Friday, March 26, 2010
Medicine Cabinet Cleanup - Audio
Click to hear Trevor's Pharmacy Feature-Audio Segment Thanks to all the good people at the Parkland's Best Music 730 CKDM Return to Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy site
MEDICINE CABINET CLEAN-UP
By Trevor Shewfelt, Pharmacist at the Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy
We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at http://www.dcp.ca/
The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.
My parents were both born and raised in Canada but they got married in Cambridge, England. I always enjoyed their tales about life in England and their trips to places like France and Portugal. One of my favorite characters from their stories was their friend Shugoon. Shugoon was a Nigerian guy my mom described as 5 feet tall, black as the ace of spades with an infectious laugh. On one trip they all stayed in a hotel. Just as my parents were settling in for the night, Shugoon burst into their room. There was an animal in his bed! My parents went back with him to investigate, and found a hot water bottle under his covers. You see in England, central heating was not common and a hot water bottle was a way to warm up a bed before getting in.
The Shugoon story reminds me I going on a sabbatical. I’m going to be a submarine captain for a week. Will you fill in at the pharmacy for me? Thanks. I’m excited about my submarine trip, but hot racking creeps me out a bit. You see on a sub when you are done your shift, you get to sleep in a bunk that someone from the previous shift just got out of. It is still warm, thus “hot racking”. I’ll let you know how it goes.
You arrive at the pharmacy and put on your white coat. You find a counter to stand behind. You manage to look wise, concerned and not too goofy all at the same time. Then the phone rings. The customer on the line says, “I feel like I have a cold coming on. I’ve got these pills in the bathroom. They are spelled T-E-T-R-A-C-Y-C-L-I-N-E. They were prescribed to my daughter 2 years ago. Will they help me?” Questions like this one are quite common in our pharmacy. Here are your choices:
a) Tell him to go ahead and take them. What’s the worst that can happen?
b) Tell him that it is completely reasonable for a patient to self diagnosis his illness and select a drug that is probably expired, will probably harm him, and wasn’t even prescribed for him in the first place.
c) Tell the patient that if he has already touched the bottle the toxin inside has already leached through his skin and is right now eating at his brain.
d) Tell the patient to collect all the expired medications in his house, plus all the prescription drugs that haven’t been used in 6 months and bring them into the pharmacy. The pharmacist can help him decide which to discard. The pharmacy will also make sure the discarded meds are disposed of properly. Finally, if he is feeling ill perhaps he should see his family doctor to have his condition properly diagnosed.
I know that as my relief pharmacist want to keep this guy as a repeat, breathing customer, so you choose (D). Let’s review why all you smart folks choose (D):
Medications expire. Most of the time, they just become less potent so they won’t work as well. But, there are drugs like tetracycline that actually change into toxic substances when they expire.
When medications need to be destroyed they should be brought back to the pharmacy. It is no longer considered safe to flush them down the toilet. Also, if you throw them in the garbage, medications like iron pills are still potent enough to harm children and pets. Pharmacies will make sure they are safely disposed of, often by incineration. It is a good habit to check for unused medications in your house once a year.
The “medicine cabinet” in the bathroom is actually the worse place in the house to store medications. Medications degrade fastest in warm, moist environments. Medications should be stored in a dark, cool, dry, lockable cupboard. Also, don’t put meds in the fridge unless the pharmacist specifically tells you to put them there.
A person should never, ever take prescriptions that weren’t prescribed to them. Medications that are helpful for one person could be poisonous to another. Also, there shouldn’t really be “left-over” medication in the house. Antibiotics should be completely finished when prescribed unless there are side effects and the doctor tells you to stop. And in that case you should drop off the unused medications at the pharmacy for disposal. Keeping them around “just in case” is a recipe for a poisoning in your house.
I’m back from my submarine trip. Thanks for filling in for me at the pharmacy. The hot racking wasn’t too bad. You know what, though? I had a lay-over in London on my way back. It seems three Holiday Inns in the UK now have a bed warming service. And this isn’t the hot water bottle thing of 40 years ago. You can call the hotel and tell them what time you will arrive and request a bed warmer. Before your get there, a hotel staffer gets into full body fleecy footy jammies and gets into your bed. They stay there until your bed is up to 20 C and they get out before your arrive. If that hotel staffer accidentally fell asleep, do you think Shugoon would be more upset by an animal or a person in his bed?
