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ACP Effort TargetsU.S. Diabetes Care
BY ROBERT FINN
San Francisco Bureau
S
AN
F
RANCISCO
— The American College ofPhysiciansand the American College of Physicians Foundation have be-gun a major 3-year initiative toimprove diabetes care in the Unit-ed States.The initiative, announced at apress briefing during the annualmeeting ofthe ACP, is aimed notonly at physicians, but also at theentire diabetes managementteam, including subspecialists,physician assistants, diabetes ed-ucators, nurses, office staff, andthe patients themselves.Ofthe 18.2 million Americanswith diabetes, 5.2 million are un-diagnosed, according to informa-tion distributed at the briefing.Novo Nordisk, the Denmark- based pharmaceutical companythat first commercialized insulin,has funded the initiative with anunrestricted educational grant of $9.27 million.“We believe this intensive 3- year project, combining an em-phasis on highest standards of care, measurable goals for prac-tice in office settings, and re-search, can dramatically improvediabetes care,” Charles K. Fran-cis, M.D., president ofthe ACPsaid in a prepared statement an-nouncing the initiative.Some ofthe educational pro-grams and materials will be avail-able to the medical profession ingeneral, while others will be lim-ited to ACP members.Vincenza Snow, M.D., the ACP’s director ofclinical pro-grams, said that the project hasthree goals: to increase physicianawareness ofhigh-quality diabetescare and the gap between currentpractice and acceptable standards,to provide proven educational in-terventions for improving care tothe entire diabetes team, and torecognize physicians and physi-
BY DOUG BRUNK
San Diego Bureau
A
bout halfofchildren in America—nearly 36 millionofthem—live in homes where aparent or other adult uses tobac-co, drinks heavily, or uses illicitdrugs.That’s one ofthe sobering facts contained in “Family Mat-ters: Substance Abuse and the American Family,” an 81-pagewhite paper produced by the Na-tional Center on Addiction andSubstance Abuse (CASA) at Co-lumbia University, New York.The report “underscores themagnitude ofour national prob-lem with substance abuse, DavidFassler, M.D., a child and adoles-cent psychiatrist who practicesin Burlington, Vt., told this news-paper. “It clearly outlines the risk factors and demonstrates the dra-matic impact on children of growing up in a family environ-ment where they are exposed tosubstance abuse.”The CASA report includesthese findings:
Thirteen percent ofchildrenunder age 18 live with a parent orother adult who uses illicit drugs.
Twenty-four percent ofchil-
No link was found for localized disease.
Statins May LowerRisk of AdvancedProstate Cancer
Report Conveys Scope ofSubstance Abuse Problem
BY ROBERT FINN
San Francisco Bureau
A
NAHEIM
, C
ALIF
. —Choles-terol-lowering drugs, particularlystatins, appear to be associatedwith a greatly reduced risk ofad-vanced prostate cancer, according to a large, prospective, observa-tional study presented at the an-nual meeting ofthe American Association for Cancer Research.“Men who used cholesterol-lowering drugs had about half the risk ofadvanced prostate can-cer,” as those who did not, saidElizabeth A. Platz, Sc.D., the leadauthor ofthe study, which wasconducted as part ofthe HealthProfessionals Follow-Up Study,an ongoing cohort study that be-gan in 1986 at the HarvardSchool ofPublic Health, Boston.“When we limited advancedprostate cancer to just those cas-es that were metastatic or fatal,men who used cholesterol-low-ering drugs had a third oftherisk ofmetastatic and fatal dis-ease,” Dr. Platz ofJohns Hop-kins University, Baltimore, said ata press briefing.The study followed 34,438male health professionals (in-cluding dentists and veterinari-ans) who were free ofprostatecancer in 1990, when their agesranged between 44 and 79 years.They completed health ques-tionnaires every 2 years through2000 to report the use ofcholes-
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“Knowledge is necessary but not sufficient for change,” said Dr.Vincenza Snow, ACP’s director of clinical programs, with Dr. AlanC. Moses, vice president of medical affairs for Novo Nordisk.
Shedding LightOn Parkinson’s
Radioligand tracers may helpidentify affected patients.
PAGE 11
Drugs, Pregnancy,And Lactation
Column debuts with a look at asthma medications.
PAGE 30
Bent Out ofShape
Be on the lookout for joint hypermobility syndrome.
PAGE 35
See
Diabetes Care
page 6
INSIDE
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Internal Medicine News
www.eclinicalpsychiatrynews.com
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The Leading Independent Newspaper for the Internist—Since 1968
M
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15, 2005
See
Prostate Cancer
page 2See
Substance Abuse
page 31
www.internalmedicinenews.com
Top 10 Diagnoses by Internists in 2004
Note: Based on projected nationwide data from a monthly survey of about 360 internists.Source: Verispan
Allergic rhinitisAsthmaHypothyroidismEsophageal disorderDepressive disorderRoutine medical examHypercholesterolemiaHyperlipidemiaDiabetes mellitusHypertension
15.6%6.5%6.0%2.5%2.3%2.1%2.0%1.9%1.6%1.5%
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