NR_394 Week 4 Discussion, Common Illnesses and the Use of CAM 1

NR_394 Week 4 Discussion, Common Illnesses and the Use of CAM 1 Professor and Class, Select a common (or not so common) illness or condition that affects a specific ethnic group. African Americans have the highest, in the country, rate of hypertension, hypertension related mortality, and a high rate of uncontrolled hypertension due to lower rates of medication adherence (Pettey, McSweeney, Stewart, Cleves, Price, Heo, & Souder, 2016). Along with being disproportionately affected by hypertension, they are also disproportionally affected by poverty which increases barriers in getting treatment (Pettey et al., 2016). African American families are very family oriented, much like Hispanics. Therefore, family members play an important role in health decisions, including lifestyle changes (like diet, exercise, etc.) (Pettey et al., 2016). My best friend, who is African American, said that she doesn’t like taking medications because she “doesn’t trust them” and “there’s too much [side effects] to deal with to just treat one thing, my family is the same way.” Not only are medication views passed down from family, but diet/exercise habits are as well. Many self-care practices have been handed down from generation to generation, frequently by oral tradition (Andrews, 2016). It’s important to educate the family as well since they have such a powerful role in the patient’s life. African American’s “perception of medicines, including concerns about medication side effects, as well as fear and frustration associated with taking medicines” could increase the rate of nonadherence (Shiyanbola, Brown, & Ward, 2018). Identify two (2) CAM therapies that patients are likely to try before seeking (or in addition to) allopathic, osteopathic, or ayurvedic medical intervention for the illness or condition. Two CAM therapies I found for treatment of hypertension include consumption of dark chocolate, and an enzyme found in nature: Coenzyme Q10. Discuss the effectiveness of each therapy you identified. There were other CAM treatments I found for hypertension treatment, but “the best evidence exists for dark chocolate, coenzyme Q10… [and] are supported by systematic reviews” (NAHAS, 2009). Consumption of dark chocolate could be easier to increase adherence in an ethnic group that is weary of medications and their potential side effects. I mean, who wouldn’t want to eat chocolate to better their health? And it’s natural: Win Win. In studies “patients consumed an average of 100 g daily… for approximately 2 weeks. There was a reduction in systolic BP of 4.7 + 2.9 mm Hg and in diastolic BP of 2.8 + 2.0 mm Hg” (NAHAS, 2009). The largest BP reduction was evidenced with the use of CoQ10 (NAHAS, 2009). CoQ10 is something I have seen people take more than prescribed medications because since it is natural, it is perceived to have less side effects; increased side effects are one reason that nonadherence occurs. CoQ10 only has one notable side effect: mild GI upset being the only side effect reported in a long-term trial of 3500 patients. In studies, “Patients were treated at doses of 60 to 120 mg daily for 6 to 12 weeks” and “blood pressure decreased by 16.6/8.2 mm Hg in 3 randomized, double-blind controlled trials, and by 13.5/10.3 mm Hg in the other studies” and many patients were able to stop their prescribed HTN medication (NAHAS, 2009). NAHAS, R. (2009). Complementary and alternative medicine approaches to blood pressure reduction. Romanian Journal of Medical Practice, 4(1), 47–52. Retrieved from Pettey, C. M., McSweeney, J. C., Stewart, K. E., Cleves, M. A., Price, E. T., Heo, S., & Souder, E. (2016). African Americans' Perceptions of Adherence to Medications and Lifestyle Changes Prescribed to Treat Hypertension. SAGE open, 6(1), 10.1177/. doi:10.1177/ Shiyanbola, O. O., Brown, C. M., & Ward, E. C. (2018). "I did not want to take that medicine": African-Americans' reasons for diabetes medication nonadherence and perceived solutions for enhancing adherence. Patient preference and adherence, 12, 409–421. doi:10.2147/PPA.S Andrews, M. M. (2016) Transcultural Concepts in Nursing Care. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from