Upcoming Festive Overindulgence? Try These 4 Tips to Overcome

If you're a part of the majority, you've already set off on the overindulgence 'ke Decemba' train. The month of December is inherently filled with weddings, birthdays, funerals, holidays which all equate to food, food and more food!

There's no need to panic, here are four tips to avoid bloating,  weight gain (water retention), tummy upsets and toxins buildup which can trigger joint pain and other inflammatory conditions.

All suggested medicine are available OTC from your local pharmacy and do not require a prescription. Ask your pharmacist for advice if in doubt or taking other medication concurently. 

 Firstly, liver support - whether you plan to drink or eat more than usual, substantiate your levels of essential phospholipids  with supplements  to assist your liver in its metabolic functions. 1 or 2 tablets up to three time (8hly) a day with food will do. 

Secondly, consider a hydration supplement.  In the heat of the summer, we tend to sweat  (salts are lost) and lose water a lot more than in winter. Increasing our water (fluid) intake is great but a step further is replenishing our electrolytes along with it. This keeps the "thirsty" feeling away and curves more subsequent cravings by maintaining feelings of satiety. One sachet dissolved in a liter of water as required on very hot days will do.

Next, lets consider excess acid levels. PH levels are critical to healthy body tissue states. Alkaline states help your system to better prevent cellular inflammation and  tissue injury/disease. Take an alkaline powder (7.5g) once or twice a day with a glass of water for a good week or so before and during the festivities to curb over acidity in the entire body. 

Lastly, its a good idea to add fiber to your diet. By sprinkling some on your food or in your drink, you ensure your gut remains regular and eliminates waste timeously.  Constipation often results from overindulgence of high sugar, high fat and low fruits/veg diets typical of party foods. Try soluble fibres to avoid this.

Whatever you decide to eat and indulge in, always keep moderation at the back of your mind. Portion sizes matter. Start with the salads and the greens before heading for the meats and the desserts.  Drink water before you leave the house as a prep to redu8ce your overall appetite, while conditioning your digestive enzymes for incoming food. 

Prevention is always better than cure. 

Enjoy your holidays, have a merry Christmas and a happy new Year 2020. 

Stay safe. 

Pharmers 

www.pharmers.co.za 

Antimicrobial Resistance; What's the big deal?

Imaging getting to the hospital for a severe bacterial infection and being told:

Sorry we don't have any effective treatment to give for this stain anymore!

That's where the world is heading;

We are dangerously close!

Listen up: in as little as 10 years we could have run out of options to treat all the super bugs currently being mishandled.

How exactly is antimicrobial misuse linked to resistant strains and treatment failure?

I'm glad you asked;  every time you take an antimicrobial medication incorrectly (dose, duration, frequency, type, or treatment option) you actually give that bug, or others around it a taste of what was supposed to kill it; but instead with this "taste", the bug incorporates the drug in its DNA and subsequently becomes enhanced, empowered and immune to it. 

This simplified explanation is to tell you to be very careful with your medication. When in doubt, ALWAYS ask your pharmacist to explain and confirm your treatment. 

Unfortunately, power struggles in the medical sphere sees a rise in patients demand towards their prescribers (every condition is a suspected infection that requires antibiotics), as well as many prescribers' carelessness in prescribing patterns. With many taking shortcuts when it comes to correctly identifying causative agents. These compounded tragedies are leading us to a point of no return. 

The 4rth industrial revolution is bringing along an unimaginable microbial disaster; if nothing is done. 

Prescribers: be careful. Resort to antimicrobials under extraordinary precaution and care. 

Dispensers: be careful. Counsel and warn your patients with utmost clarity, providing treatment assistance and reminders.  

Patients: be careful. Do not demand from experts what you think you know. They will provide the best treatment option if you remove your "paying-customer-is-king" pressures from their sworn responsibilities, lengthy degrees, and daily clinical experiences. 

Let's all work together in care and respect.  

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Pharmacy - Cornerstone of Health Care!

Whatever disease, illness or condition you may come across (go ahead and think of at least 3), part or the entire treatment protocol will require medicines. And who says medicine says: PHARMACY!

Who's in charge and running (around in) the pharmacy? Pharmacists of course! With the help of their assistants. 

But that's overly simplified you might think. Medicines being sold in a pharmacy don't quite illustrate the entire health care scenery does it? So why is pharmacy cornerstone?

Well they give you the final products. The end valuable result of the complex pharmacy machine! That's not all! You see,  health care in essence is the organized provision of medical care to individuals or communities. As each component of care giving requires either consumables, medicines or tools; pharmacists are the only licensed, sworn in, and responsible authorities for safely providing these to everyone else.  

To provide quality health care, rigorous investigations must be done. Diseases, their cause and progression, their treatment or management etc is studied with the aim of curing or at least controlling the condition. Pharmacists do that. Any agent which causes a desired physiological response can be deemed a drug, how it works and should be administered to treat and cure diseases is the pharmacists' prerogative! If you're still not convinced,  consider the following concluding points.

