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If you have asthma, it's important to know when you should see a doctor about an asthma flare-up. A flare-up is a sudden increase in your symptoms, which can include coughing, wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. Flare-ups can be mild or severe, and they can occur at any time. If you're not sure whether you're having a flare-up, here are six obvious signs that it might be time to see a doctor. 1. YOU'RE USING YOUR INHALER MORE THAN USUAL If you have asthma, you likely have a rescue inhaler that you use when you're having symptoms. This inhaler contains a medication that can quickly relieve your symptoms. If you find that you're using your rescue inhaler more often than usual, it could be a sign that your asthma is getting worse and you need to see a doctor. By seeking a doctor near me online, you can find a reputable physician who will accurately diagnose and treat your asthma. Always look for a second opinion, as one doctor's opinion might differ from others. For example, some doctors might recommend that you use a daily inhaler, while others might only recommend using it when you're having symptoms.

Medical sector has the third highest number of businesses currently for sale, with hospitality and retail technology firms most likely to sell up next year, according to the UK Business Investment Report. There are 4,300 registered medical businesses in the UK, and approximately 355 (one in every 12.11) are currently up for sale. Topping the list was the hospitality sector with one in every 9.88 businesses up for sale, ahead of retail technology businesses (1 in 10.13). At the bottom of the table were owners of agriculture businesses with just one in every 943 businesses up for sale. Transportation and software/IT business owners followed in a similar manner with one in every 802 businesses being up for sale.

Duncan Rudkin, chief executive and registrar of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), has underscored the importance of listening in pharmacy practice, which is crucial for fostering a culture where professionals feel empowered to speak up. Rudkin, who is taking part in this year's Speak Up Month, believes that speaking up and listening are essential for ensuring quality care and patient safety. In a video message, he says: "Pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, pharmacy team members are working hard to provide care that's person-centered, inclusive, safe and effective to patients and members of the public. "Speaking up about anything that's getting in the way of this is a core part of pharmacy professional practice." He emphasises that while it's important for professionals to voice their concerns, it is equally vital for managers and leaders to listen and act upon this feedback.

Denmark's Zealand Pharma and Boehringer Ingelheim said their experimental obesity treatment achieved up to 14.9% weight loss in a mid-stage trial, lining up a potential contestant in the booming obesity drug market. In a statement on Wednesday (May 10), the partners said that the Phase II dose-finding trial met its primary endpoint of weight loss after 46 weeks. Paola Casarosa, head of therapeutic areas at Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim told Reuters the partners are in discussion with regulators about the design of a planned follow-up trial in the third and last phase of testing. The enormous demand for weight-loss treatments such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, or potentially Eli Lilly's Mounjaro, could support as many as 10 competing products with annual sales reaching up to $100 billion within a decade, mostly in the United States, industry executives and analysts said. Lilly said about a year ago that Mounjaro was shown to reduce up to 22.5% in weight after 72 weeks of treatment in a much larger late-stage trial.

GlaxoSmithKline on Tuesday (May 31) snapped up US biopharmaceutical firm Affinivax for up to $3.3 billion, expanding further into vaccines before the demerger of its consumer health care arm. The London-listed company has agreed to pay $2.1 billion upfront and up to $1.2 billion in potential development milestones for Affinivax. "GSK plc today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Affinivax, Inc," it said in a statement. "Affinivax is pioneering the development of a novel class of vaccines, the most advanced of which are next-generation pneumococcal vaccines," it added. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based firm specialises in vaccines for diseases including meningitis, pneumonia and bloodstream infections. "The proposed acquisition further strengthens our vaccines research and development (R&D) pipeline, provides access to a new, potentially disruptive technology, and broadens GSK's existing scientific footprint in the Boston area," said GSK's chief scientific officer Hal Barron.

