New Tools and Systems May Help Patients, Primary Care Clinicians Manage Obesity

Using combined and intensive treatments and restructuring care to treat obesity like other chronic diseases may help primary care clinicians and patients better address the condition, according to a commentary and three articles published in the January 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Data suggest an extensive gap exists between recommended obesity care and current practice by primary care clinicians, notes Robert F. Kushner, M.D., of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, in the commentary. "The reasons for the gap are complex owing to multiple physician, patient and medical system factors," he writes. "Cited barriers include a lack of reimbursement, limited time during office visits, lack of training in counseling, competing demands, low confidence in the ability to treat and change patient behaviors, limited resources, the perception that patients are not motivated and a paucity of proven and effective interventions to treat obesity."

"In this issue of the Archives, three articles on weight loss for overweight or obese patients have potential implications for primary care practice," Dr. Kushner writes. The findings, outlined below, provide information on effective interventions for obesity and its complications in primary care settings.

Blood Pressure-Lowering Diet Appears More Effective When Combined With Other Interventions

Combining an anti-hypertension diet with exercise and weight loss counseling may result in increased reduction in high blood pressure along with other benefits. James A. Blumenthal, Ph.D., of Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C., and colleagues studied 144 overweight or obese patients with high blood pressure. For four months, 46 were assigned to follow the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet; 49 followed the diet and added supervised exercise and cognitive-behavioral weight loss therapy; and 49 ate their usual diet.

Blood pressure as measured in the clinic decreased by 16.1/9.9 millimeters of mercury among those in the DASH plus weight management group, 11.2/7.5 millimeters of mercury among those in the DASH alone group and 3.4/3.8 millimeters of mercury in those following their normal diet. Other measures of blood vessel and heart function - including mass of the left ventricle - were also most improved in patients assigned to DASH plus weight management.

"The present findings suggest that the DASH diet, particularly when augmented by exercise and weight loss, can offer considerable benefit to patients with high blood pressure, not only through reductions in blood pressure but through favorable modification of biomarkers of disease risk," the authors conclude.

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