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253 Self
care guide for long-term conditions published Pharmacists' role in helping patients take control of their long-term conditions has been outlined in a guide to self care published by the Department of Health last week
...more
253 Self-regulation
under threat, says President The Royal Pharmaceutical Society's
unique position as both professional body and regulator is under threat
for political reasons, according to Hemant Patel, President of the Society
...more
253 DoH meets
Society and PSNC for home oxygen service talks Problems with
the new home oxygen services have been discussed in Department of Health
meetings with both the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Pharmaceutical
Services Negotiating Committee this week ...more
253 Embrace EPS
changes Pharmacists setting up the systems that will enable them to provide an electronic prescription service should “embrace the changes”, according to Andrew Murphy, of Co-operative pharmacy in Keighley, West Yorkshire, who has been involved in early implementation of the service
...more
254 Fear stops
pharmacists reporting dispensing errors Community pharmacists and their support staff are unlikely to report adverse incidents occurring on pharmacy premises, according to research carried out at the University of Manchester
...more
254 Childhood
obesity a target for the profession The Government's ability to fulfil its public service agreement (PSA) “to halt the increase in obesity among children under the age of 11 by 2010” has been called into question in a joint report published this week by the Audit Commission, the Healthcare Commission and the National Audit Office
...more
254 Scottish
intrathecal injection guidance published Guidance on the safe
handling of intrathecal and intraventricular injections in Scotland has
been produced by the Scottish Executive Health Department. It complements
earlier guidance on the safe handling of intrathecal and intraventricular
cytotoxics ...more
254 Drop-in centre
helps smokers with their cessation attempts Pharmacists are providing smoking cessation advice to smokers in South Shields as part of a community initiative called “Drop in 2 quit”
...more
254 No Smoking
Day continues to reach smokers successfully No Smoking day encourages and helps individuals to stop smoking, according to a recent study
...more
255 New guidelines
to help control MRSA drawn up Updated guidelines for the control of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus (MRSA) have been drawn up by a joint working party of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, the Hospital Infection Society and Infection Control Nurses Association
...more
255 Health to
be excluded from European services directive European politicians have now agreed that health services will not be included in plans to allow services to be provided across EU member states' borders
...more
255 Health Bill
will lead to NHS contracts being awarded wrongly, argues pharmacist MP Provisions in the Health Bill to allow NHS contracts in England to be awarded according to commercial considerations are unworkable, Sandra Gidley (Lib Dem, Romsey) argued during the Health Bill debate last month
...more
255 Pharmaceutical R&D investment falls for second year Investment in pharmaceutical research and development in the UK has declined for the second year in succession
...more
256 Celecoxib
doubles risk of MI Treatment with celecoxib (Celebrex) doubles the risk of myocardial infarction compared with placebo, the authors of a meta-analysis suggest this week
...more
256 Heart attacks
go unrecognised A third of men and over half of women who suffer a heart attack do not know they have had one, say researchers who examined data from over 4,000 men and women aged 55 years and older for a median follow-up of 6.4 years
...more
256 GTN metabolism
examined Some Chinese individuals do not respond well to glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) because of a gene mutation present in 30 to 50 per cent of this population
...more
256 Statin prescribing
up Prescribing of statins has been rising, from a low base, by an average of 30 per cent a year since publication of the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease in 2000, health minister Rosie Winterton has revealed
...more
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257 Contracts
worth £33m for H5N1 vaccine awarded Contracts worth £33m
to make 3.5 million doses of H5N1 influenza vaccine have been awarded
by the Department of Health to Baxter and Chiron. Baxter is to prepare
two million doses ...more
257 Warning over
vaccine-related events during pandemic preparations A cautionary
tale from the Centres for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia, on mass
vaccination could lead governments and national media to temper their
enthusiasm for vaccination as the major way that any influenza pandemic
is ultimately controlled ...more
257 Peramivir
tests revived Safety and efficacy trials for the neuraminidase
inhibitor peramivir are starting this spring, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals
director of peramivir development Shane Arnold, told the Bird Flu Summit
held in Washington, DC, this week ...more
257 Human trials
for promising influenza vaccine planned Genetically engineered
adenoviral-based influenza vaccine being developed at the University
of Pittsburgh School of Medicine was successful in fending off fatal
avian influenza infections in both mice and chickens, researcher Andrea
Gambotto, told the Bird Flu Summit in Washington, DC, earlier this week.
Dr Gambotto is planning human trials to assess the vaccine's safety ...more
257 Consumption
of poultry safe When poultry products are safely handled and
properly cooked, humans are not at risk of acquiring H5N1 infection through
food, according to the World Health Organization ...more
257 Cytotoxics
for avian influenza Cytotoxic therapy could be considered
for patients with severe avian influenza, a Lancet article published
online this week suggests ...more
258 Weight concerns
can reduce adherence in diabetes Type 2 diabetes patients'
concerns over weight gain are associated with reduced adherence to medication,
a study of patients' beliefs has shown ...more
258 Obesity may
affect response to asthma treatments Obesity can affect patients'
response to different asthma treatments, data from a recent European
Respiratory Journal study indicate ...more
258 Acupuncture
as effective as drug treatments for prevention of recurrent migraine Patients
who suffer from recurrent migraines experience similar relief whether
they are treated with sham acupuncture, traditional Chinese acupuncture
or prophylactic drug treatment (beta blockers, flunarizine or valproate),
a German study has revealed ...more
258 Quality of
life increased by both pseudoephedrine and montelukast treatment Pseudoephedrine
is as effective in improving quality of life and nasal airflow as montelukast
in individuals suffering from allergic rhinitis, a study reveals ...more
258 Childhood
UTI antibiotics may have unacceptable side effects Long-term
antibiotic use for the prevention of urinary tract infections (UTIs)
in children may cause unacceptable side effects ...more
259 Trastuzumab
regimen preserves cardiac function Adjuvant treatment with
docetaxel (Taxotere), compared with vinorelbine (Navelbine), improves
recurrence-free survival in women with early breast cancer, say researchers.
In addition, a short course of trastuzumab (Herceptin), administered
concomitantly, is beneficial in women with HER2-positive breast cancer
and appears to have minimal cardiac side effects ...more
259 Problems
with ICU corticosteroids identified Corticosteroid use in
intensive care is associated with increased rates of pneumonia and septicaemia,
according to the authors of a case-control study ...more
259 Anticholinergic
drugs impair cognition in older people Older patients taking
anticholinergic drugs are at risk of mild cognitive impairment, according
to research ...more
259 Sirolimus
reduces cancer risk in kidney transplant Early replacement
of ciclosporin with the mTOR (molecular target of rapamycin) inhibitor
sirolimus more than halves the risk of cancer in kidney transplant recipients,
a study has revealed ...more
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal