Volume 7, Number 2, Apr-May-Jun 2010

POPULAR
TOPICBACK TO BASICSUsing ABCD2 score to assess stroke risk in TIA

DISEASE FOCUSMaking the most of angina management programmes in patients with refractory angina
Clare Hawley

Refractory angina affects approximately 5-10% of patients with angina. Sufferers are significantly disabled by their symptoms, which are made worse by fears about what is happening to them. They are frequent attenders in GP surgeries, hospital outpatient departments and emergency admissions units. Patients who take part in an Angina Management Programme (AMP) that provides education, stress management and relaxation feel better, live longer and are able to avoid unnecessary invasive tests and palliative revascularisation procedures. AMPs can be effectively commissioned and delivered in primary care.

EDITORIALEditorial
Jan Procter-King

Welcome to the latest issue of BJPCN, which we hope you will see as a bunch of spring flowers, offering a bouquet of delights to cheer you on your way to meeting the challenges of providing the best care for patients with cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

POPULAR
TOPICEDITORIALJust one wish...
Professor Roger Boyle, Dr Damian Jenkinson, Dr Rowan Hillson, Dr Donal O'Donoghue

What would you wish for to improve the management of patients with cardiovascular disease and diabetes? We asked each of the Clinical Directors, who lead the NHS for these conditions nationally: “Right now, if I had one wish, and it could ensure that every primary care nurse did one thing in diabetes / stroke / kidney / cardiac care it would be …”
Read what they told us:

POPULAR
TOPICFOOD FOR THOUGHTWater, water everywhere: maintaining a healthy fluid balance
Sue Baic

As health professionals, we can spend considerable time encouraging patients to think about what they eat and how their diet affects their health. But we tend to focus less on what they drink, which is perhaps surprising because fluid intake also plays a vital role in maintaining good health.

EVIDENCE IN PRACTICEEvidence in Practice

There are just not enough hours in the day to read all the research journals, even if you wanted to. This section of BJPCN – Evidence in Practice – will keep you on top of relevant research without having to spend hours in the library or on the worldwide web. Each review gives you a bite-size summary of new research, pulling out key points for primary care and recommending the action that you might consider taking.

HAVE YOU HEARD?Have you heard?

MONITORINGContinuous glucose monitoring: friend or foe?
Debbie Hicks

Glucose monitoring has revolutionised the management of diabetes by providing the means for patients to check their blood glucose level in real time. This review provides an update on continuous glucose monitoring, looks at the devices available and analyses what the strategy adds to diabetes management.

POPULAR
TOPICPREVENTION IN PRACTICEMaking the numbers add up: diagnosing the one in four UK adults with hypertension
Bev Bostock-Cox

Hypertension – high blood pressure – is one of the key ingredients in the recipe for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Since April 2009 all patients diagnosed with hypertension should have a cardiovascular risk assessment carried out in order to meet the requirements of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). This reflects the importance of hypertension as a risk factor for CVD. In this article, we will review the correct method for measuring blood pressure and the key guidelines setting out how and when a diagnosis of hypertension should be made.

PATIENT'S STORYWhat is it like to have supraventricular tachycardia?
Nicola Jenns

Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) often begins in childhood or early adulthood. In this review, a patient describes her experience of coping with episodes of SVT and the experience of undergoing cardiac ablation and subsequently having a pacemaker fitted.

POPULAR
TOPICHANDS ONHelping people to quit smoking
Bev Bostock-Cox

Helping people who smoke to quit is one of the most important steps we can take in reducing their risk of cardiovascular disease, in addition to reducing the other harms caused by smoking.