5 ways pharmacists are the cornerstones of health care: 

○They manufacture ALL available drugs; no pharmacist, no medication. 

○They understand both sides of diseases: etiologies vs therapies; no pharmacist, no prescription, disease & drug gate keeping. 

○They have basic and advanced knowledge regarding Primary, Emergency and Secondary/ Tertiary health care; no pharmacists, no adequate intermediate resources connecting all treatment levels. 

○They ensure quality treatments from obtaining raw materials, to maintaining quality through storage, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, prescribed indications and patient use. No pharmacist, no quality treatment. 

○they are the ultimate health care multitaskers: making the actual medications, ordering and controlling supply, supervising staff, consulting & counselling patients, intervening in patient therapies, mediating between prescribers and insurance providers, referring or initiating care, teaching and educating communities, while running profitable businesses among many others! No pharmacist, no cross-disciplinary, functional health care system!

You just can't beat them.

Pharmacists remain the undefeated,  unprecedented but ultimately undermined,  health care professionals!

Love and respect your pharmacist. Be patient while your community pharmacist helps you. They are there to optimize your treatment (outcomes) and improve your quality of life but if you rush them and they make a mistake it could really harm you.




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Pharmacy Blog 

Why do we eat when taking tablets

We've all been advised to take our medication with food. Since childhood, it's a common thing to hear. Although most drugs don't actually require food, here's a couple of reasons why:

1. Disguise taste : many drugs have unpleasant tastes. By taking them with food, their foul tastes can be masked and avoided altogether. 

2. Reduce side effects (nausea and vomiting): drugs that have known and pronounced nausea and vomiting side effect profiles can be improved by advising patients to take them with food in an attempt to attenuate these reactions. Penicillins can cause nausea and by taking them with food, tolerance in most patients is improved. 

3. Metabolism: in some cases, food can delay, speed up or improve the absorption of certain drugs. In the case of some oral anti fungals for example, fatty food promotes absorption of acidic drugs. 

4. Sensitivities: the gastrointestinal tract is lined with soft delicate epithelial cells and these can often become sensitive in some patients; having food with drugs ensure that no direct contact with these cells and potentially abrasive drugs occur. In this case food acts as a protective lining to reduce irritations. 

It's important to note that, needing to take your medicine with food is not a call to gluttony. I'm most cases a piece of fruit or snack is enough. No need to fill up your plates and overindulge under pretext of medicine. 

Another point to note is that certain foods like grapefruit shouldn't be taken with medicine as it may induce metabolism 

And reduce drug efficacy. 

For these reasons and more, it is a rule of thumb to take medicine with food; Unless specifically indicated to be taken on an empty stomach. 

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The "Generic" Myth Finally Debunked!

To substitute or not to substitute! That is the question!

It's not as clear-cut as we'd like it to be. Many drugs on the market are generics to originator (branded) drugs. Do they differ? Can they be substituted? To simplify it, the answer is two fold.

Yes, because they are (bio) equivalent but no because sometimes they are metabolized differently and therefore the experience is that: they're not the "same"?!

Some pharmacists will tell you 'it's the same'! And quite rightly so, often when addressing patient fears, uncertainties and issues of treatment accuracy. It's a quick answer to calm the patient down. A generic drug contains the same active ingredient, at the same dose than it's original counterpart. Therefore in this light, they ARE the same!

However, when it comes to efficacy and side effect profile, generic drugs might differ. This is because formulations (processes of manufacturing the drug and excipients or other additives) can differ.
Potency may also differ, as drug concentrations, release rates and absorption into plasma rates also differ. The regulated ranges for plasma concentrations (AUC) usually fluctuate between 85-110% match. Meaning a generic drug can be less or more potent than the original drug even at the same dose. Generic drug bio-equivalence have to be the same by law, but bio-equivalence doesn't necessarily mean tolerance equivalence either.
Patients may often complain that one generic doesn't work for them, or that the generic "feels" different. Besides a strong possibility of them just being picky or playing mind games, there is a real rationale behind it. It might actually be that they metabolize the generic differently and hence experience (effect and side-effect of) the generic drug more or less than with the originator.

The other common patient phobia is with pricing. Many patients feel cheated if a drug is too cheap. They actually want to pay more as they think it will "work better". Again it often is a mind game associated with perceived value. But the truth is, big price difference are  because of research setbacks.

The originator drug took time (including clinical trials) and lots money to develop, and so once it reaches the market for the first time, it benefits from patent exclusivity in sales. Usually 15-20 years. This is to recuperate the heavy research costs incurred and make profit for that manufacturing company.
After this period, the originator drug patent expires and is then made available to other manufacturers who can simply "copy" the 'recipe' for much less monetary investment and no research time. They therefore can slash the prices radically - hence cheaper generics.

At the end of the day, a generic drug will act in the same way as an original drug in effecting it's desired pharmacological effect. It may however feel different to a patient  who experiences it differently due to a difference in overall metabolism.

Next time a patient asks you if "they're the same", what will you say?


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