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Study recommends diabetes patients receive counseling

January 25, 2012 | Topic(s) : Elderly Caregiving Support

By: Bay Alarm Medical Editorial Staff

A new study conducted by researchers from the Brigham and Women's Hospital found that people with diabetes who sought out counseling for managing their condition reached their goals of lowering blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels and kept them under control.

"This study shows that persistent lifestyle counseling can and should be a critical piece of any routine diabetes treatment plan," said senior author Dr. Alexander Turchin, director of informatics research at the BWH Division of Endocrinology. "Clearly it gets people to goals faster than when they are not given continued encouragement and information on how to increase physical activity levels, eat properly and reduce lipids. Primary care providers should take these findings to heart."

In addition, those who met with counselors more often reached their goals much faster. Patients who met with their counselor once a month reached their goal in an average of 3.9 weeks, whereas those who met once every six months took 13.5 months.

Those who are caring for an aging loved one with diabetes may want to purchase a medical alert. This allows the senior to contact emergency services in the event that the caregiver is not home and something goes wrong. 

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Study recommends diabetes patients receive counseling

A new study conducted by researchers from the Brigham and Women's Hospital found that people with diabetes who sought out counseling for managing their condition reached their goals of lowering blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels and kept them under control.