressure. Between the ages of 25 and 55 years, this small reduction would translate into an estimated 150 000 lives saved.

Rosiglitazone Seen No Better than Other Drugs in Diabetic Control

In patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), guideline-based treatment with an antiplatelet agent is as effective with or without the addition of an anticoagulant. However, combination treatment is more hazardous than monotherapy with an antiplatelet, according to evidence from the Warfarin Antiplatelet Vascular Evaluation (WAVE) trial investigators

Concurrent counseling with a dietitian and a physician in an outpatient setting is effective in achieving and maintaining weight loss, according to a new study.

Results from two studies indicate that elevated nonfasting triglyceride levels are associated with cardiovascular events such as a heart attack, with one study finding that triglyceride levels measured after fasting does not show this association.

Adoption of 4 healthy lifestyle habits in middle age is associated with a 40% reduction in all-cause mortality and 35% reduction in CVD events within 4 years.

If we could get our patients to test more often we would get better results. But finger sticks hurt so why don’t our patients use alternate site testing. This one page handout helps your patients understand how to get rid of the pain. The Secrets of Alternate Site Testing Printout

Theresa L. Garnero, ARNP, CDE, returns with a new cartoon. Check it out.

Lisa Long, PharmD. Candidate 2008, University of Florida just finished her endo rotation with me and offers her personal opinion of her favourite insulin pump.