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Do your patients use their blood pressure medications correctly?
A recent analysis of the use of blood pressure medications within the United States Medicare system reveals that 26 per cent either skip doses, or stop taking their drugs entirely, thereby increasing their risk of heart attack and stroke. Other research within that system shows that up to 25 per cent of new prescriptions for…
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The King Review and Complementary Medicines
The King Review poses some interesting questions to Australians about the role of community pharmacy, and more especially the pharmacist, in selling, recommending and prescribing complementary medicines. If you feel that you can play a role in advising your patients on this modality, then get active……. If you don’t, then your patients will miss out,…
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Have you changed?
You have donated a Saturday to learn about an area of your professional skill set that some marketing groups, along with some official Pharmacist bodies, have deemed “unscientific, no evidence and snake-oil territory”. Complementary medicines…….your patients are asking questions about these issues and you don’t have the answers. So, what has changed? Do you know…
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Education – Bring it on!
I continue to be amazed at the options available to give better results to our patients. No more is this evident in the area of complementary medicines. Young pharmacists to whom I speak give me the impression that complementary medicines are unproven, unprofessional and almost “beneath” them from a patient care perspective. What they are…
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Asthma Perceptions
I know that we’ve come out smelling of roses in the ethics survey this week, but our role in managing inhaler technique in asthma is under a cloud. 90 % or so of people with asthma don’t use their inhalers correctly, according to research released by the National Asthma Council. I don’t believe that this…
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Politics and Health
As if the Victorian Government doesn’t have enough on its hands at the moment with some demarcation issues, the recent Health Complaints Act heralds an effective abolition of the right to practice a total of seventeen natural health therapies. This must be one of the most discriminatory Acts since the Middle Ages. What is happening…
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A Professional Conundrum
What a fascinating standoff has developed over the role of the pharmacist in advising on the use of complementary medicines. The Blackmore’s Institute is urging us to understand the complete medication profile of our patients, to ensure that we drive optimum health outcomes. Many of our patients fail to mention their complementary medicine use (often…
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Why are health professionals so hostile to each other?
The amount of hostility among health professionals seems to be at an all-time high. Are “scope of practice” and “turf” battles really escalating, or it it just more visible in this modern era of anonymous comments and online posts? The conversation gets louder and uglier. Patients are complex creatures. Medical care is multi-faceted. We see…
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The Latest Research on Holistic Health – Are you up to it?
Pharmacists demand the latest evidence- and research-based information on things related to complementary medicines. Some of us were lucky enough to hear an array of international speakers at the recent Research Symposium presented for the 4th consecutive year by BioCeuticals. And each symposium seems to get better! World renowned neurologist David Perlmutter, paediatric gastroenterologist and…
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Low dose aspirin – pro or con?
The US Preventative Services Task Force now recommends that all 50 to 70 year olds take a low-dose aspirin for preventing cardiovascular disease. Medical press last week gave this story legs, and I’m puzzled as to why? Current Australian Heart Foundation guidelines reflect the position that there are no or minimal cardiovascular benefits. In fact,…