Practical Practitioner

By: Pamela Egan, FNP-C CDE

Clinics can help you control blood pressure, cholesterol

If you attend a clinic led by a Nurse Practitioner or clinical health specialist, odds are you will have better blood pressure and cholesterol numbers.

Researchers in the United Kingdom studied 1,407 individuals with diabetes who had blood pressure greater than 140/80 mmHg, high cholesterol or both.

All received usual care, but some were randomly assigned to attend Nurse Practitioner-led clinics in addition to standard treatment.

Those who attended the clinics received both lifestyle advice and help in fine-tuning their drug therapy according to established guidelines.

They visited the clinics every four to six weeks until their blood pressure and cholesterol were within healthy ranges.

After one year, the clinic group showed significant improvement in lowering both blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The nurse-led clinics had the added benefit of reducing instances of death, according to Diabetes Care.

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