Editorial
Welcome to the June homepage edition for i2P (Information to Pharmacists) E-Magazine.
The editor’s desk has been vacant for nearly a month to enable a short vacation to happen, and gratefully it has stirred some sort of a revival.
The volume of work unpublished over May will be reorganised and will appear gradually over future editions.
Since resuming “the desk” the pressure has recommenced, but that is part of the job.
This month we have featured Gerald Quigley as he illustrates an evidence-based complementary medicine that helps Alzheimer patients. The product is already helping patients but is being criticised because of a perceived lack of “quality” in its evidence profile.
Mark Coleman has jumped in to point out the lack of quality in mainstream evidence for drugs, and I find it quite appalling that a serial complainer can justify any mainstream evidence as being “gold standard”.
Read Mark’s article under the title of “Research and other Medical Wonders”.
Columns
Dr John Dunlop (PGDipPharm, MPharm, DPharm(Auck), FACPP, FNZCP, FPSNZ, MCAPA): Inside NZ
Loretta Marron BSc: Health Watch
Barry Urquhart: Marketing Focus
Harvey Mackay: Strategic Thinking
Mark Neuenschwander: I`ve been thinking about...Recent Comments
Past Editions
Volume 1 Number 1
Volume 1 Number 2
Volume 1 Number 3
Volume 1 Number 4
Volume 1 Number 5
Volume 1 Number 6
Volume 1 Number 7
Volume 2 Number 1
Volume 2 Number 2
Volume 2 Number 3
Volume 2 Number 4
Volume 2 Number 5
Volume 2 Number 6
Volume 2 Number 7
Volume 2 Number 8
Volume 2 Number 9
Volume 2 Number 10
Volume 2 Number 11
Volume 3 Number 1
Volume 3 Number 2
Volume 3 Number 3
Volume 3 Number 4
Volume 3 Number 5
Volume 3 Number 6
Volume 3 Number 7
Volume 3 Number 8
Volume 3 Number 9
Volume 3 Number 10
Volume 3 Number 11
Volume 4 Number 1
Volume 4 Number 2
Volume 4 Number 3
Volume 4 Number 4
Volume 4 Number 5
Volume 4 Number 6
Volume 4 Number 7
Volume 4 Number 8
Volume 4 Number 9
Volume 4 Number 10
Volume 4 Number 11
Volume 5 Number 1
Volume 5 Number 2
Volume 5 Number 3
Volume 5 Number 4
Volume 5 Number 5
Hospital News
Staff Writer: Respected pharmacy managers resign over their concerns for patient safety | open full screen
Health Politics
Mark Coleman: Research and Other Medical Wonders
Neil Johnston: The Call For Unity
Gerald Quigley: What about the Alzheimer’s patient?
Professional Pharmacists Australia Spokesperson: Australian Pharmacists Welcome Removal of the Profession from Skilled Occupation Lists | open full screen
Professional Pharmacists Australia Spokesperson: Australian Pharmacists Say Small Increase In Pay Not Enough | open full screen
Climate Change
EPublications
Drug allergy breakthrough
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PDF version | Staff Researcher |
Editing and Researching news and stories about Australian and International Pharmacy Issues | |
Australian researchers have discovered why people develop life-threatening allergies after receiving treatment for conditions such as epilepsy and AIDS.
The research, by the University of Melbourne and Monash University, could lead to the development of a diagnostic test to determine drug hypersensitivity.
Professor Jamie Rossjohn
Published today in Nature, the study revealed how some drugs inadvertently target the body's immune system to alter how it perceives it’s own tissues, making them appear foreign.
The immune system then attacks the foreign nature of the tissues as if they were incompatible transplants.
Professor Jamie Rossjohn from Monash University, who led the study with Professor James McCluskey of the University of Melbourne, and Professor Tony Purcell from the University of Melbourne’s Bio21 Institute, said the study showed the biological mechanisms by which a person's exact tissue type determined whether they would develop the drug allergy.
"Our findings represent the culmination of a seven-year odyssey for the collaborative groups involved in this study," Professor Rossjohn said.
"We have provided insight into a general mechanism of drug hypersensitivity and the HLA locus."
Professor McCluskey said an entire class of drug allergy was likely to be explained by the discovery.
“There are several drugs that can cause life-threatening skin rashes and other symptoms such as fever, diarrhea, muscle aches and pains," Professor McCluskey said.
“A simple blood test may help to predict adverse reactions in the treatment of a broad range of conditions like AIDS, epilepsy, gout and infections.”
The study was done in collaboration with the Queensland Institute for Medical Research and was supported by the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
Research Reports
Practice Development
Anthony Huxley & Peter Krasenstein: The foundations are more important than the facade | open full screen
Neil Retallick: The pharmacy landscape is changing according to Mark Hooper – and Bob Dylan | open full screen
Chris Foster: The One Reason Why You Can't Ignore Social Media
Kay Dunkley - BPharm, Grad Dip Hosp Pharm, Grad Dip Health Admin, MPS, MSHPA: R U OK | open full screen
Fiona Sartoretto Verna AIAPP: Sartoretto Verna Opens in Malta
Steve Jenkin: Four Disrupting Activities Arriving for Pharmacy
Neil Johnston: Identifying Professional Services - Sexual Health -ChlamydiaStaff Writer: eBay Inc. and Kate Spade Saturday Partner For Interactive Storefronts | open full screen
Kay Dunkley - BPharm, Grad Dip Hosp Pharm, Grad Dip Health Admin, MPS, MSHPA: Tax time – a donation to PSS is a gift to your profession and a tax deduction for you | open full screen
Information Technology
Dr David More: Weekly Overseas Health IT Links to 1st June, 2013.Preventive Medicine
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