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Primary care for diabetes under threat
The British Diabetic Association’s task force, Primary Care Diabetes UK, has presented evidence to the 3rd Primary Care Diabetes UK Conference (Bournemouth International Centre, 5–6 November 1998), based on a national survey of general practices, that the much vaunted aims of the St Vincent Declaration to reduce diabetic complications significantly by the year 2000 are increasingly unrealistic predominantly owing to underfunding of primary healthcare needs of the diabetic community. In particular, the problems being faced by doctors and practice nurses in delivering the appropriate services are not being addressed; specifically, the eradication of geographical differences in care and the lack of educational resources for practice nurses, according to Dr Mary Pierce who conducted the research. The survey involved questionnaires being sent to 1872 practices which accounts for about 20% of the total UK practices. In view of the recent results of the UK Prospective Diabetes Study in which the importance of good blood pressure control, in addition to blood glucose control, in the prevention of diabetic complications particularly blindness, has been highlighted it would be particularly short sighted if sufficient funds were not in place to permit this type of optimal primary care to be delivered.
Hemispatial neglect: a possible therapy?
Patients with right hemispheric stroke lesions frequently show hemispatial neglect manifested by neurological defects affecting their left sided space in terms of attention, perception, and even of performing actions in this space. A recent study (Nature1998;395:166) has investigated how to entrain …