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The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS)'s new research (YouGov poll) revealed that one in five of UK adults (19%) keep their medicines in the bathroom. The research revealed, "Almost one in two (45%) of UK adult keep their medicines in the kitchen, which could also cause problems. RPS Chief Scientist Professor Parastou Donyai said: "It's important to store your medicines in the right place as this could affect how they work. "Medicines should be stored in a cool, dry place and are particularly affected by heat and moisture. Keeping your medicines in the same place as where you have baths and showers could make your medicines less effective or spoil them. "Instead keep your medicines in another room, for example your bedroom or if you keep them in the kitchen, make sure this is in a kitchen cabinet, away from sources of heat such as the hob, oven or windowsill. If you have small children or pets in the home, always make sure your medicines are kept in a lockable storage box somewhere out of their reach and sight."

Labour MP Barry Gardiner has raised concerns that the £645 million cash injection announced by the government for community pharmacy is, in effect, 'frozen funding' for the next two years. Speaking on Tuesday (May 9) on the BBC's Politics Live, Gardiner said funding for community pharmacies "was cut before 2015, then it was frozen and now the latest announcement says that it's going to be frozen for a further two years." He said with a current national contract, which already represented a 25 per cent funding cut in real terms, it was not appropriate to ask for community pharmacy "to take on more work" without adequate support. "I heard the prime minister earlier this morning (May 9) on TV saying 'we are investing more in pharmacies'. "No you are not. You just concluded a contract that says for the next two years it will be absolutely flatlined." He added that "there will be no more money" for community pharmacy and that steeply rising costs due to inflation were "eating into that contract's health". Gardiner said community pharmacists "do a phenomenal job" but regretted that from a total of just 11,000, some 700 pharmacies have been lost due to funding cuts.

According to a report in 'The Mirror', palliative care doctors see hundreds of people dying in front of them. One of these doctors has revealed how a person feels before death. When a person dies, what is the reaction of his body and what is going on in his mind. Experts have limited information about this process, but the truth is that death awaits the person who has already died.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has warned the public to avoid buying pre-filled weight loss pens without a prescription. The warning came after 369 fake Ozempic injections have been seized since January 2023. However, Saxenda pens were obtained by members of the public in the UK through "non-legitimate routes". The health regulator has urged the public to buy the pens after consulting a healthcare professional and with a prescription. Dr Alison Cave, MHRA Chief Safety Officer shared her opinion on the matter, she said: "Buying products such as Ozempic or Saxenda without a prescription, from illegally trading suppliers, significantly increases the risk of receiving something which is either fake or not licensed for use in the UK.

Le coût d'une greffe de moelle osseuse en Inde, comparé à des procédures similaires dans les pays occidentaux, ne représente qu'une fraction de ce que les patients devraient payer dans des pays développés comme le Royaume-Uni, le Canada ou les États-Unis. ✨

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended faricimab as treatment option for adults with wet age-related macular degeneration or diabetic macular oedema. Thousands of people in England could benefit from the recommendation of a new drug that helps to treat two leading causes of sight loss and visual impairment. Faricimab is administered as an eye injection and is being recommended as an option for treating some adults with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or with diabetic macular oedema (DMO). In the key clinical trials, aflibercept, another eye injection drug used to treat AMD and DMO, was administered every 8 weeks, while faricimab dosing, based on assessments of the disease activity, allowed for an interval of up to 16 weeks between doses, and was found to be equally effective. Up to 300,000 people in England with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could be eligible to receive faricimab as part of their treatment alongside just over 28,000 people with diabetic macular oedema.

Pharmacists with 'relevant experience in a pharmacy setting' can enroll for accredited independent prescribing course, as the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has decided to scrap the requirement of spending at least two years on the register and having previous experience in a specified clinical or therapeutic area before enrolling for the course. The GPhC Council meeting held on Thursday instead proposed that applicants must have "relevant experience in a pharmacy setting and be able to recognise, understand and articulate the skills and attributes required by a prescriber." This experience and awareness will act as the basis of their prescribing practice whilst training. The regulator noted that the majority of stakeholder organisations, including the Chief Pharmaceutical Officers, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the statutory education bodies, were in favour of removing the requirement in a consultation on the topic. They highlighted that a specific two-year period was not in itself a robust indication of whether an individual was ready to become a prescriber. They also highlighted that the rapidly developing roles in the profession meant more pharmacists were likely to gain the necessary experience more quickly than in the past. A smaller number of organisations and a larger minority of individuals were opposed, citing that a specific two-year period gave pharmacists the time they needed to develop experience and confidence before being ready to enrol on a course.

