Clinical inertia
Who's responsible for optimal diabetes care? Is the burden on the doctor or on the patient?
In the first of many studies on this issue to be presented at the meeting, it was shown that doctors are simply not treating diabetes as agressively as they should. When a patient is not doing well, instead of changing the drug regimen or increasing the dosage, they are waiting much too long before taking action. This is clinical inertia.
The study, from a group in Boston, showed that about one-third to one-half of patients studied are going much longer than they should in the same dose of medication when they are not achieving the ADA's recommended goals for therapy.
There are additional studies coming up later from groups in Germany and Baltimore who studied large numbers of patients and came to much the same conclusion - physicians are simply waiting too long.
The moral of the story seems to be that when someone has diabetes, they need to ask questions of their medical team such as "What can I do differently?, Should my medication be increased?" Patients really need to put pressure on their doctor to do more. Get to your doctor if you are not reaching goal - and don't be passive about your diabetes care.
In the first of many studies on this issue to be presented at the meeting, it was shown that doctors are simply not treating diabetes as agressively as they should. When a patient is not doing well, instead of changing the drug regimen or increasing the dosage, they are waiting much too long before taking action. This is clinical inertia.
The study, from a group in Boston, showed that about one-third to one-half of patients studied are going much longer than they should in the same dose of medication when they are not achieving the ADA's recommended goals for therapy.
There are additional studies coming up later from groups in Germany and Baltimore who studied large numbers of patients and came to much the same conclusion - physicians are simply waiting too long.
The moral of the story seems to be that when someone has diabetes, they need to ask questions of their medical team such as "What can I do differently?, Should my medication be increased?" Patients really need to put pressure on their doctor to do more. Get to your doctor if you are not reaching goal - and don't be passive about your diabetes care.
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