Suffering from High Blood Pressure? Request Medical Advice via Email
In an era of busy doctors and patients struggling to keep up, computer-based medical advice is more efficient than a few words exchanged with the doctor.
(Photo: Shutterstock)Do you really need to visit a doctor to discuss a health issue? Some problems naturally require a physical examination or lab tests by a doctor. But in many cases, we go to the doctor just for consultation.
In such cases, a new study suggests that computerized systems might provide us with more useful advice than our family doctor.
To test this assumption, researchers collected 264 participants whose average age was 58 and who suffered from high blood pressure. Most were already taking at least one medication to lower blood pressure, but that wasn’t enough. It was clear they also needed lifestyle changes to improve their condition.
The participants were divided into two groups: one group received general weekly emails discussing the importance of proper nutrition and healthy living for stable blood pressure, while the second group received much more specific emails and a variety of multimedia tools, including videos of people who suffered from high blood pressure and shared how they overcame it and returned to normal blood pressure.
The result: The systolic blood pressure (the higher number) dropped by 6 points for the first group and by 10 points for the second group.
"The specific and focused computer-based advice had an effect similar to adding a drug to lower blood pressure," says Robert F. Nolan, the researcher who led the study and a professor at the University of Toronto.
These findings, the researchers note, are significant: not only can computerized health advice be more beneficial than a few quick words from a doctor, but it can also be essential for vulnerable populations who cannot afford frequent visits to specialist doctors.
