News summary
Communicating pharmacists’
role in health promotion services Pharmacists should communicate
the role they can play in providing health promotion services, the Pharmacy
Healthcare Scheme said this week...[more]
Crisis looming for pharmacy courses? Declining
numbers of applications to study pharmacy at university mean that schools
of pharmacy are having to reduce the standard of A-level results they
require applicants to achieve in order to fill their places. One admissions
tutor describes the situation as a crisis...[more]
First professor of radiopharmacy appointed The
first professor of radiopharmacy to be appointed in Britain is Professor
Stephen Mather, head of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund nuclear medicine
research laboratory at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London...[more]
Few pharmacy companies believe they are suffering
from recession Only 9 per cent of 171 companies studied in
the most recent Plimsoll portfolio analysis of retail pharmacy businesses
believe that they are in recession...[more]
CSM wants “number plate” system for
medicines labelling The Committee on Safety of Medicines is
proposing that the packaging of all medicines should carry information
in a standard format or “number plate” to allow patients and
health care professionals to check drug and dosage details quickly...[more]
AAH refurbishes Essex warehouse AAH
Pharmaceuticals is to spend £2.4m on an extension to its Romford
branch in Essex to improve and extend its service to customers...[more]
Refurbishment boosts pharmacy An independent
Devon pharmacy has seen a 15-20 per cent increase in sales after being
refurbished...[more]
Value of CURE results questioned Results
of the CURE (clopidogrel in unstable angina to prevent recurrent ischaemic
events) trial published last week have led to debate about the cost-effectiveness
of antiplatelet therapies...[more]
Budesonide and formoterol combination more effective
than budesonide alone A combination of budesonide and formoterol,
whether combined in a single inhaler or given separately, is more effective
at controlling asthma than budesonide alone in patients whose asthma has
not been previously fully controlled by inhaled corticosteroids, a new
study shows...[more]
Some good news about statins Use of
statins might be associated with a lower risk of age-related macular degeneration,
say researchers from Southampton General Hospital...[more]
Evidence on safety of infant soy formula A
new study provides reassuring evidence about the safety of infant soy
formula. Compared with cow milk formula, exposure to soy formula in infancy
does not appear to lead to different general health or reproductive outcomes,
the authors say...[more]
Quadruple regimen shows higher rate of viral
suppression in HIV infection Treatment with nelfinavir plus
efavirenz and two nucleoside analogues, at least one of which has not
been used in the patient before, achieves a higher rate of viral suppression
in patients with human immunodeficiency virus than therapy with nucleoside
analogues and nelfinavir or efavirenz alone, a new study shows...[more]
Cystic fibrosis patients at risk of pseudomonas
cross-infection Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are susceptible
to cross-infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, two studies suggest.
This finding leads to questions over whether patients should be segregated
according to Ps aeruginosa infection status...[more]
HRT could prevent age-related increases in systolic
blood pressure Women taking hormone replacement therapy have
a smaller increase in systolic blood pressure over time than those not
taking it, according to an analysis...[more]
Benefits of HRT shown in frail elderly women
Frail elderly women benefit from the effects of hormone replacement
therapy on bone mineral density, a new study shows...[more]
Drug treatment of hypertension does not affect
cancer risk An analysis of the Swedish trial in old patients
with hypertension 2 (STOP-hypertension-2) has indicated that antihypertensive
drugs neither increase nor decrease the risk of developing cancer...[more]
Lloydspharmacy health action day Lloydspharmacy
in Aylesbury recently held a health action day to raise awareness of first
aid, diabetes, and heart disease...[more]
NEWS IN BRIEF
From technician to pharmacist
A Bradford pharmacy technician has won a place to study pharmacy at the
University of Sunderland by an unusual non-A-level route. Kathryn Benn,
who has worked for Moss Pharmacy in Bradford for four years, gained her
university entrance on the basis of a BTEC pharmacy technician qualification.
Treatment of asymptomatic trichomoniasis not
recommended Metronidazole does not prevent preterm delivery
in pregnant women with asymptomatic Trichomonas vaginalis, a study has
shown.
Researchers from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,
Bethesda, Maryland, have found that although treatment with metronidazole
eradicates the organism, it does not prevent, and could increase, the
risk of preterm delivery. They say that treatment of women with asymptomatic
disease cannot be recommended (New England Journal of Medicine 2001;345:487).
Use of complementary medicines Demand
for complementary medicines will affect delivery of health care for the
foreseeable future, say researchers from Harvard Medical School, Boston,
Massachusetts. They examined trends in use of such therapies in 2,055
people since the 1950s and found that use has increased independently
of gender, ethnicity and level of education, but is more common in younger
people than in older people. Use of herbal medicine increased particularly
in the 1970s and then again in the 1990s (Annals of Internal Medicine
2001; 135:262).
Older adults at risk of diphtheria
Older adults are at highest risk of tetanus and diphtheria infection since
they are unlikely to have received a primary course of immunisation, according
to the latest fact sheet published by the European Vaccine Manufacturers.
This is because immunisation programmes for these infections were not
introduced until the 1950s and 1940s, respectively.
The fact sheet is available here.
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