All Articles on Health

• New online care for hypertension gets results

  Web-based care and at-home blood pressure checks can help control hypertension without office visits, according to the "e-BP" (Electronic Blood Pressure) study of more than 700 Group Health patients published in the June 25 Journal of the American Medical Association. "To our knowledge, this is the first large randomized controlled trial to use Web-based care and a patient-shared electronic medical record to improve treatment outcomes of a chronic disease," said study leader Beverly B. Green, MD, MPH.
• Two Group Health physician researchers elected to the Institute of Medicine

  Two leaders from the Group Health Center for Health Studies—Drs. Eric B. Larson and Ed Wagner—have been elected to The Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the nation's top honors in medicine.
• Low libido in menopause linked to trouble sleeping

  Women whose sexual desire diminishes during menopause are more likely to report disturbed sleep, depression symptoms, and night sweats, according to Group Health research in the June American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. To the best of the research team’s knowledge, this marks the first time that sleep disturbance has been independently associated with diminished sexual desire during or after menopause.
• NCQA honors Dr. Ed Wagner for improving chronic illness care nationally

  Dr. Ed Wagner, director of the MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation at Group Health Cooperative, is among four winners of the 2007 Health Quality Awards from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). The awards, presented every two years, honor individuals and organizations whose energy, efforts, and vision have substantially helped improve U.S. health care quality.
• Regular follow-up important during antidepressant treatment

  Because individuals can react differently to antidepressant medications, regular follow-up is important during the first few weeks of treatment, according to an editorial by Group Health psychiatrist and researcher Greg Simon, MD, MPH.
• Good physical function linked to Alzheimer's delay: Research suggests mind-body connection

  The first signs of dementia—including Alzheimer's disease—may be physical, rather than mental, according to a joint study between Group Health Cooperative and the University of Washington.
• Exercise linked to later onset of dementia

  Regular exercise is associated with a delay in the onset of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, according to a Group Health Cooperative/University of Washington study that appeared in the Jan. 17 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The study—the most definitive investigation of exercise and dementia to date—also found that the more frail a person is, the more he or she may benefit from exercise.