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Neuropathy and Quality of Life
One of the most common presentations in practice is the affect of neuropathy on a person’s quality of life. Neuropathy equals nerve damage. It is commonly seen in diabetes, causing numbness, weakness and pain, especially in the hands and feet. Brilliant medical marketing is directing sufferers to discuss this with their primary physician, who has…
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Screening over-70’s for memory issues – what can it achieve?
An international panel has recommended all people over 70 be tested each year for problems with memory and reasoning. They claim that the goal is to detect treatable disease, to provide lifestyle guidance to slow cognitive impairment, to identify patients who may be struggling to understand their doctor’s instructions, and to allow patients and families…
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Intervention skills compromised
A new study in the Medical Journal of Australia doesn’t reflect on us all that well. How’s this for a statistic? “…..of patients admitted to hospital with broken bones following a fall, 85.4% were 65 years or older and had been prescribed a falls-risk medicine”. Does this mean that at some stage, 85 out of…
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Paracetamol – not so safe?
One of the most common questions I’m often asked relates to the safety of natural medicines with warfarin therapy. Many theoretical issues occur within a test tube environment, but the word “warfarin” sends many pharmacists into a spin. Misunderstanding and misinformation about the interaction between omega-3 fish oils and warfarin has been topical since Adam…
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Peer- Reviewed…..really?
The Editor-in-Chief of the Lancet has recently declared that “much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue. Afflicted by studies with small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analyses, and flagrant conflicts of interest, together with obsessions for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance, science has taken a turn towards darkness”. Interesting,…
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Menopause and “alternative” therapies
The recurring press chestnuts just keep rolling on and on, just as predictable as the four seasons. It seems that medical efforts to classify menopause as a disease state have failed miserably. Women are now seeking advice on other options from their medical practitioner. However, because of poor training, poor understanding of what role menopause…
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(Clinical) Trials and errors
The new anticoagulants are a cause for concern. The brilliant medical marketing has meant that so many of our patients are on them. Perhaps as the years go by, we will get a better understanding of the adverse effects and interactions which are ever so slowly coming to light. When you consider the number of…
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Am I missing something?
Old chestnuts aren’t allowed to settle. Unbalanced pharmacy media reporting just keeps on keeping on. I was puzzled recently about a debate around the value of homeopathy in the UK. The report keeps the pot boiling on how homeopathic remedies are a “waste of money” and more importantly, “may even cause harm”. More fascinating to…
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Choice gives us the tick of approval
I guess we have arrived at last! Our professional expertise has been approved by Choice magazine – a publication which has been fairly critical of us over the years. Even made the front page of some pharmacy newsletters. But hold on………the tick of approval has nothing to do with our professional expertise, our role in…
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Balanced view in professional opinions
The new-look Australian Journal of Pharmacy heralds a interesting direction in medical marketing and related advertising. The front cover and inside two pages tell us that Panadol Osteo is “Australia’s No 1 pain reliever brand for osteoarthritis”. Pharmacists insist on “evidence” when discussions emerge on other options for arthritic pain, and accordingly, may I supply…