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Put your patient on aspirin? Take him off? Here's what you need to know to get it right.

Background: It has been proposed that dyslipidemic hypertension is part of a distinct metabolic syndrome related to insulin resistance. This paper describes the prevalence and cross-sectional relations of dyslipidemic hypertension in a population-based sample of men and women., Methods: In two southeastern New England communities, 11,199 randomly selected participants were evaluated as part of a cross-sectional surveillance program of coronary heart disease risk factors between 1981 and 1990., Results: The frequency of dyslipidemia was 38% and of hypertension was 26.5%; the conjoint frequency (dyslipidemic hypertension) was 15.0%, which is 1.49 times the expected value if the two diseases were independent P < .05). Using a discrete multivariate model, dyslipidemia and hypertension were associated with sex, obesity, and diabetes mellitus. The excess association of dyslipidemic hypertension, compared with individual effects of dyslipidemia and hypertension, was not related to these factors., Conclusions: This study suggests that dyslipidemic hypertension is common but may not be a unique entity associated with a distinct metabolic syndrome.

A project was undertaken to determine the number, specific activities, and demographics of clinical pharmacists directly involved with residency programs in family practice. A survey was mailed to the directors of all 381 family practice residencies, with a request either to forward it to the participating pharmacist or to return the survey if a pharmacist did not directly participate in the teaching program. With two mailings, responses were received from 85.3% of the residencies, with 80 pharmacists completing surveys. While the involvement of pharmacists in family practice residencies was similar to that reported in a survey 9 years ago, academic appointments and funding, in whole or in part by a college of medicine, had increased. This increased involvement may represent an acknowledgment by medical educators in family practice of the value of pharmacists participating in residency programs.

Quality of life issues have become increasingly important in tailoring antihypertensive therapy to individual patients. The application of quality of life data to the practice setting is frequently difficult, however. The effective use of this information requires an understanding of its definition and measurement, as well as of study methods. Quality of life findings may be specific to particular disease states, patient populations, and pharmacologic agents. The addition of hydrochlorothiazide to concurrent methyldopa, propranolol, or captopril therapy has been reported to reduce patients' overall sense of well-being. beta-Adrenergic blockers may exert either positive or negative effects on quality of life. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors may have positive effects on quality of life; however, the cost of therapy is an important consideration. Information on calcium antagonists is limited. The findings of the Treatment of Mild Hypertension Study (TOMHS) may eventually provide comparative quality of life data on the four first-line antihypertensive therapies.