Treatment advances in mental health

This month we are going to look at some interesting and applicable advances in the area of treatment of bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety. Some new research is examined and implications...

Carbon footprints and pharmacy

Managing the side effects of contraception

Headache is a reported side effect of all hormonal methods of contraception, but is also very common in women of reproductive age, particularly those age >35 years old (Grossman Barr, 2010). Because...

Pharmacokinetics in paramedic prescribing

Absorption is the process a drug undergoes to enter the circulation. The most common route is the oral route, where drugs are ingested orally, and then absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract into...

Treating post-renal transplant surgical site infection with combination therapy: a case study

A 61-year-old Azerbaijani woman was admitted to Imam Khomeini hospital in Urmia, in north west Iran. She had a kidney transplant on 5 October 2018. The patient had a history of end-stage renal disease...

Macrolides vs penicillin and potential risk during pregnancy

A team of researchers at University College of London analysed the association between macrolide antibiotics prescribed during pregnancy and major malformations, as well as four neurodevelopmental...

Antimicrobial prescribing in SARS-CoV-2

In this article by Stevens et al (2020) we start to see some early evidence looking at the rate and spectrum of antibiotic prescribing being collected in a single centre study.

Nutritional psychiatry

Patient or self-indulgent consumer?

Steroids in inflammatory bowel disease: a clinical review

Despite their effectiveness, corticosteroids are characterised by their serious adverse effects, which limit their long-term use. Recognition of their adverse effects is important in their prevention...

Integrating research and evidence-based guidance into prescribing practice

Both the College of Paramedics (CoP) (2018) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) (2016) are clear that, as non-medical prescribers, advanced paramedics are required to review and critically...

The power of the psyche during patient anaesthesia: opioid use and postoperative pain

A recent study published in the British Medical Journal investigated the use of therapeutic suggestions played to patients through earphones during general anaesthesia while undergoing surgery, and...