Getting a good night's sleep is crucial for maintaining both physical and mental health, alongside a balanced diet and regular exercise. Chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to an increased risk of serious conditions like diabetes and heart disease. So, if you're sleep deprived during weekdays, try to make up for it by getting extra sleep on weekends. A new study has revealed catching up with compensatory sleep on weekends can significantly reduce the risk of heart disease. The study conducted by the National Centre for Cardiovascular Disease in Beijing, China, found that individuals who catch up on sleep over the weekend may lower their risk of heart disease by one-fifth. Study co-author Yanjun Song from the State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease at Fuwai Hospital emphasised that the benefit of compensatory sleep was even more pronounced among individuals who regularly experience inadequate sleep on weekdays. The researchers used data from 90,903 subjects involved in the UK Biobank project to evaluate the relationship between compensated weekend sleep and heart disease. More than 21 per cent of the participants were identified as sleep-deprived - defined as getting less than seven hours of sleep per night.

Tough times for community pharmacies in England are far from over as the industry continues to grapple with major gaps in the workforce. Even though the latest figures released by the Health Education England (HEE) Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey 2021 showed doubling of pharmacist vacancy rate in England to 8 per cent between 2017 and 2021, it flagged the contractors' difficulty level in filling up these positions. The survey report showcased changes in the size and make-up of the community pharmacy workforce since the last survey conducted in 2017. It revealed that 56 per cent of pharmacy contractors reported high difficulty level in recruiting pharmacists, up from 21 per cent in the earlier survey. Moreover, a greater proportion - 60 per cent of contractors found filling up the pharmacy technician role 'fairly' or 'very' difficult. Other roles in the sector considered difficult to fill included accuracy checkers and trained dispensing assistants, both at 58 per cent.

Increased demand and shortages of lateral flow tests are pushing staff at pharmacies to bear the brunt from frustrated customers who are unable to get their free lateral flow tests, Daily Mail reported. Some Britons claimed that they have been unable to get lateral flow tests at their local pharmacies for up to a fortnight while some pharmacies were forced to put up sign warning stating they have run out of free tests. Given the patchy supply of test kits, pharmacy bosses warned that staff are facing 'unfair' and 'abusive' behaviour by customers, the newspaper reported.Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMP), told the newspaper: "Up until yesterday the supply to pharmacies was still patchy. The past few days the situation has not improved. "Pharmacies are having to put up with a lot of abuse and aggressive behaviours by members of the public because of this situation which is unfair. "The demand is still very high now because the governments guidelines put a lot of emphasis on testing as a key out of self isolation, so naturally as Omicron cases are high people are reliant on tests to get on with daily life."

Our Totton branch has an incredibly high volume of original pack dispensing, roughly 45,000 items. As we became busier and busier in the dispensary we were finding that our pharmacists, dispensers and other technicians simply didn't have capacity to deliver the services that we needed them to. We all know there is a real emphasis right now on pharmacies doing more services and we knew we had to change the way we operate to survive. So we decided it was time to look into a sound automation solution for our medication dispensing process, one that would allow us to free up the time of the pharmacists and the rest of the team so they could better support patients. After a lot of research we invested in Centred Solutions FLOWRx Hub and InStore solutions which were installed late last year. It provides us with the whole package and has automated our entire dispensing process from picking to packing and labeling to checking. Our situation was quite unique as we bought the system initially for our existing high-volume pharmacy in Totton so the hub and the spoke are actually on the same site. People wouldn't usually look at a hub and spoke solution for that kind of set up but it has allowed us to significantly free up time in store for more services. What it has also done is allow us to look at other opportunities to grow and expand. The pharmacy landscape is changing and there are lots of opportunities coming up. We have found that having your technology and the right infrastructure in place to support your existing footprint before you expand is the ideal way to grow in a safe and controlled way. We never thought that five years ago we would buy another pharmacy, yet we have already bought one and are now in the process of buying two more. I'm not worried about the increase in volume this expansion will bring because I know our technology is going to be able to support it. The pharmacies we are buying are struggling but having our solution already in p