An Indian court has sentenced two pharmaceutical company executives to two-and-half years in jail for exporting substandard drugs to Vietnam a decade ago, months after the WHO linked their cough syrups to the deaths of children in Gambia. India suspended production at Maiden Pharmaceuticals in October last year for violations of manufacturing standards after the World Health Organization said four of its cough syrups may have killed dozens of children in Gambia. The company has denied its drugs were at fault for the deaths in Gambia and tests by an Indian government laboratory found there were no toxins in them. The company had been facing legal difficulties for years over suspected shoddy products. A court in Sonipat, near New Delhi, where Maiden has its main production facility, ordered jail for company founder Naresh Kumar Goel and technical director M.K. Sharma for exporting heartburn medicine "not of standard quality" to Vietnam.

The 1000th Building the Community-Pharmacy Partnership (BCPP) programme in Centred Soul, Newry received funding from the Department of Health in Northern Ireland to improve the health and wellbeing of women in the local community. BCPP programme is led by Community Development and Health Network (CDHN) in Northern Ireland and is funded by the Department of Health. It supports communities and community pharmacists to address locally defined needs so that people make connections, listen to and understand each other better and work together to address the social determinants of health and health inequalities Department of Health's Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Cathy Harrison said: "I am delighted to mark the 1000th project to receive funding to improve health inequalities in the Newry area. "Since 2001 we have invested over £7 million in local community groups and pharmacy partnerships across Northern Ireland, to work together on a specific, local health need. "The Centred Soul project is a great example of how BCPP Programme contributes to tackling inequality and improving community health and wellbeing locally.

If you have low testosterone levels, there is a good chance you have felt some physical side effects from that. You may have heard that certain physical activity helps combat the depletion, and there is truth in this. There is a link between increasing and fine-tuning an exercise agenda and raising testosterone levels. Below, the relationship is explored in more detail. WHAT DOES TESTOSTERONE DO? There is more to the function of testosterone than just in relation to your sex drive. Of course, that is important, but it also impacts muscle building, strength, energy levels, hair growth, and red blood cells. When levels are low, there are big consequences for anybody from hair loss to weak muscles and even exhaustion too. TESTOSTERONE AND OBESITY One of the biggest things that affects testosterone is being overweight. If you are carrying a few extra pounds, it would be beneficial to try to get into some healthier habits if you want to promote an organic increase in T-levels. HOW EXERCISE PLAYS A ROLE Exercise seems to be a natural inhibitor of testosterone, especially when you focus on particular strategies and workout styles such as strength training. Levels have been shown to rise immediately after exercise for anything from fifteen minutes to an hour plus. While it is different for everyone, the link is clear.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society in England (RPS) and Community Pharmacy England (CPE) have raised alarm over the impending increase in NHS prescription charges, slated to take effect from May 1, 2024. The RPS, represented by Chair Tase Oputu, condemned the rise, labeling it a "dark day for patients" who will now face nearly £10 per prescription item. Oputu emphasised the disproportionate impact on individuals with low incomes, citing the "relentless annual increases in prescription charges" as exacerbating the affordability crisis in healthcare. " Every day pharmacists are asked by patients who are unable to afford all the items in their prescription which ones they can 'do without'" she said. She further added that the financial barriers to get vital medicines should not be faced by any one and advocated for "the abolition of prescription charges in England, as has been implemented in other parts of the UK".

London's Great Ormond Street Hospital and Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool are poised to introduce groundbreaking gender-related services in England, following the closure of the Gender Identity Development Service (Gids) operated by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. Amid concerns expressed by hospital executives regarding the closure of Gids, with leaked emails revealing apprehensions about appointment cancellations and inadequate communication with the new services, the National Health Services England (NHSE) has confirmed "its commitment to ensuring continuity of care for patients already accessing endocrine care in GIDS." NHSE's decision to transition to regional services stems from a 2022 interim review, led by Dr. Hilary Cass, which highlighted the need for improved support structures for gender-distressed youth. It emphasized a significant increase in referrals to Gids, surpassing 5,000 in 2021/22, compared to less than 250 a decade ago.

Audio: How to know symptoms of Spinal Cord Injury? What are the side effects and Treatment?

Audio: How to know symptoms of Spinal Cord Injury? What are the side effects and Treatment?

High street pharmacy giant Boots permanently shut down two more branches on Saturday (March 16) as it moves forward with its plan to close 300 stores. The Wrightson House branch at the Pavilion Shopping Centre in Teesside and the Aslake Close pharmacy in Sprowston were closed for good, according to BirminghamLive. The pharmacy giant and chemist announced that all their prescriptions from its branch in Sprowston will be moved to Lawson Road Health Centre, with the nearest Boots branches located in London Street and Aylsham Road. The closure of the branch at the Pavilion Shopping Centre in Teesside was confirmed to the public with a notice placed in the shop window, informing customers about nearby Boots stores to collect their prescriptions. The notice reads: "We are closing. This store will close, on March 16, 2024. Your nearest store for collecting prescriptions will be Thornaby Health Centre, Trenchard Avenue, TS17 OEE. Other stores nearby are: 12-14 High Street, Teesside Retail Park, Norton, TS20 1DN 21B Goodwood Square, TSI7 7BW."

How to know Symptoms of Heartburn?