Healthy

Blood pressure newsTake twoTaking two medicines to lower bloodpressure and cholesterol, along with lowdoseaspirin, has been proven todramatically reduce the risk of a heartattack or stroke for people with heartdisease or diabetes.A long-term, large-scale trial has shown that thisapproach can slash the risk by more than 60 percent. And the benefits increase the more faithfullythe medications are taken.The study followed more than 170,000 peoplewho had either diabetes, heart disease, or both.They were encouraged to take daily low-doseaspirin, were given a statin to lower theircholesterol and an ACE inhibitor to lower theirblood pressure.Over two years, researchers measured how oftenthey took their medicines by checking how theyrefilled their prescriptions.They identified three main groups:Didn’t take their medication - this group of101,464 people chose not to take both the statinor ACE inhibitor or took just one of themTook their medication sometimes - this groupof 47,268 people took both their medications, buton an infrequent basis, less than half the timeRegular takers of their medication - thisgroup of 21,292 people took their medicationon a regular basis, more than half the time.Rising tides of obesity and diabetesMore than one in 10 people are being treated forobesity and one in 20 for diabetes, according to newresearch from GP practices.The figures show that thereare now more than 2.6 millionpeople with diabetes in theUK and more than 5.2 millionregistered as obese.The number of peoplediagnosed with diabetesin the UK has increased bymore than 145,000 in thelast year.Around 90 per cent of peoplewith diabetes have Type 2diabetes, often linked tolifestyle factors such as beingoverweight or obese, nottaking enough exercise andeating an unhealthy diet.According to the InternationalDiabetes Federation, at least80 per cent of people withType 2 diabetes worldwideare overweight or obese atthe time of diagnosis.“These latest figures areextremely worrying,” saidDouglas Smallwood, ChiefExecutive of Diabetes UK.“Diabetes is a seriouscondition that causes heartdisease, stroke, amputations,kidney failure and blindness,and more deaths than breastand prostate cancercombined.“Many, but not all, peoplewith Type 2 diabetes areoverweight or obese. Weneed to do all we can tohelp people understandhow a balanced diet andactive lifestyle can helpreduce their risk ofdeveloping the condition.“If we don’t stop the risingtides of obesity and diabetes,millions will face a future ofill-health and will put anever-growing strain onNHS resources.”❤newsIn the third year, they looked at how manypeople had to go to hospital because of astroke or heart attack.The risk of stroke or heart attack was foundto be directly related to how often people tooktheir medications. People who took theirmedication sometimes had a 60 per cent lowerrisk than those who never took their tablets.Those who took their medication regularly hada more than 60 per cent lower risk than thosewho never took their tablets.In addition, side-effects, such as muscle achescaused by statins, were found at the same rateas would be expected if the drugs were beingtaken separately.Source: Kaiser Permanente Press Release: Bundling 2 low-cost heartdrugs prevents heart attack and stroke in large, diverse population.7