BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of patients' education on treatment compliance and blood pressure (BP) control, as well as lifestyle in hypertension. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Education with the structured program was performed in 89 patients with essential hypertension. The patients knowledge level was determined using a special questionnaire with 26 questions. The regularity of BP self-control and drug treatment were assessed before and after the educational course as well as after 6-months of follow-up. RESULTS: The knowledge level increased after education from 58 +/- 12% up to 92 +/- 11% (p < 0.05), the proportion of patients on regular medication from 34.4% to 74.2% (p < 0.05). Sixty (67.4%) of patients started to perform regular BP self-control. The improvement of knowledge level and treatment compliance was not accompanied by significant changes in lifestyle such as smoking cessation and body weight loss. CONCLUSIONS: The structured patients' education resulted in the increase of patients' knowledge, improvement of drug compliance and self-monitoring of BP. Modification of lifestyle appears to be more problematic point as it did not show any significant improvement.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Conversion of L-cystine and L-cysteine to taurin by the enzyme systems of liver cells].

The kinetics of conversion of sulfur-containing amino acids L-cystine and L-cysteine to taurin by the enzyme system of cattle liver cells was studied, and a mathematical model was developed. It was shown that L-cystine and L-cysteine conversion obeyed the Michaelis-Menten equations of serial-sequential conversions with regard to inhibition by the final product and inactivation. The yield of taurin under the optimized conditions of L-cystine and L-cysteine conversion (temperature, 40 degrees C; pH 1.5 and 3.0, respectively; and addition of enzyme preparations in five equal portions at 2-h intervals) was in the range 80-85% of the substrate weight.

Animals↗