e-Connect Logo
Issue: June 2016 •  Archive  •  Subscribe •  Unsubscribe
In This Edition Featured Article Featured CE
•  Editor's Notebook
•  Counseling Pearls
•  It's the Law
•  Clinical Corner
•  TrendWatch
•  Educational Spotlight
•  Quick Poll
 – Website Redesign
  Photo Therapeutic Management of Autoimmune Hepatitis
This chronic idiopathic disease involves persistent liver inflammation and the potential for necrosis and cirrhosis.
  Photo Overview of Plaque Psoriasis Treatment
Treatment consists of a variety of options, including phototherapy, topical agents, oral agents, and biologics.

NEW! Follow us on
Fb Logo  Tw Logo

Advertisement  

Editor's Notebook
Secret Weapon Against Zika

Pharmacists are an ideal conduit for conveying authoritative information and alleviating anxiety.
Counseling Pearls
Photo Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: Management Challenges

Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong disease that is commonly diagnosed in childhood and adolescence, but onset also can occur in adulthood. Comprehensive care is needed to maintain normoglycemia and reduce the risk of complications.
Photo A Review of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Many organ systems, including integumentary, musculoskeletal, nervous, and cardiovascular, may be impacted by this disease. Because of the widespread effects, a variety of medications are used to target symptoms.
 
It's the Law
Sexual Misconduct by Pharmacists
Part 1: Background


Some pharmacists may engage in inappropriate behaviors with patients that result in disciplinary actions.
 
Clinical Corner
Photo Medication Safety Concerns Surrounding Immunomodulators

Despite advances in outcomes and slowing of disease progression, immunomodulators are associated with substantial safety concerns. The potential for adverse drug reactions, serious complications, and medication errors is significant.
Photo Antithyroid Medications for Graves' Disease

Untreated Graves' disease can cause thyroid storm, a severe and life-threatening crisis. Treatments include radioactive iodine, antithyroid medications, and surgery, and beta-blockers may be used for symptom relief.
 
TrendWatch
Trends in Selected Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmunity is the second-highest underlying cause of more than 100 serious chronic illnesses.
 
Educational Spotlight
Safe Use of Analgesics in Acute Pediatric Pain

Pharmacists play an integral role in ensuring that pain medications are used properly and safely in children.
Herpes Zoster: Counseling Patients About Prevention and Treatment

Pharmacologic management aims to treat the patient's clinical manifestations of shingles.
Managing Chronic Pain Syndromes

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy, HIV/AIDs neuropathy, and postherpetic neuralgia adversely affect a patient's quality of life.
 
Newswire
No Scientific Support for Suggested Risks of Testosterone Therapy
Boston, MA—
To address widespread concerns about testosterone therapy (TT) for testosterone deficiency (TD), international experts at a consensus conference developed a set of resolutions and conclusions for physicians and patients. After examining the best available scientific evidence, the participants agreed unanimously that TD is a clinically significant condition that may benefit from treatment, with or without an identified underlying origin; that TD is a global public-health concern; and that TT for men with TD is effective, rational, and evidence-based and there is no scientific basis for age-specific recommendations against TT use in adult males. It was also resolved unanimously that evidence does not support an increased risk of cardiovascular events or of prostate cancer with TT use.
More Pain, Fatigue in Some Sickle Cell Patients on Long-Term Opioids
Baltimore, MD
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that adults with sickle cell disease (SCD) who received long-term opioid treatment for pain often had more pain and fatigue than those not on long-term opioid treatment. Records of 83 adults (29 on long-term opioid therapy, 54 not taking opioids) with SCD who filled out daily electronic pain diaries for 90 days were assessed. Long-term opioid patients reported noncrisis pain intensities >3 times higher than in nonopioid patients, and they had 32% higher pain levels on crisis pain days. They also had twice the fatigue on noncrisis days and 33% higher fatigue on crisis days. Long-term opioid patients had higher levels of central sensitization (amplification of painful sensations).
Effectiveness of Several Weight-Loss Drugs Analyzed
La Jolla, CA—
In an analysis of nearly 30,000 overweight or obese subjects, five weight-loss agents (orlistat, lorcaserin, naltrexone-bupropion, phentermine-topiramate, and liraglutide) were each associated with achievement of at least 5% weight loss at 52 weeks compared with placebo. The systematic review and meta-analysis, which was conducted by University of California investigators, included clinical trials in which subjects received either an FDA-approved long-term weight-loss agent or another active agent or placebo. Liraglutide and naltrexone-bupropion were associated with the highest odds of adverse event–related treatment discontinuation. The investigators noted that short-term clinical trials may not provide comprehensive data on the long-term safety of these drugs and that prospective postmarketing surveillance studies are needed.
USP Google AppUSP Itunes App
To subscribe to e-Connect, send your name, address, and email address to us by clicking here. U.S. Pharmacist is a monthly journal dedicated to providing the nation's pharmacists with up-to-date, authoritative, peer-reviewed clinical articles relevant to contemporary pharmacy practice in a variety of settings, including community pharmacy, hospitals, managed also useful to pharmacy technicians, students, other health professionals and individuals interested in health management. Pharmacists licensed in the U.S. can earn Continuing Education credits through Postgraduate Healthcare Education, LLC, accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) as a provider of continuing pharmacy education.