Hey there, folks! Ever find yourself caught up in the throes of pain, wondering if there's a better way to handle it? You're not alone. In fact, according to recent stats, a whopping 93% of people worldwide grapple with pain annually. And get this: 1 in 3 folks deal with it every single day. Crazy, right? But here's the kicker: despite pain being such a prevalent issue, many folks aren't tackling it head-on. Yep, you heard that right. There's a whole lot of suffering going on, and not enough proactive pain management happening. So, what's the solution? Well, that's where our Pain Management Webinar swoops in to save the day! Picture this: an hour jam-packed with enlightening insights, carefully curated to arm you and your team with the tools needed to understand, manage, and ease pain in your patients' lives. Diving Deep: What's Inside the Webinar Alright, buckle up because we're about to dive into the juicy details of what this webinar has in store for you. 1. The Evolving Role of Pharmacists First up, we're shedding light on the evolving role of pharmacists in the realm of pain management. Yep, you heard that right. It's not just about doling out pills anymore. Pharmacists are becoming key players in the fight against pain, and we'll show you exactly how. 2. Decoding Pain Assessment Ever struggle to figure out just how much pain your patients are in? We feel you. That's why we're dedicating some time to decode the art of pain assessment. By the time you're done with this segment, you'll be a pro at understanding and quantifying your patients' pain levels. 3. #ListenToPain: A Campaign for Better Conversations And last but certainly not least, we're shining a spotlight on Haleon's #ListenToPain campaign. This bad boy is all about fostering better conversations between you and your patients. Trust us, folks, communication is key when it comes to pain management, and this campaign's got all the tools you need to nail those conversations. Tailored Jus

"There are many different kinds of safety factors that should be adhered to when you are exercising. For instance, it is essential to warm up beforehand and warm down afterwards to prevent muscle and tendon strain and injury. It is also wise to start your exercise regime at the low end of the scale and build up gradually over some weeks, so you don't strain muscles that are weak. However, there are less obvious considerations that are often forgotten when you go off to your exercise class."

"There are many different kinds of safety factors that should be adhered to when you are exercising. For instance, it is essential to warm up beforehand and warm down afterwards to prevent muscle and tendon strain and injury. It is also wise to start your exercise regime at the low end of the scale and build up gradually over some weeks, so you don't strain muscles that are weak. However, there are less obvious considerations that are often forgotten when you go off to your exercise class."

The NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard saluted the effort of over 100,000 Coid volunteers who alongside the NHS staff helped to deliver record-breaking numbers of jabs in December. The "selfless volunteers" devoted around two million hours to help ramp up the vaccination programme in 2021- with over nine million doses delivered since December 12, when the prime minister announced the turbo-charged vaccination drive. Pritchard said: "Alongside NHS staff, our selfless volunteers have worked tirelessly to protect the nation - in football stadiums, shopping centres, Christmas markets and countless other vaccination sites up and down the country. "I want to give my personal thanks to everyone who has given up their time to help us beat record after record - continuing to make the NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme the biggest and most successful in health service history.

Superdrug Online Doctors has made travelling easy ahead of Easter by introducing jet lag 'melatonin' tablets into its travel services portfolio to help those taking long haul flights. The company has seen an 287 per cent increase in demand for its travel services and products. Malaria treatment is up by 272 per cent, gut health products up by 317 per cent, jet lag melatonin tablets increasing by 900 per cent since launch and Period Delay services which offer more choice when it comes to the timing of periods up by 195 per cent year-on-year. Dr Sara Kayat, Superdrug's medical ambassador, comments: "Jet lag is a temporary sleep problem that affects people who travel across different time zones. It can occur when your internal clock, the function that lets your body know when to stay awake and when to sleep, is disrupted by a new time zone and puts your internal clock out of sync. Melatonin is a hormone we produce to help regulate our sleep cycles, and a synthetic version can be taken in the short term to manage jet lag."

Carolyn Harris, Labour MP for Swansea East and co-chair of the Menopause Taskforce, has raised concerns over overcharging of HRT medicines by some online pharmacies, The Telegraph reports. Carolyn, according to the newspaper, has claimed that some HRT products are being sold online for up to "three times as much as they're worth". She has also accused the companies of "profiteering" from HRT shortage. Carolyn has vowed to raise this issue in parliament and will also ensure that health secretary Sajid Javid is aware. She also intends to write to Javid to make sure he is up to date with the alleged "profiteering" taking place. "Get your act together, this is just exploitation. Anybody who thought it was a good idea to hike the price up because there was a shortage… it's awful, it's just complete profiteering, and making a profit off the back of somebody's desperation is never a good look," she told The Telegraph.

