Quality Prescription For Primary Care Doctors: Do Less

June 1, 2011 · Posted in cholesterol · Comment 

Washington, DC, United States (KaiserHealth) – Everybody loves a list. And lists, let’s face, make it easier to set priorities, even for doctors.

So a group of docs who want to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of primary care tinkered with some Top 5 lists for of dos and don’ts for pediatricians, family doctors and internists.

After testing them a bit, they published online by the Archives of Internal Medicine. Most of the advice falls in the category of less is more.

So what should family doctors not be doing? The Top 5 list for them goes like this:

  1. No MRI or other imaging tests for low back pain, unless it has persisted longer than six weks or there are red flags, such as neurological problems.

  2. No antibiotics for mild to moderate sinusitis, unless it has lasted a week or longer. Or the condition worsens after first getting better.

  3. No annual electrocardiograms for low-risk patients without cardiac symptoms.

  4. No Pap tests in patients under 21, or women who’ve had hysterectomies for non-malignant disease.

  5. No bone scans for women under 65 or men under 70, unless they have specific risk factors.

Some of the advice for internists is the same (No. 1, 3 & 5). But they’re supposed to prescribe only generic statins (simvastatin instead of Crestor) at the start of cholesterol treatment and lay off ordering a battery of lab tests to screen for trouble in otherwise healthy patients.

To help the lists get traction, the doctors who worked on them are going to seek endorsements from consumer and patient safety groups.

The work, organized by the National Physicians Alliance, was funded by a grant from the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation.

– Provided by Kaiser Health News.

Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved

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List of Things You Can Do to Lower Your Cholesterol

June 5, 2010 · Posted in cholesterol · Comment 

Experts say that people who are over 20 years of age should pay more attention to their cholesterol level and advise them to do everything they can to lower their levels of “bad” cholesterol. Despite the so many claims that you can lower your cholesterol level through low cholesterol diet plans, lifestyle changes, and monitored medication, more and more people who suffer from this condition still fail to lower their cholesterol level.

Although it is sometimes hard to stick with the needed requirements to be able to lower your cholesterol levels, it is still possible to get the result that you want by following these easy ways to lower to cholesterol:

1. Make sure you know where you stand by getting your levels checked regularly. Visiting your doctor and getting your cholesterol levels checked regularly is very important to achieving optimum health for good. Since high cholesterol is related to cardiovascular disease, make sure that you know your numbers so you can rearrange your diet and change lifestyle habits as well. Knowing your cholesterol level will also help you decide what kind of diet plan you should follow and if you need medication and treatment already. Knowing your starting point will also help you monitor your progress toward healthy cholesterol levels. If you know your exact cholesterol status then you can also do something to combat it by learning to quit cigarette smoking and excessive eating of high cholesterol foods.

2. Understanding the basics and learning everything you can about the condition. If you have been diagnosed with high cholesterol levels, the first thing to do is to understand the situation fully and acquire more information about the condition. By conducting your own personal research on the condition will also make you knowledgeable about initial lifestyle changes you can do to lessen the problem and you will also have an idea what other treatments options available. Knowing everything about cholesterol, its types, kinds, and health risks will also make you understand that the case is not really hopeless if you are in the right track.

Finding and getting more information about the condition will also make you realize that there are so many things that you can do. You can get more information from a registered dietician, local centers for nutrition, local hospital or public health department, and from a consultation with your attending physician or health care provider.

3. Watch your weight and get rid of extra pounds if needed. Monitoring your weight is one of the best ways to combat high levels of cholesterol. If you think you are overweight for your age and height, then you should be contemplating on slimming down to be able to decrease your high cholesterol level. Since being overweight disrupts a person’s normal metabolism of dietary fat, experts say that people who weight more than they should shout start planning on a healthy lifestyle and diet to lose weight safely.

But, before having a drastic change in your diet and lifestyle, make sure that you visit your doctor first to access your overall health. Doing this may prevent further damage especially if you have to undergo certain medications.

4. Get physical, do regular physical activities and exercises more often. The wonders of exercise are indeed very essential in lowering high cholesterol levels. Doing regular physical activities can also help raise the good cholesterol levels and lose weight as well. There’s really no need for high-intensity workouts, regular brisk walking or jogging can help the body boost HDL cholesterol and also beneficial for the heart.

5. Make a commitment and stick to that commitment. The best way to lower cholesterol levels is to be able to develop the discipline to stick to your goal. You can also lower your cholesterol level by acquainting yourself what are the good and the bad fat and its sources, by discovering the wonders of fiber in cutting down cholesterol, by taking in good multivitamins, by freeing yourself from lots of stress, and by exploring and considering treatment options when all else fails.

To learn about high cholesterol foods and normal cholesterol levels, visit the Cholesterol Guidelines site.

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