It can take some time before anti-depressant drugs have an effect on people. Yet, the chemical changes that they cause in the brain happen quite rapidly. Understanding this paradox could enable us to create more effective treatments for depression. However, new research from a group of scientists at Oxford, Harvard and Limerick universities has shown [...]
Pharmacy Voice has welcomed confirmation that the government is reviewing its plans to enable hub and spoke dispensing across legal entities from October this year. In a letter inviting Pharmacy Voice to take part in further discussions to explore the issues raised during the recent consultation, officials confirmed that they are ‘no longer working towards [...]
One in three (32 per cent) women over 50 do not think cervical screening (smear tests) are part of the healthy upkeep of a woman’s body, and almost one in four (22 per cent) do not think they are important to have regularly according to new research by Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust and Gransnet. Adding [...]
New research, by the Universities of Glasgow and Manchester, has revealed an ‘Achilles heel’ of Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) and found drugs to successfully target this weakness and eradicate the disease in mice. The study, which is published in Nature today, analysed both CML and normal blood stem cells and found two proteins that were key to [...]
Health Minister, Michelle O’Neill, has revealed the seizure of tens of thousands of illegally imported and unauthorised medicines in the north of Ireland as part of an international operation. Operation Pangea IX, which took place between 30th May and 7th June, involving 103 countries, aimed to disrupt the illicit online sale of medicines as well [...]
Research has already shown that taking anabolic steroids is associated with high blood pressure and an increased risk of developing heart conditions, such as left ventricular hypertrophy (an enlarged heart). Now research, part-funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and presented at this year’s British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) conference, has shown that for some people, misusing [...]
People with type 2 diabetes could be helped by the discovery of a gene linked to leanness. A drug that affects the activity of the gene has been shown to reduce the symptoms of type 2 diabetes in obese mice. Researchers say an improved version of the medicine could be developed as a therapy for [...]
More than 1,000 people have had their entire genetic make-up decoded as part of a long-term study to gain insight into why some people’s brains age better than others. Scientists in Edinburgh have sequenced the DNA of more than 1,300 people taking part in a decades-long study into ageing and memory. The development will enable [...]
A survey of pharmacist prescribers has been published by the pharmacy regulator. The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) invited all pharmacist prescribers to take part in the survey to build a rounded picture of prescribing practice, and has now published a report summarising the key findings. Commenting on the report, Duncan Rudkin, Chief Executive of the [...]
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society in Wales (RPS Wales) has welcomed news that the number of smokers in Wales has continued to decrease. Figures published in the annual Welsh Health Survey for 2015 show that just under a fifth (19 per cent) of adults reported that they currently smoke, a one per cent drop from last [...]
