Herbal therapies used by hypertensive patients in Turkey.

The purpose of this study was to determine herbal therapies used by the patients for regulation of blood pressure. This descriptive study was conducted in three districts of Izmir, Turkey. The study group included 193 patients with hypertension diagnosis who admitted to a primary care center and accepted to participate in the study. Data were collected through an investigator-made questionnaire including questions about socio-demographic features and herbal therapies used for regulation of blood pressure. Percentiles and chi-square statistics tests were used to evaluate the data through SPSS 11.0 program. The subjects included in the study had suffered from hypertension for 8.28 ± 7.92 years, and 95.9% of them received medication to treat their hypertension. Of all hypertensive patients, 51.3% used herbal therapies for the treatment of hypertension. The patients used herbal therapies most commonly when they felt ill. There were no statistically significant difference between the use of herbal therapies and gender, education, marital status, having health insurance and income level. Health professionals who provide primary health services, especially nurses, need to follow patients regularly and provide patient education on antihypertensive therapy. Nurses must plan the necessary training programs by evaluating the data about, whether the hypertension patients use herbal therapies that can affect their health negatively or not.

Complementary and alternative medicine use among people with diabetes in Turkey.

The aim of this study was to investigate use of complementary and alternative medicines, and factors that affect use of these agents, in individuals with diabetes. This cross-sectional and descriptive study was performed at the outpatient clinics of four hospitals in Turkey with 396 diabetic individuals between October 2006 and March 2007. In this study, 34.6% of the participants were using complementary and alternative medicine in addition to conventional medicine; 73% of these individuals had not informed their doctors and nurses about their complementary and alternative medicine practice. Nurses, as health care providers, should not ignore complementary and alternative medicine options. Instead, they should try to determine the rate of complementary and alternative medicine use among their patients and understand their effects and the reasons for use of these agents. Nurses should learn more about these medicines and educate their patients.

The effects of web-based diabetes education on diabetes care results: a randomized control study.

This study aimed to test the effects of providing Web-based diabetes education to individuals with type 2 diabetes on the A1c level and health check attendance. The study participants comprised 122 individuals with type 2 diabetes, who had access to the Internet, had completed their basic diabetes education, and had similar basic situational factors. Using a randomization method, these participants were chosen from the patients being monitored by the diabetes nurses. The experimental group (n = 61) was monitored via the Web. From measurements recorded in the sixth month of monitoring, we found that A1c levels of the individuals with diabetes who were monitored through the Web decreased (t = 6.63; P < .05), and the rate of attending health check visits increased (z = 5.97; P< .05), while no difference was detected in the control group (t = -0.63; P = .534; z = -0.80; P = .426). To maintain glycemic control, Web use could be adopted as a complementary tool for monitoring individuals with diabetes.

The effects of web-based diabetes education on diabetes care results: a randomized control study.

This study aimed to test the effects of providing Web-based diabetes education to individuals with type 2 diabetes on the A1c level and health check attendance. The study participants comprised 122 individuals with type 2 diabetes, who had access to the Internet, had completed their basic diabetes education, and had similar basic situational factors. Using a randomization method, these participants were chosen from the patients being monitored by the diabetes nurses. The experimental group (n = 61) was monitored via the Web. From measurements recorded in the sixth month of monitoring, we found that A1c levels of the individuals with diabetes who were monitored through the Web decreased (t = 6.63; P < .05), and the rate of attending health check visits increased (z = 5.97; P< .05), while no difference was detected in the control group (t = -0.63; P = .534; z = -0.80; P = .426). To maintain glycemic control, Web use could be adopted as a complementary tool for monitoring individuals with diabetes.

Incidence of lipohypertrophy in diabetic patients and a study of influencing factors.

This study examines the incidence of lipohypertrophy in diabetic individuals as well as the factors that have an influence on causing this condition. In consideration of the period of development of lipohypertrophy, the research sampling consisted of 215 diabetics who had been using insulin for at least 2 years. Observation and palpation techniques were used in assessing lipohypertrophy in these diabetics. Data were evaluated using percentages, chi(2) and logistic regression analysis. Results of the study established lipohypertrophy in 48.8% of the individuals comprising the sampling. It was seen that the incidence of lipohypertrophy in these individuals was affected by their level of education, the frequency that they changed needles, the frequency of changing their injection sites and the amount of time they had been using insulin, the difference proving to be statistically significant (p<0.05). In the logistic regression analysis, it was found that the amount of time insulin had been used (p=0.001), the frequency of changing injection sites (p=0.004) and the frequency of changing needles (p=0.004) had an influence on the development of lipohypertrophy. These results show that the amount of time insulin is used and the procedure for injection both affect the development of lipohypertrophy.