Susan Rienow, UK Managing Director and Country President of Pfizer is all set to take up her role as President of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). The association had announced her appointment in March. Last year in September she was appointed as the vice-president of ABPI. In her new role, she will oversee the ABPI, the ABPI Board, and the ABPI's Code of Practice, which is administered by the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA). Susan takes up the Presidency as negotiations begin for a new Voluntary Scheme for branded medicines pricing between the government, NHS England and the ABPI. All parties are looking to secure a new agreement that will help improve patient outcomes, support a healthier population and a financially sustainable NHS, while also supporting economic growth for the UK.

A bout 15 to 30 per cent of the UK population suffers from hay fever and there has been a definite increase in the number of moderate to severe hay fever sufferers, with sufferers experiencing more frequent and longer seasons. And now that the government has announced its plans for the easing of lockdown, community pharmacists can expect to see many more of their patients presenting with more severe symptoms than usual, as there will be more opportunities to spend time outside and be exposed to higher levels of pollen. Symptoms Common symptoms include sneezing, a runny stuffed up nose, itchy, watery eyes, nasal congestion and a general stuffed up feeling in the nose and throat. Some experience itching around the face and mouth, with an itchy palette, and burning sensation in the throat. Headaches and wheezing can also occur, as well as an overall achy feeling, or build-up of pressure in the facial area. The sinus area can become painful and constant nose blowing can leave sufferers with skin irritation. This can lead to tiredness and affect sleep, which in turn reduces energy.

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has revealed it has received 25 whistleblowing disclosures between April 2021 and March 2022. The pharmacy regulator said, in its annual report, that it has concluded enquiries on 22 disclosures so far with a further three still under review. "We also concluded two qualifying disclosures that were raised during the previous reporting period," it said, adding: "The action GPhC took included a full investigation through established fitness to practise processes and follow-up action through its inspection network. "The former can result in any available outcome throughout the fitness to practise process. The latter can include guidance, a follow-up visit or an unexpected inspection." 12 concerns were investigated and concluded with no further action. Three were signposted to another organisation. The remaining seven cases were concluded by sharing information with inspection colleagues for follow up action. Of the two concerns from the previous reporting period, one was concluded with no further action and the other remains under investigation.

After you've had surgery, it's normal to feel a little anxious about the recovery process. But there are some things you can do to help make sure everything goes smoothly. Here are four important pieces of postoperative advice that will help you heal quickly and avoid any complications. Follow these tips and you'll be on your way to a full recovery in no time. FOLLOW YOUR DOCTOR'S ORDERS No matter how minor the operation, following your doctor's orders after surgery is essential to a speedy and successful recovery. Doing the right things like following a balanced diet, taking the recommended amount of medications, and avoiding strenuous activity can help minimize complications, reduce pain, and speed up healing. Furthermore, consistent follow-up visits with your doctor and timely scheduling of any necessary tests ensure that any post-operative problems are addressed in their early stages when they are easiest to treat. The people behind www.alamoplasticsurgery.com note that failing to take your doctor's instructions seriously can have a significant impact on your overall recovery time, jeopardize the long-term outcome of your treatment, or even lead to additional procedures. To ensure you make the most out of your surgery experience - listen to what your doctor has to say! GET PLENTY OF REST Getting a full night's rest after the surgery is key to a successful recovery. During recovery, your body is working overtime to heal and repair itself, so by getting plenty of rest, you'll give it the best opportunity to do this. Not only that - research has shown that getting lots of sleep may help support important bodily functions related to healing such as immune response and inflammation control. Listen to your doctor's advice post-surgery and make sure you get enough sleep - providing your body with the downtime it needs will ultimately speed up the healing process and help ensure you get back on your feet soon. When it comes to recovering from surgery,

Community pharmacies saved nearly 20,000 lives up to autumn 2021 by vaccinating people against the Covid-19, the National Pharmacy Association said based on a National Audit Office (NAO) report released on Friday (February 25). The report, having taken evidence from the NPA, highlighted that community pharmacies and GPs performed far beyond expectations in delivering the Covid-19 vaccine, as 71 per cent of jabs were administered by both healthcare providers till October-end, against an initial assumption of 56 per cent. The report cited UK Health Security Agency figures, which estimated that the programme overall prevented up to 128,000 deaths and 262,000 hospitalisations by September 24 and September 19, respectively. The estimated number is considerably higher, given the pivotal role played by pharmacies in this winter's phase of the vaccination programme, the NPA stated.