Cardiovascular Research: Even Olympic athletes have cardiac abnormalities ♦ Pharmacists help patients control blood pressure ♦ Sleep apnea common among patients undergoing heart procedure

Pharmacists help patients control blood pressure Medical teams with a pharmacist helped patients with hypertension control their blood pressure more effectively. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death for Americans

Even Olympic athletes have cardiac abnormalities and may be at risk of cardiovascular disease Even athletes whose performance and fitness are at the very highest level may have life-threatening cardiovascular abnormalities. Indeed, a study of more than 2000 athletes eligible for the summer and winter Olympic games and screened for cardiovascular health has now revealed an unexpectedly high prevalence of cardiovascular conditions.

Atrial fibrillation after surgery increases risk of heart attacks, strokes  An irregular heartbeat following surgery known as postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) often is dismissed as a transient phenomenon. But a study has found that POAF can significantly increase the risk of heart attack or stroke during the first 12 months after surgery.

Sleep apnea common among patients undergoing heart procedure Patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), a coronary artery widening procedure used to treat heart disease, are at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea

Pharmacists Help Improve Health of Yakama Indians Living with Diabetes

Public Health Practice Stories from the Field Diabetes is a manageable Pharmacists Help Improve Health of Yakama Indians Living with Diabetes disease, and with proper medication and monitoring, patients can avoid expensive, painful, and fatal complications.

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) teens and preteens have the highest rate of newly diagnosed diabetes among youth of all races and are more likely to have complications or die from the disease.

1 AI/AN adults are 2.3 times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to develop diabetes.

2 The type 2 diabetes rate among adults on the Yakama Nation Reservation in Washington is double that of the rest of the state (14.8% versus 7.7%)

.3, 4 Since 2004, the Indian Health Service (IHS) Special Diabetes Program for Indians has continuously funded 32 Healthy Heart demonstration projects to reduce cardiovascular disease risk in patients with diabetes.

The Yakama Indian Health Service used its funding to create the Yakama Healthy Heart Program (YHHP), the only demonstration project to rely on clinical pharmacists. In YHHP, patients are scheduled for pharmacist appointments coinciding with medication refill due dates.

The program has established collaborative practice agreements with medical providers for pharmacists to

• Prescribe and adjust medication for treatment of diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia

• Order and interpret laboratory results

• Perform brief physicals and foot exams

• Give immunizations

• Educate patients about cardiovascular disease risks

• Refer patients to specialists