 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
Cardiology |
 |
| |
| 13 Oct 2009 | Viewed: 116 | |
|
Obese patients treated in office-based medical practices were twice
as likely as normal-weight patients to develop conditions associated
with heart disease, a new study has found.
Researchers evaluated data collected by primary care and other
office-based physician practices across the United States for a
five-year period to identify whether obese patients developed hypertension, high triglycerides/low HDL, and diabetes
more often than patients whose weight was considered normal. The
collaborative study was conducted by Qayyim Said PhD, University of
Arkansas Medical Sciences, Diana Brixner PhD, RPh, and Carrie McAdam
Marx MS RPh, both University of Utah College of Pharmacy, J. Sanford
Schwartz MD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and Rami
Ben-Joseph PhD, of Sanofi-Aventis, Inc.
Patients were classified as either normal weight or obese based upon
their BMI (Body Mass Index), and their medical records were evaluated
for the development of high triglycerides, low HDL levels, high blood pressure,
or non-insulin dependent diabetes. The study found that obese patients
were more than twice as likely to develop these conditions as patients
who were of normal weight.
"This study found that being obese increases patient's likelihood of
developing high triglycerides, low HDL, high blood pressure or
diabetes," said Brixner, the study's senior investigator. "While other
studies have established that obesity
leads to these chronic conditions, this study is unique in that it has
confirmed the link between obesity and conditions associated with heart
disease using de-identified medical record data, similar to the data
collected by the average patient's primary care provider or internist."
In the past 20 years, obesity has become a major health concern and,
according to the Centers for Disease Control, more than one-third of
U.S. adults are obese. Research has shown that obesity increases the
risk of developing numerous health problems, in addition to the ones
evaluated in this study, including certain cancers, liver and gallbladder disease, and osteoarthritis.
This research will be discussed in Value in Health, the official journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research.
Value in Health (ISSN 1098-3015) publishes papers, concepts, and
ideas that advance the field of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research
and help health care leaders to make decisions that are solidly
evidence-based. The journal is published bi-monthly and has a regular
readership of over 4,000 clinicians, decision-makers, and researchers
worldwide.
ISPOR is a nonprofit, international organization that strives to
translate pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research into practice to
ensure that society allocates scarce health care resources wisely,
fairly, and efficiently.
|
|
| |
| News Source: medical news today |
|
Back
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Powered By Aeon IT Solutions