As always if you have any questions or concerns about these or other products, ask your pharmacist.
We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at http://www.dcp.ca/
The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.
My parents were both born and raised in Canada but they got married in Cambridge, England. I always enjoyed their tales about life in England and their trips to places like France and Portugal. One of my favorite characters from their stories was their friend Shugoon. Shugoon was a Nigerian guy my mom described as 5 feet tall, black as the ace of spades with an infectious laugh. On one trip they all stayed in a hotel. Just as my parents were settling in for the night, Shugoon burst into their room. There was an animal in his bed! My parents went back with him to investigate, and found a hot water bottle under his covers. You see in England, central heating was not common and a hot water bottle was a way to warm up a bed before getting in.
The Shugoon story reminds me I going on a sabbatical. I’m going to be a submarine captain for a week. Will you fill in at the pharmacy for me? Thanks. I’m excited about my submarine trip, but hot racking creeps me out a bit. You see on a sub when you are done your shift, you get to sleep in a bunk that someone from the previous shift just got out of. It is still warm, thus “hot racking”. I’ll let you know how it goes.
You arrive at the pharmacy and put on your white coat. You find a counter to stand behind. You manage to look wise, concerned and not too goofy all at the same time. Then the phone rings. The customer on the line says, “I feel like I have a cold coming on. I’ve got these pills in the bathroom. They are spelled T-E-T-R-A-C-Y-C-L-I-N-E. They were prescribed to my daughter 2 years ago. Will they help me?” Questions like this one are quite common in our pharmacy. Here are your choices:
a) Tell him to go ahead and take them. What’s the worst that can happen?
b) Tell him that it is completely reasonable for a patient to self diagnosis his illness and select a drug that is probably expired, will probably harm him, and wasn’t even prescribed for him in the first place.
c) Tell the patient that if he has already touched the bottle the toxin inside has already leached through his skin and is right now eating at his brain.
d) Tell the patient to collect all the expired medications in his house, plus all the prescription drugs that haven’t been used in 6 months and bring them into the pharmacy. The pharmacist can help him decide which to discard. The pharmacy will also make sure the discarded meds are disposed of properly. Finally, if he is feeling ill perhaps he should see his family doctor to have his condition properly diagnosed.
I know that as my relief pharmacist want to keep this guy as a repeat, breathing customer, so you choose (D). Let’s review why all you smart folks choose (D):
Medications expire. Most of the time, they just become less potent so they won’t work as well. But, there are drugs like tetracycline that actually change into toxic substances when they expire.
When medications need to be destroyed they should be brought back to the pharmacy. It is no longer considered safe to flush them down the toilet. Also, if you throw them in the garbage, medications like iron pills are still potent enough to harm children and pets. Pharmacies will make sure they are safely disposed of, often by incineration. It is a good habit to check for unused medications in your house once a year.
The “medicine cabinet” in the bathroom is actually the worse place in the house to store medications. Medications degrade fastest in warm, moist environments. Medications should be stored in a dark, cool, dry, lockable cupboard. Also, don’t put meds in the fridge unless the pharmacist specifically tells you to put them there.
A person should never, ever take prescriptions that weren’t prescribed to them. Medications that are helpful for one person could be poisonous to another. Also, there shouldn’t really be “left-over” medication in the house. Antibiotics should be completely finished when prescribed unless there are side effects and the doctor tells you to stop. And in that case you should drop off the unused medications at the pharmacy for disposal. Keeping them around “just in case” is a recipe for a poisoning in your house.
I’m back from my submarine trip. Thanks for filling in for me at the pharmacy. The hot racking wasn’t too bad. You know what, though? I had a lay-over in London on my way back. It seems three Holiday Inns in the UK now have a bed warming service. And this isn’t the hot water bottle thing of 40 years ago. You can call the hotel and tell them what time you will arrive and request a bed warmer. Before your get there, a hotel staffer gets into full body fleecy footy jammies and gets into your bed. They stay there until your bed is up to 20 C and they get out before your arrive. If that hotel staffer accidentally fell asleep, do you think Shugoon would be more upset by an animal or a person in his bed?
As always if you have any questions or concerns about these or other products, ask your pharmacist.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Colon Cancer - AUDIO
Click to hear Trevor's Pharmacy Feature-Audio Segment Thanks to all the good people at the Parkland's Best Music 730 CKDM Return to Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy site
Colon Cancer
By Trevor Shewfelt, Pharmacist at the Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy
We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at www.dcp.ca
The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.
