DrugXpert Blog

Blood cells There is a general notion that antibiotics cause anemia or reduce blood cell in the body. This belief is especially so with ampiclox capsule. To prevent the effect on the blood, they either don't take the drug at all or reduce the dosage and or frequency and or dosage duration. Now, how true is this theory? Is going against medical prescription the solution? Let us take a general look at antibiotics and ampiclox as a case study. Read Also : Ampiclox is not a contraceptive Antibiotics And Blood Cell Blood has a number of components. Each of these components play important roles in the body. They are red blood cells, white blood cells (neutrophiles, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils and basophils) and platelets. Each of these components are required in certain amount to function well in the body. Certain health conditions or lifestyle can affect the amount in the body. It can either increase or decrease which have their own negative effects. We do everyth...

Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is an effective medication for mild to moderate pain and fever. It is an essential medicine under over the counter medication. It's importance rose to prominence in the 60s after evidence suggest side effects with other non steroidal anti-inflammatory agents such as aspirin. Read Also : First aid for sniper poisoning It is one of the most used pain medications. It is found in many homes in different formation. There are tablets, caplets, syrups and suspension. Because of its importance, some drugs are manufactured with paracetamol inside in the form of a combination therapy. Paracetamol have little or no side effects when taken at the right dose. The dose strength, duration and frequency depends on the age of the person and severity of pain. However, the maximum adult dose over a 24 hour period must not exceed 4g. Above this dose, paracetamol becomes a killer. More than 10g of paracetamol ingested is very toxic. How does this happen? How can it b...

The festive season is towards the end of the year and the beginning of the next year. It is a time Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and the world celebrate the new year. The celebration comes with lots of activities. These activities provide lots of opportunities for community pharmacy. Festive season People want to shop during this period. That is because they have to save for it. However, nobody wants to shop in a community pharmacy selling drugs. But because of their lifestyle, one thing must bring them. They want to enjoy the season with good health but their lifestyle during this period is the opposite of what they want. They will be willing to pay for good health by buying drugs when they fall ill. Others in the hospital hasten medical doctors just to get discharged from the hospital. Read Also : The sickness that comes with rainy season and what to do about it Utilizing this period well can have a positive effect on the business throughout the year. T...

Good purchasing policy and inventory control are the bedrock of community and hospital pharmacy. For community or hospital pharmacy to survive, it must have stock at all times. Failure on this area alone can hinder the success of the pharmacy. Having stock at all times is one thing, having the right stock at the right quantities is the bottom line. Any pharmacist that wants to survive must develop a simple purchasing policy and inventory control. They all achieve one goal which is to increase sales and reduce cost. Read Also : Steps it took to revive a dead community pharmacy Purchasing policy involves knowing the right quantity and quality to buy, when to order, at what price and from what source. Inventory control is the result of this buying. Benefits Of Purchasing Policy And Inventory Control A good purchasing policy and inventory control system help to achieve the following goals; Sales: when a product is out of stock, the profit is lost to another community pharma...

Standard operating procedures (SOP) for receiving and arranging new stock supply in a community pharmacy should be adopted by all. It is a laid down procedure that ensure that it is efficient and minimise risk of loss to the pharmacy. Managing new stock supply in a community pharmacy is a common task. The job is for pharmacy technician, sales assistant, in some organisation interns and even pharmacist. Stock are typically purchased from a wholesaler or sales representative. The supplied stock is sent either through waybill, delivered by the owner or supplied by the wholesale outlet or the sales representative. The supplied stock must be recorded in the shop and arranged in the storehouse or shelf. The process may be different from one community pharmacy to the other. However, they all achieve the same goal; inventory management. Read Also: Price tagging drugs in a community pharmacy has benefits SOP For New Stock The process from stock supplied to arrangement is simple. But it ...

Pharmacy is related to so many other courses. Meanwhile, let us see what pharmacy is all about. Then we go over to these pharmacy related courses. Pharmacy, according to Wikipedia is the science and technique of preparing, dispensing and reviewing of drugs with the provision of additional clinical services. Pharmacy profession is linked with other health sciences with pharmaceutical science. The boundaries between pharmacy and these related discipline are not always clear-cut. This open the link between pharmacy and other health care. Pharmacy Pharmacy aim to ensure the safe, effective and affordable use of drugs. The profession is classified into community or industry (institution) pharmacy. However, it is divided into pharmaceutics, medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy and pharmacy practice. Read Also: How to become a pharmacy technician Pharmacy Related Courses And Discipline There are some courses, discipline or profession that share similar links with pharmacy. They...

Displaying products cost using price tag is a practice many community pharmacies have not adopted. They may not know the value of price tagging their products on the shelf. Some of them cite the cost of buying a price tagging machine and it's paper as the major reason for not adopting it. Read Also : How to arrange stock in a hospital or community pharmacy Price tag on medication benefits both the shop and it's buyers. The benefits are enormous. Here are some of the benefits. Price tag Benefits Of Price Tagging Products New staff With price tags on all products on the shelves, it is easy for new staff to join in sales as they can sell with little help from old staff. Without price tags, even those who have worked in other community pharmacy will find it difficult to blend. This is because the price of drugs varies from one community pharmacy to another. Trust Buyers trust shops with price tags on their products. They believe that the price on it have be...

Medications are meant to diagnose, prevent, treat, manage, etc of disease. To achieve any of the above, the medication is to be taken as prescribed. The formula, strength, dosage, dosage frequency and duration depends on the severity of the disease, type of drug, age of the patient and so many other factors. One thing many patients find hard to understand is why take a drug more than once. They believe that many drugs especially antibiotics stay in the body for a very long time or even for life hence achieve therapeutic effects. This wrong notion is preventing some from getting better with drugs. This is because they fail to adhere to their prescribed medication. Read Also : Information needed by patient in a drug information leaflet Disease conditions are of two natures. Some are caused by living things while the others are caused by change in the body physiology. The drugs used to treat both work in different ways. Drugs that treat change in body physiology tend to correct it...

Artemether and lumefantrine combination therapy is an antimalarial. It is one of the first line treatment for malaria infection. Dob an artemisinin combination therapy, it is one of the first line therapy for uncomplicated malaria including plasmodium falciparum. The dose is based on age and or body weight. Dosage duration is three days. However, something striking in the dosage interval. Artemether And Lumefantrine dosing interval The first and second dose interval is 8 hours. The third dose is 16 hours from the second dose or 24 hours from the first dose. Afterwards, subsequent doses will be 12 hours interval. Read Also : Dosing frequency of Artemether And Lumefantrine Sometimes, one wonder why the first and second dose have such a short dosage interval and the third have a long dosage interval. This becomes more interesting when we consider the dosing regimen of other drugs. Many drugs are either every 24 hours, 12 hours, 8 hours, 6 hours, 3 hours interval or something...

Technology is growing so fast. The health sector is not left out of the growing trend. That is why the world have witnessed significant value in life expectancy. However, the health sector adoption of technology is only on a vertical note. Vertical technology is a technology that affects only one field. They are lacking in the horizontal front which is technology that is adopted by many fields. Blockchain technology is new worldwide. When some hear about it, cryptocurrency comes to their mind. However, there are new ways this technology can be deployed. It's role in healthcare are enormous. But a simple application is storing of patients data and retrieval in the most secure way ever. The rate of adoption in other fields is high. Health is yet to key into this. But before we proceed, let us look at what blockchain technology is all about. Blockchain technology was first developed in 1991. It adoption in cryptocurrency which happens a few years ago was what brought it to timel...