Journal of general internal medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Racial differences in the effect of a telephone-delivered hypertension disease management program.
African Americans are significantly more likely than whites to have uncontrolled hypertension, contributing to significant disparities in cardiovascular disease and events. ⋯ The combination of home BP monitoring, remote medication management, and telephone tailored behavioral self-management appears to be particularly effective for improving BP among African Americans. The effect was not seen among non-Hispanic white patients.
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It is increasingly apparent that human health is reliant on our fellow travellers, the innumerable microorganisms that inhabit our bodies. This realization has led to the concept of the superorganism, which suggests that shared metabolic and signalling pathways are crucial for optimal existence of both host and commensal microflora. This commentary focuses on implications of this paradigm for personalized medicine and therapeutics. ⋯ Probiotics can potentially modulate the superorganism for therapeutic benefit. However, the probiotics industry will need to undergo a transformation, with increased focus on stringent manufacturing guidelines and high-quality clinical trials. Ultimately, we suggest that healthcare will move beyond its prevailing focus on human physiology, and embrace the superorganism as a paradigm to understand disease.