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Many Patients With Diabetes Skip Their Medicine
posted 04/29/04
Many physicians wait too long treating with diet and exercise
before prescribing medications.
A sizable share of diabetics who have health insurance used no medicine at all
to control their condition, leading to higher costs and more frequent
hospitalizations, according to new research paid for by the pharmaceutical
industry.
One conclusion of the study commissioned by the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America: Prescription drugs should be used more
often to treat diabetes and other chronic illnesses.
"Now is the time to move ahead by promoting a healthy lifestyle among diabetes
patients, regular testing and, when needed, the use of medicines that can help
patients maintain their health," said Alan F. Holmer, PhRMA's president.
In a study that followed nearly 195,400 patients with the most common form of
diabetes, nearly one in five did not use insulin or other anti-diabetes drugs
over an entire year. This group saw doctors more often, spent more time in the
hospital and had higher costs for lab tests and home care than patients treated
with medicines, said the study, conducted by Massachusetts-based PharMetrics.
In another, smaller sample of 19,000 diabetics, 30 percent took no medications
during an entire year, the study said. "These results suggest that there may be
much opportunity for improvement in the management of the diabetic patient," it
said.
The study examined only people with insurance so that differences in the use of
medicines could not be attributed to health care coverage.
Diabetes impairs the body's ability to produce or make proper use of insulin,
resulting in elevated blood-sugar levels that can damage the kidneys, heart,
eyes and other organs.
More than 16 million Americans have diabetes, but experts think 6 million of
them don't know they have the disease. It kills 180,000 people annually.
Source: Diabetes In Control.com.
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