Hypertensive Drug Compliance Improves With Positive Affirmation In African-Americans
African-American patients with high blood pressure follow their medication regimen more effectively with a combination of positive affirmations and patient education, concludes a study published Online First in the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In comparison to white people, African-Americans are disproportionately affected by hypertension...

Confidence, Positive Feelings Support Better Medication Adherence In Hypertensive African-Americans
When it comes to taking prescribed medications for hypertension, a patient's self confidence could be as important as doctor's orders. A new study by researchers at NYU School of Medicine reveals that positive affirmation, when coupled with patient education, seems to help patients more effectively follow their prescribed medication regimen...

Drug Compliance Undermined By Affordability, Canada
According to an investigation by researchers from the University of British Columbia, University of Toronto and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), the cost of prescription medication affects 1 in 10 Canadians, and 1 in 4 individuals without medication insurance cannot afford to have their prescriptions filled...

Treatment For Diabetes And Depression Improves Both
Patients simultaneously treated for both Type 2 diabetes and depression improve medication compliance and significantly improve blood sugar and depression levels compared to patients receiving usual care, according to a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania...

Severe Asthma Attacks Could Be Reduced By Improved Medication Use
Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital have found that one-quarter of severe asthma attacks could be prevented if only patients consistently took their medication as prescribed. Moreover, an asthma attack was only significantly reduced when patients used at least 75 percent of their prescribed dose, according to the study...

Side Effects Of Breast Cancer Drugs Can Be So Bad Women End Treatment And Risk Return Of Cancer
Why do so many postmenopausal women who are treated for estrogen-sensitive breast cancer quit using drugs that help prevent the disease from recurring? The first study to actually ask the women themselves -- as well as the largest, most scientifically rigorous study to examine the question -- reports 36 percent of women quit early because of the medications' side effects, wh...

Breast Cancer Drug Abandoned By 36% Of Patients Due To Side Effects
36% of post-menopausal breast cancer patients who take aromatase inhibitors do not complete their treatment, because the drug's side effects are so unpleasant, researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine reported at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium...

Sevikar HCT, 3-in-1 Hypertension Pill Available Now In UK
An announcement has been made by Daiichi Sankyo UK that the first three-in-one bill (Sevikar HCT) to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) has been launched. In the UK, approximately 8.5 million individuals are affected with hypertension. As symptoms are rarely clear, the condition is known as the "silent killer...

Eliminating Co-Payments For Heart Attack Medications Increases Adherence And Reduces Major Vascular Events
The use of specific medications following a heart attack has been shown to reduce cardiovascular events and mortality, however; while highly effective, the rate of adherence to these medications is poor...

Atrial Fibrillation Patients Who Take Vitamins Less Likely To Take Medication As Prescribed
Atrial Fibrillation patients who are prescribed the powerful blood thinner warfarin often take it with vitamins or supplements that can hamper its effectiveness, or skip doses completely, increasing their risk for stroke, according to new research...

Heart Attack Patients - Eliminating Co-Payments Improves Outcomes, Costs And Medication Adherence
Eliminating co-payments is better for patients who have had a heart attack; their outcomes are better, they are more likely to adhere to their treatment regime, and costs are lower, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School revealed today in NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine as well as the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions...

Treatment Compliance A Problem For Hepatitis C Patients
Patients being treated for chronic hepatitis C become less likely to take their medications over time, according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania...

Reminder Packaging Helps Patients Take Medications As Directed
People with chronic illnesses are more likely to take long-term medications according to doctors' instructions if the packaging includes a reminder system, according to a new review of evidence. Reminder packaging improves both the number of doses taken and clinical measures of medication effectiveness, such as blood pressure...

Adherence To Medication Supported By Integrated Health Care Delivery System And Electronic Health Records
People who receive medical care in an integrated health care system with electronic health records linked to its own pharmacy more often collect their new prescriptions for diabetes, cholesterol and high blood pressure medications than do people who receive care in a non-integrated system, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine...

Loss Of Health Insurance Through Unemployment Means Many Skip Needed Health Care
Nearly three-quarters (72%) of people who lost their health insurance when they lost their jobs over the last two years said that they skipped needed health care or did not fill prescriptions because of cost, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report...