NICE and BHS to review hypertension guidelines after ASCOT

NICE and the British Hypertension Society are to review the current guidelines for the management of hypertension following the findings of ASCOT-BPLA (Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial-Blood Pressure Lowering Arm) which showed that treatment with amplodipine and perindopril was better than atenolol and bendroflumethiazide.

NICE 2005/026

The early review of the guidelines is likely to place a more prominent role for calcium antagonists particularly in those patients with complicated hypertension such as in those with diabetes.

South West Endocrine meeting

Nice trip to Exeter to a day of Diabetes and Endocrinology CPD.

Prof Hattersley talked about the diabetologist as diagnostician and how, with increasingly guideline-driven medicine, we are moving away from actually thinking about what our patients may have. He gave some good example cases of apparent Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes which were actually something else altogether such as MODY, infantile diabetes, and secondary causes of diabetes such as acromegaly.

Gary Frost of Hammersmith Hospital and Hammersmith Food Research talked about the benefits of low GI foods.