Education on optimal medication use is an essential strategy to improve asthma control. The current authors investigated whether pharmacist interventions, focused on appropriate use of asthma medication and tailor-made to the patient's current asthma control, would improve asthma control in adult patients.A 6-month randomised, controlled, parallel-group trial was conducted in 66 community pharmacies in Belgium. Patients were randomly assigned to receive usual pharmacist care (n594) or a pre-defined pharmacist intervention (n5107). This intervention mainly focused on improving inhalation technique and medication adherence. Primary outcome was the level of asthma control, as assessed by the Asthma Control Test1 (ACT).Mean ACT scores did not change from baseline for both study groups. However, a pre-defined subgroup analysis of patients having insufficiently controlled asthma at baseline showed that the intervention had significantly increased the ACT score after 6 months compared with usual care. The intervention also reduced, for the complete study group, reliever medication use and the frequency of night-time awakenings due to asthma. Inhalation technique and adherence to controller medication were significantly better in the intervention group.In conclusion, pragmatic community pharmacy-based programmes can significantly improve therapeutic outcomes in adult asthma patients.

AIMSFew well-designed randomized controlled trials have been conducted regarding the impact of community pharmacist interventions on pharmacotherapeutic monitoring of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We assessed the effectiveness of a pharmaceutical care programme for patients with COPD. METHODSThe pharmaceutical care for patients with COPD (PHARMACOP) trial is a single-blind 3 month randomized controlled trial, conducted in 170 community pharmacies in Belgium, enrolling patients prescribed daily COPD medication, aged ≥50 years and with a smoking history of ≥10 pack-years. A computer-generated randomization sequence allocated patients to an intervention group (n = 371), receiving protocol-defined pharmacist care, or a control group (n = 363), receiving usual pharmacist care (1:1 ratio, stratified by centre). Interventions focusing on inhalation technique and adherence to maintenance therapy were carried out at start of the trial and at 1 month follow-up. Primary outcomes were inhalation technique and medication adherence. Secondary outcomes were exacerbation rate, dyspnoea, COPD-specific and generic health status and smoking behaviour. RESULTSFrom December 2010 to April 2011, 734 patients were enrolled. Forty-two patients (5.7%) were lost to follow-up. At the end of the trial, inhalation score [mean estimated difference (Δ),13.5%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 10.8-16.1; P < 0.0001] and medication adherence (Δ, 8.51%; 95% CI,; P < 0.0001) were significantly higher in the intervention group compared with the control group. In the intervention group, a significantly lower hospitalization rate was observed (9 vs. 35; rate ratio, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.12-0.64; P = 0.003). No other significant between-group differences were observed. CONCLUSIONSPragmatic pharmacist care programmes improve the pharmacotherapeutic regimen in patients with COPD and could reduce hospitalization rates.

This study provides new evidence, from a randomized controlled trial, of the beneficial effect of community pharmacist intervention in the clinical management of type 2 diabetic patients. However, questions remain about the sustainability of the observed improvements.

Abstract-Central-to-peripheral amplification of the pressure pulse leads to discrepancies between central and brachial blood pressures. This amplification depends on an individual's hemodynamic and (patho)physiological characteristics. The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude and correlates of central-to-peripheral amplification in the upper limb in a healthy, middle-aged population (the Asklepios Study). Carotid, brachial, and radial pressure waveforms were acquired noninvasively using applanation tonometry in 1873 subjects (895 women) aged 35 to 55 years. Carotid, brachial, and radial pulse pressures were calculated, as well as the absolute and relative (with carotid pulse pressure as reference) amplifications. With subjects classified per semidecade of age, carotid-to-radial amplification varied from Ϸ25% in the youngest men to 8% in the oldest women. Amplification was higher in men (20Ϯ14%) than in women (13Ϯ12%; PϽ0.001) and decreased with age (PϽ0.001) in both. Amplification over the brachial-to-radial path contributed substantially to the total amplification. In univariate analysis, the strongest correlation was found with the carotid augmentation index (Ϫ0.51 in women; Ϫ0.47 in men; both PϽ0.001). In a multiple linear regression model with carotid-to-radial amplification as the dependent variable, carotid augmentation index, total arterial compliance, and heart rate were identified as the 3 major determinants of upper limb pressure amplification (R 2 ϭ0.36). We conclude that, in healthy middle-aged subjects, the central-to-radial amplification of the pressure pulse is substantial. Amplification is higher in men than in women, decreases with age, and is primarily associated with the carotid augmentation index. Key Words: cardiovascular physiology Ⅲ blood pressure Ⅲ large arteries Ⅲ wave reflection Ⅲ hemodynamics I t has long been demonstrated that, when the blood pressure waveform is measured along the arterial tree, it changes continuously in shape and amplitude. 1,2 In large-and medium-sized arteries, the systolic upstroke of the wave generally becomes steeper from the central aorta toward the periphery, whereas the amplitude also increases, mainly through an increase in the peak value (systolic blood pressure) of the waveform. Overall, the minimum (diastolic) and mean (mean blood pressure) values, and especially the difference between both, change little from one location to the other. 3 These are well-known features described in physiological textbooks, and these phenomena can be explained on the basis of wave travel and reflection. The heart generates a forward-running pressure wave, which is reflected in the periphery. The measured pressure at any location is, thus, composed of this forward component, as well as backward components, arising from reflections. 4,5 The closer the blood pressure is measured to the reflection site (ie, the further in the periphery), the earlier the forward and backward waves will interact, leading to the steeper systolic upstroke and the more peaked appearance o...