031 - General practioners and the metabolic syndrome
Autor(s): F. Pallucca
Issue: RIMeL - IJLaM, Vol. 6, N. 3-S1, 2010 (MAF Servizi srl ed.)
Page(s): 31-36
The metabolic syndrome (MS) is a cluster of conditions that includes abdominal obesity, increased blood glucose, hypertension, abnormal HDL cholesterol and triglycerides levels. In the US about 47 million adults (25%) have MS. In Italy, about 7 million adults are affected by the disease. MS is linked to insulin resistance; in this condition, cells do not respond normally to insulin that becomes less effective at lowering blood sugars. General Practitioners (GP) provide preventive care and health education to patients at risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, through educational strategies. These strategies include patient-centered counselling; a four-step triage to select the population at risk; application of the Disease Management Program (DMP) with Care Manager (CM) in order to support GPs and specialists work. Leonardo Project shows that is possible to apply a Disease Care Management Program in patients with major factors determinate MS.