A new study has found that patients who receive regular lifestyle counselling are able to achieve effective blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol control much quicker than those who do not get the same level of advice from their doctor.
The research, carried out at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in the United States and published in Diabetes Care, involved data from over 30,000 diabetics receiving primary care counselling regarding diet, exercise and weight loss over a two-year period. All patient experienced high levels of blood sugar, blood pressure or cholesterol.
It was shown that the counselling could lower the amount of time it took for patients to lower their blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and that the people who received the most counselling achieved their treatment targets faster, with patients who had counselling at least once a month getting the most effective results.
Alexander Turchi, who was senior author on the study, pointed out “This study shows that persistent lifestyle counselling can and should be a critical piece of any routine diabetes treatment plan.”
He added “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.”

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