The American population is obsessed with germs. Although relatively few people are unfortunate enough to suffer from OCD, a more pervasive subclinical paranoia persists in our psyche which manifests as our culture of cleanliness. During daytime television it is almost impossible to go through an entire commercial break without seeing an ad for cleaning products such as soaps, air sanitizers, detergents, or other various cleaning paraphernalia. Additionally, more and more of these products are emerging with some form of antimicrobial, antibacterial, or bacteriostatic chemical included to “stay tough on germs.” One such example is the chemical triclosan, although there are several others with similar issues. Read more →

In July 2008, results from several clinical trials of novel Alzheimer’s Disease treatments were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD 2008) in Chicago. Among these results was an 84-week phase II trial of TauRx’s Rember. Almost immediately, the mainstream media was reporting the most critical breakthrough in the history of Alzheimer’s Disease. This enthusiasm may be premature, however, and more research is needed on this new treatment option. Read more →

Arguably, one of the greatest public health advances in the last century has been the advent of safe and effective vaccines for deadly diseases. Today, several vaccine-preventable diseases have all but disappeared from our lives, thanks to all 50 states mandating vaccination for school children and making routine vaccination a public health priority.

Children today receive dozens of doses of vaccines to prevent at least 16 illnesses throughout their infancy, childhood, and adolescence. For almost every child, these vaccines are safe and effective, leaving behind no more than a sore arm or leg for a few hours. However, the number of parents refusing vaccines for their children is rising. Read more →

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has evaluated the risk of suicide associated with antiepileptic drugs. The FDA examined 11 antiepileptic drugs, among nearly 28,000 patients, and found that patients taking an antiepileptic drug have an increased risk for suicidal behavior or ideation, compared to 16,000 patients receiving a placebo.

The FDA’s assessment consisted of reviewing 199 placebo-controlled trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of various antiepileptic drugs (also known as anticonvulsants). Read more →

I read with interest my fellow Brain Blogger’s article on pharmacists and their essential value to the medical team. While pharmacists do not have prescribing power and often get a bad rap as being “pill counters,” it is clear to me that their position in the medical team food chain is equivalent to having prescribing power.

At the very least, a good medical team or ICU team will have a pharmacist as part of the team to help with medications. This includes making sure the patient has no allergies, that there is no resistance or cross reactivity between medications, and checking to make sure the prescribed medication is clinically indicated. In this situation the pharmacist is sort of like the medical case manager. He or she “owns” the prescriptions of that team. Read more →

Pharmacists are integral members of the health care team in the US. The profession is composed of highly-educated, well-trained health-care providers. Pharmacists promote themselves as “drug experts” for good reason: the four-years of education required to obtain the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree encompasses the etiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, prevention, and management of human disease states. Pharmacists study the clinical application of pharmacology, biopharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, therapeutics, adverse drug reactions, laboratory data, and drug information to the management of disease states. This training enables pharmacists to identify and prevent drug interactions, plan patient evaluation of drug-related problems and recommend changes in pharmaceutical care plans, and evaluate and interpret pharmaceutical data. Read more →