The camera pans in on a frazzled looking middle aged guy buried in paper on his desk. The name plate on the desk identifies him as the “Senior Accounts Manager”. The door to his office opens. In walks an older gentleman and a young dynamic fellow. The older gentleman is heard saying, “…and this what the offices look like. Of course the décor can be changed to your liking…” and the older man wanders out of the office. The young man smiles, introduces himself and shakes the hand of the man behind the desk. The man behind the desk says, “Welcome to the company. What position did you get anyway?”. The young man answers, “Senior Accounts Manager” and leaves the room. Across the bottom of the screen scrolls, “After 50, watch your behind!” I love that commercial. And apparently March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common form of cancer in Manitoba. We had 800 new cases of CRC and 360 deaths from CRC in the province in 2009. Men have a 1 in 14 lifetime chance of getting CRC and women have a 1 in 15 chance. The reason for the “After 50, watch your behind” slogan is because 93% of cases of CRC happen after the age of 50. Like many cancers, the earlier it is caught, the easier it is to treat.
So why don’t we talk about CRC if it is so common? Frankly, it has to do with the butt and that embarrasses us. And, for myself at least, the test that is talked about for CRC doesn’t sound pleasant. The most common test is still the colonoscopy during which a camera goes where the sun doesn’t shine. The colonoscopy isn’t just a theoretical bad thing for me either. I’ve got some colon cancer and colon polyps in my family tree. After I turn fifty, I fear someone will be watching my behind from a whole new angle.
Although it may not eliminate my future need for a colonoscopy, I was happy to hear about the ColonCheck Manitoba program. If you are between 50 and 74 you can call 1-866-744-8961 and ColonCheck Manitoba will ask you a few questions. They will ask things like if you age, if your have a colonscopy in the last 5 years and if you currently have colorectal cancer. If you qualify, ColonCheck Manitoba will send you a Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) in the mail that you can do at home. I think that is great. It means squimish people like me can still watch their behind while getting colonoscopies less often.
What is a Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT)? A FOBT is basically a stick that lets you sample a little bit of your poop, seal it up and send it to the lab. The ColonCheck Manitoba people will contact you directly and will send the results to your family doctor if you have one. The test is looking to see if there is any hidden blood in your poop. Blood in your poop can be a warning sign of polyps in your colon or colorectal cancer. So if the FOBT comes back positive, you will be asked to get a colonoscopy to see what is going on. If the FOBT comes back negative, you should be able to skip the colonoscopy for at least 2 years.
What can you do to prevent CRC? Besides getting screened to catch the cancer early you can exercise and eat well. Amazing how those two things keep popping up. You should aim to exercise at least 30 minutes per day, at least 5 days a week. You should limit your intake of red meat and processed meats. You should get your 7-10 serving of fruits and vegetables per day. You should drink lots of water. You should have not more than 2 alcoholic drinks per day if you are a man and not more than 1 per day if you are a woman.
So after 50, watch your behind. And to steal another slogan from the commercials, you should care about CRC because you don’t want to die of embarrassment.
Contact ColonCheck Manitoba at www.coloncheckmb.ca or 1-866-744-8961
As always if you have any questions or concerns about these or other products, ask your pharmacist.
We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at www.dcp.ca
The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.
The camera pans in on a frazzled looking middle aged guy buried in paper on his desk. The name plate on the desk identifies him as the “Senior Accounts Manager”. The door to his office opens. In walks an older gentleman and a young dynamic fellow. The older gentleman is heard saying, “…and this what the offices look like. Of course the décor can be changed to your liking…” and the older man wanders out of the office. The young man smiles, introduces himself and shakes the hand of the man behind the desk. The man behind the desk says, “Welcome to the company. What position did you get anyway?”. The young man answers, “Senior Accounts Manager” and leaves the room. Across the bottom of the screen scrolls, “After 50, watch your behind!” I love that commercial. And apparently March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common form of cancer in Manitoba. We had 800 new cases of CRC and 360 deaths from CRC in the province in 2009. Men have a 1 in 14 lifetime chance of getting CRC and women have a 1 in 15 chance. The reason for the “After 50, watch your behind” slogan is because 93% of cases of CRC happen after the age of 50. Like many cancers, the earlier it is caught, the easier it is to treat.
