Pre-diabetes and cardiovascular risk: detonating the time bomb

Worldwide, there are more than 400 million people with pre-diabetes, and it has been estimated that more than 470 million people will have prediabetes by 2030 (Middelbeek and Abrahamson, 2014).

Monitoring respiratory rate in adults

Health professionals use several terms to describe irregular respiratory rates, including:.

Measles: An overview for practice nurses

The disease is most likely to occur in late winter or spring. Spread occurs via respiratory droplets, which can remain active and contagious, either airborne or on surfaces, for up to 2 hours (Chen,...

Pay, terms and conditions for primary care nursing teams

Recruitment into primary care remains slow with the number of nurses wanting to make the move out of the acute and community sectors generally outweighing the ability of general practice teams to...

Adapting practice during the pandemic

How is COVID-19 affecting you?

I have not previously discussed COVID-19, as the information is changing daily and we are already bombarded with updates. However, I feel it is important to share one practice nurse's experience that...

Managing diabetes in primary care during Ramadan

Vulnerable people with diabetes can be exempted from fasting during Ramadan (Table 1) (Muslim Council of Britain Diabetes Advisory Group and Diabetes UK, 2014). However, many Muslims with diabetes...

Advising Hajj and Umrah travellers in general practice

On 31 December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia cases were reported to WHO from Wuhan, Hubei Province in China. In January 2020, the Chinese authorities reported a new (novel) coronavirus as the cause of...

Dysphagia: a guide for nurses in general practice

Dysphagia literally means difficulty eating or swallowing. Intact motor and nervous systems are essential to enable normal swallowing (Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists [RCSLT], 2014)....

Group consultations for cancer care reviews in general practice

Statistics from Macmillan (2016) show that with advances in treatment, more people are living with and beyond cancer. Following cancer treatment, individuals may have ongoing needs and concerns,...

HRT shortages: the real reason women were left without HRT?

No, we simply knew how to access other HRTs that were very similar or as good as those HRTs that were not available. Yes, gels and tablets may not be as convenient as a single patch, but they offered...

A low-carb diet for diabetes: the latest evidence

Meanwhile, some are finding that low-carbohydrate diets are meeting the challenge of diabetes. For example, Southport-based GP Dr David Unwin—NHS Innovator of the Year 2016—and colleagues found that...