Articles related to Family Medicine/General Practice

From side effect to mechanism of action to patient acceptance to managing insurance hurdles, this collection of expert points from the February Endocrine Society meeting is a helpful synopsis of need-to-know items for PCPs.

Danish researchers assembled a prospective observational cohort study of 9,533 asymptomatic people aged 40 years or older with no known ischemic heart disease to define characteristics of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis associated with the development of myocardial infarction. The study’s findings are startling.

Getting a handle on the biochemical processes that govern how food is broken down and used within the body can be a daunting task for many, and even for those who understand it, monitoring with technology isn’t always possible. This is where Levels come into play. An instant metabolic analysis just a few hours after eating is only the beginning of the Levels experience; the app focuses on four major blood glucose levers in a gamified experience: diet, exercise, stress, and sleep. Dr. Lauren Kelley-Chew, Levels’ Head of Clinical Product, discusses all of this and more.

The study was conducted while GLP-1 RAs and SGLT-2 inhibitors were still considered second-line therapies; however, in a 2022 Consensus Report, the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes recommended these medications as first-line therapy for people with type 2 diabetes who have or are at high risk of certain complications such as heart failure, CKD, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Are the medications’ price tag keeping people away?

In a study of nearly 100,000 individuals aged 30 to 95 without any prior evidence of CVD, decline in peak metabolic equivalent of task score (METS) of greater than 1.0 was inversely proportionate to changes in mortality risk. METS were determined using symptom-limited exercise treadmill tests.

This 28-year-old man with hypertension and diabetes works two jobs, says he does not have time to exercise, takes most of his meals from fast-food restaurants, and is unhappy with his lifestyle. What would you recommend?