So why don’t we talk about CRC if it is so common? Frankly, it has to do with the butt and that embarrasses us. And, for myself at least, the test that is talked about for CRC doesn’t sound pleasant. The most common test is still the colonoscopy during which a camera goes where the sun doesn’t shine. The colonoscopy isn’t just a theoretical bad thing for me either. I’ve got some colon cancer and colon polyps in my family tree. After I turn fifty, I fear someone will be watching my behind from a whole new angle.
Although it may not eliminate my future need for a colonoscopy, I was happy to hear about the ColonCheck Manitoba program. If you are between 50 and 74 you can call 1-866-744-8961 and ColonCheck Manitoba will ask you a few questions. They will ask things like if you age, if your have a colonscopy in the last 5 years and if you currently have colorectal cancer. If you qualify, ColonCheck Manitoba will send you a Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) in the mail that you can do at home. I think that is great. It means squimish people like me can still watch their behind while getting colonoscopies less often.
What is a Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT)? A FOBT is basically a stick that lets you sample a little bit of your poop, seal it up and send it to the lab. The ColonCheck Manitoba people will contact you directly and will send the results to your family doctor if you have one. The test is looking to see if there is any hidden blood in your poop. Blood in your poop can be a warning sign of polyps in your colon or colorectal cancer. So if the FOBT comes back positive, you will be asked to get a colonoscopy to see what is going on. If the FOBT comes back negative, you should be able to skip the colonoscopy for at least 2 years.
What can you do to prevent CRC? Besides getting screened to catch the cancer early you can exercise and eat well. Amazing how those two things keep popping up. You should aim to exercise at least 30 minutes per day, at least 5 days a week. You should limit your intake of red meat and processed meats. You should get your 7-10 serving of fruits and vegetables per day. You should drink lots of water. You should have not more than 2 alcoholic drinks per day if you are a man and not more than 1 per day if you are a woman.
So after 50, watch your behind. And to steal another slogan from the commercials, you should care about CRC because you don’t want to die of embarrassment.
Contact ColonCheck Manitoba at www.coloncheckmb.ca or 1-866-744-8961
As always if you have any questions or concerns about these or other products, ask your pharmacist.
Friday, March 05, 2010
High Blood Pressure - AUDIO
Click to hear Trevor's Pharmacy Feature-Audio Segment Thanks to all the good people at the Parkland's Best Music 730 CKDM Return to Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy site
High Blood Pressure
By Trevor Shewfelt, Pharmacist at the Dauphin Clinic Pharmacy
We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at www.dcp.ca
The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.
I walked up to the house. I rang the door bell. I was there to pick up a girl for our second date. A woman whom I had never seen before opened the door, and slapped me across the face. I was shocked and didn’t know what to do. To this day, my sister-in-law swears there was a mosquito on my face. Perspective. It is amazing how a point of view can change how we look at something.
My sister-in-law and I also have different perspectives on our professions. My sister-in-law is an early childhood educator. She likes to brag that during early childhood educator awareness week the board of her daycare in Winnipeg buys the workers gifts and spa packages to show the workers their appreciation for all their hard work. Don’t get me wrong, I think looking after pre-school children would be very hard, and I don’t think I could do it. But, I think if I told my customers they should start bringing me gifts for Pharmacy Awareness Week (PAW), I think they would go to another pharmacy. So for Pharmacy Awareness Week, let me give you a gift. Let’s get some new perspective on high blood pressure.
We all know that having high blood pressure is bad. It increases your chance of having heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and a variety of other conditions. The World Health Organization estimates that 7.1 million deaths a year can be attributed to high blood pressure. The WHO also says two thirds of strokes and half the cases of ischemic heart disease are caused by poorly controlled high blood pressure.
The new perspective on high blood pressure lately was in a report released by Stats Canada. In February 2010 they released a very ambitious survey. They actually went out and measured the blood pressure of 5600 Canadians between the ages of 6 and 79 years old between March 2007 and February 2009. This is impressive because most surveys of blood pressure just ask people if they have high blood pressure. We call that kind of survey self reporting. Self reporting surveys often underestimate high blood pressure rates.
