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Community pharmacy could play an important role in proactive detection of heart valve disease (HVD), which remains under-recognised and under-detected in England, suggested a new report published by Wilmington Healthcare. Pharmacy bodies, including Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and Community Pharmacy England (CPE), have also endorsed the report, which encourages Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to consider the innovative approach of detecting HVD with the help of community pharmacists. Despite HVD detection being a priority listed in the NHS Long Term Plan, a large number of people with HVD remained undiagnosed and untreated in the country due to lack of awareness of the disease prevalence. In June 2022, a pilot study was launched in Farnborough Primary Care Network (PCN), Hampshire, to evaluate the feasibility of using e-stethoscopes (digital auscultation) to detect this heart condition by a community pharmacist.

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Myocardial infarction or heart attack is a leading cause of death among individuals throughout the country. Awareness and knowledge about the remedial actions and the correct diagnosis are imperative to treat the patient. Dr.Rahul Gupta mentions the enemies… Read More »

We all are aware of the threats that smoking poses to our health. These include severe life threatening diseases like cancer, heart and lung diseases. It has also been seen that smoking while pregnant has created a lot of birth defects. There are several studies that have shown great connections between incidents of miscarriages with that of smoking.

The National Health Service (NHS) on Monday launched a new national campaign to find the 'missing millions' who could be living with undiagnosed high blood pressure, often described as a 'silent killer'. People are being warned that the condition rarely has any symptoms and it can lead to fatal heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and vascular dementia, if left untreated. According to the NHS, high blood pressure affects an estimated 32 per cent of adults and approximately three in 10 of these remain undiagnosed, equating to 4.2 million people in England. The NHS has expanded blood pressure checks in community pharmacies to include 2.5 million more tests as part of the Pharmacy First programme. With the 'Get Your Blood Pressure Checked' campaign, the health service is encouraging those aged 40 years and over to get a free blood pressure test at a participating pharmacy, for which they don't need to be booked in advance. Health Minister Andrea Leadsom expressed confidence that this new drive will help to prevent the potentially "fatal consequences" of untreated high blood pressure. She urged people to go to their local pharmacy to get their blood pressure checked, stating that it could be a "lifesaving trip."

Excessive sugar consumption has become one of the leading medical and dental health issues. Sugar is one of the main causes of tooth decay and has a number of medical drawbacks associated with it. Eating too much sugar can contribute to people having too many calories, which can lead to weight gain. Being overweight increases your risk of health problems such as heart disease, some cancers, and type 2 diabetes. As people have become more aware of the issues surrounding refined sugar, a number of sugar alternatives have come onto the market. In this article, we'll be looking at the most popular Alternatives to Refined Sugar, how they work, and if they are actually a healthier option. Natural Sweeteners One of the more popular alternatives to refined sugar is so-called natural sweeteners. A good example of a natural sweetener is coconut sugar. Coconut sugar is also called coconut palm sugar. It's a natural sugar made from coconut palm sap, which is the sugary circulating fluid of the coconut plant. It is often confused with palm sugar, which is similar but made from a different type of palm tree. Coconut sugar is still metabolized by oral bacteria in a similar way to refined sugar but it has a much lower glycaemic index. This means it does not trigger the same blood sugar spikes and crashes associated with refined sugar. It also contains small amounts of various minerals, giving it a slight nutritional edge on refined sugar. However, despite being marginally more healthy, replacing all your refined sugar with natural sweeteners will not drastically improve your diet or your oral health. Honey and Syrups Various natural liquid sweeteners are alternatives to refined sugar during cooking. Examples include honey, maple syrup, date syrup, brown rice syrup, and agave syrup. These syrups do have some slight nutritional value, however, they also have varying levels of unrefined sugar, making some only marginally more healthy than sugar. Nutritionists