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INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES

  • Study: Potassium levels may be insight to racial disparity among diabetics

    NEW YORK — Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered that potassium levels in the blood may explain a racial disparity among Type 2 diabetes patients.

    According to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, among 12,000 participants, more than 2,000 African-Americans in the study had lower average serum potassium levels than the more than 9,000 whites in the study. They also were twice as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes.

  • MTM can save lives; retailers, suppliers take notice

    WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — Walgreens’ winning of an award for its MTM services came right before it joined the Care Continuum Alliance — a group of more than 200 stakeholders that provide such services as wellness and prevention programs and management of chronic conditions — of which CVS Caremark already was a member.

    (THE NEWS: Walgreens takes top honors for MTM services. For the full story, click here)

  • Gas price hike could damper retailer-consumer relationship

    WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — Analysts already are speculating dire outcomes if the price of a gallon of gas eclipses $5 this summer on account of Middle East turmoil today. Any additional strains on the supply chain system, such as increased operational costs as high as 20%, would only make matters worse.

    (THE NEWS: Rising gas prices not only factor driving supply chain costs. For the full story, click here)

  • NSAIDs could pose erectile dysfunction risk among men

    PASADENA, Calif. — Long-term use of a class of drugs used to control pain could increase the risk of erectile dysfunction in men, according to a new study.

    The study, sponsored by Kaiser Permanente and published online in the Journal of Urology, found that men who took nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, three times a day for more than three months were 2.4 times as likely to have erectile dysfunction as men who didn’t take the drugs regularly. The study used data from 80,966 men ages 45 to 69 years in California.

  • Report: FDA warns of long-term PPI use

    SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration is warning that long-term use of a class of drugs for gastroesophageal reflux disease may decrease levels of magnesium in the body and increase the risk of such side effects as seizures and heart rhythm problems, according to published reports.

    The reports quoted the FDA as saying that in a quarter of cases of proton-pump inhibitors depleting magnesium from the body, use of magnesium supplements did not bring levels back to normal, and use of the drugs had to be stopped.

  • Sugary drinks associated with hypertension, study finds

    DALLAS — A new study published in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association established a link between high blood pressure and the consumption of such beverages as soda and other sugar-sweetened drinks.

  • Study: Physicians more likely to prescribe Rxs with adherence incentives

    NEW YORK — Physicians are 30% more likely to prescribe a drug that gives patients incentives to remain adherent to it than they are to prescribe a drug without such a program, according to a new survey.

    The survey of 100 doctors, sponsored by HealthPrize Technologies and conducted by pharmaceutical marketing firm HealthcarePanel.org, also found 89% of doctors were comfortable with the idea of rewarding patients for adherence, along with using education.

  • NPD: Prestige beauty sales rise after years of decline

    PORT WASHINGTON — After years of declines, U.S. prestige beauty experienced a boost in 2010, with skin care proving yet again to be the strongest performer, according to beauty market research conducted by the NPD Group.

    The market research company stated that U.S. prestige beauty generated $8.4 billion in 2010, up 4%, compared with $8.19 billion in 2009.

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