So what did the Stats Can survey find? About 1 in 5 of Canadians between 20 and 79 have high blood pressure. That means their systolic blood pressure was above 140, their diastolic was above 90 or they reported to have used a blood pressure medication in the last month. Of the people with high blood pressure, one third had blood pressure that wasn’t well controlled. That means 6.6% of the adult population in Canada or about 1.6 million of us have poorly controlled high blood pressure. Mothers Against Drinking and Driving ( MADD) Canada estimates that 1600 of us die and 400,000 of us are injured every year from drinking and driving. That means 4 times as many Canadians are at risk of death and injury from poorly controlled blood pressure than from drinking and driving. This is where your local pharmacist can help.
If you are over 40 and don’t know what your blood pressure is, run don’t walk to your local pharmacy and have it checked. If you kinda stopped taking that blood pressure pill a couple of months ago, call your pharmacist. Maybe we can help figure out a blood pressure pill that will agree with you better and send a recommendation to your doctor. If you don’t think you need that blood pressure pill, come talk to me. I can tell you how much fun you can have with half your body paralyzed due to a stroke.
For Pharmacy Awareness Week, come talk to me about your blood pressure. Let me give you the gift of health information and show you how a new perspective on high blood pressure is better than a slap in the face.
As always if you have any questions or concerns about these or other products, ask your pharmacist.
We now have this and most other articles published in the Parkland Shopper on our Website. Please visit us at www.dcp.ca
The information in this article is intended as a helpful guide only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional advice. If you have any questions about your medications and what is right for you see your doctor, pharmacist or other health care professional.
I walked up to the house. I rang the door bell. I was there to pick up a girl for our second date. A woman whom I had never seen before opened the door, and slapped me across the face. I was shocked and didn’t know what to do. To this day, my sister-in-law swears there was a mosquito on my face. Perspective. It is amazing how a point of view can change how we look at something.
My sister-in-law and I also have different perspectives on our professions. My sister-in-law is an early childhood educator. She likes to brag that during early childhood educator awareness week the board of her daycare in Winnipeg buys the workers gifts and spa packages to show the workers their appreciation for all their hard work. Don’t get me wrong, I think looking after pre-school children would be very hard, and I don’t think I could do it. But, I think if I told my customers they should start bringing me gifts for Pharmacy Awareness Week (PAW), I think they would go to another pharmacy. So for Pharmacy Awareness Week, let me give you a gift. Let’s get some new perspective on high blood pressure.
We all know that having high blood pressure is bad. It increases your chance of having heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and a variety of other conditions. The World Health Organization estimates that 7.1 million deaths a year can be attributed to high blood pressure. The WHO also says two thirds of strokes and half the cases of ischemic heart disease are caused by poorly controlled high blood pressure.
The new perspective on high blood pressure lately was in a report released by Stats Canada. In February 2010 they released a very ambitious survey. They actually went out and measured the blood pressure of 5600 Canadians between the ages of 6 and 79 years old between March 2007 and February 2009. This is impressive because most surveys of blood pressure just ask people if they have high blood pressure. We call that kind of survey self reporting. Self reporting surveys often underestimate high blood pressure rates.
So what did the Stats Can survey find? About 1 in 5 of Canadians between 20 and 79 have high blood pressure. That means their systolic blood pressure was above 140, their diastolic was above 90 or they reported to have used a blood pressure medication in the last month. Of the people with high blood pressure, one third had blood pressure that wasn’t well controlled. That means 6.6% of the adult population in Canada or about 1.6 million of us have poorly controlled high blood pressure. Mothers Against Drinking and Driving ( MADD) Canada estimates that 1600 of us die and 400,000 of us are injured every year from drinking and driving. That means 4 times as many Canadians are at risk of death and injury from poorly controlled blood pressure than from drinking and driving. This is where your local pharmacist can help.
If you are over 40 and don’t know what your blood pressure is, run don’t walk to your local pharmacy and have it checked. If you kinda stopped taking that blood pressure pill a couple of months ago, call your pharmacist. Maybe we can help figure out a blood pressure pill that will agree with you better and send a recommendation to your doctor. If you don’t think you need that blood pressure pill, come talk to me. I can tell you how much fun you can have with half your body paralyzed due to a stroke.
For Pharmacy Awareness Week, come talk to me about your blood pressure. Let me give you the gift of health information and show you how a new perspective on high blood pressure is better than a slap in the face.
As always if you have any questions or concerns about these or other products, ask your pharmacist.
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