Tomorrow's pharmacist blog
All posts by Sophie Khatib
Royal Pharmaceutical Society membership. More than “ARPharmS” after your name!
As a hospital pre-reg trainee I am fortunate to have the knowledge and experience of many pharmacists at my fingertips, but for many of my peers, they may only get the opportunity to work with two or three pharmacists this year before they embark on a lifelong career of making important decisions, independently - for the most part. Working with so many highly skilled pharmacists has made me think about how important sharing knowledge and experiences is with colleagues - especially ...
A potential new cancer treatment target, straight out of the ECM
When reading about the use of hyaluronic acid in osteoarthritis, I started to look into hyaluronan and found that it is normally present in synovial fluid and is a component of the extracellular matrix. It has a significant role in cell proliferation and migration. Immediately, this links in my brain to cancer biology and the potential role in malignancy.
Cancer vaccines
So, guess what I learned today? That it is becoming more and more possible to treat cancer with a vaccine. Sounds weird, doesn’t it? But it’s true!
HER2 positive breast cancer
HER2 is a protein which is found on the surface of some cancer cells and is linked with breast cancer. Some people with breast cancer over express HER2 and in these cases, the tumour is said to be HER2 positive. HER2 positive breast cancers have been shown to grow quicker than other types of breast cancer and therefore have a higher rate of metastasis and mortality.
Could an antihistamine be used for obesity?
Think histamine and you think of allergy and stomach acid, right? Well, as it turns out, this is only part of the picture. There are three types of histamine receptors; H1, H2 and H3. H1 has its main role in allergy and is the main target for traditional pharmacological antihistamines used in the treatment of allergic conditions. H2 is the target for drugs such as ranitidine and cimetidine
Link between obesity and cancer
It has been well established that obesity predisposes a person to a multitude of other health problems, commonly including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, MI, the list goes on. But there is strong evidence that visceral fat, causing central obesity, is directly responsible for secreting adipokines and cytokines.
Cancer cachexia
Cachexia is the wasting of muscle that cannot be reversed by nutrition and is normally associated with a poor prognosis. This is commonly seen in those patients with cancer, along with a number of other conditions. This weakens the patients, opening them up to number of complications and reducing the likelihood of them responding to treatment.
Are drugs prescribed too easily?
Think about the last time that you went to the doctors. Did you come out holding that magic FP10? Chances are, if you didn’t, you may have felt that you hadn’t been taken seriously or your expectations of the consultations were not met.
Every cloud has a silver lining
As 4th year pharmacy students, we are not immune to the whispers and gossip about how harsh the job market is at the minute and how it’s an employer’s market, rather than the employee’s market that it was before.
An exciting new role for antibodies
I have been doing a lot of reading this evening (mainly because I have got a piece of work that needs doing and I am trying to put it off!!). I am really interested in antibodies and my mind started to wander – what else could they be used for?
Recent news story
So, apparently a few pharmacists have been selling POMs and CDs over the counter with sildenafil, diazepam and morphine liquid being amongst them.
Should pharmacists be on the counter?
After spending about 12 years in community pharmacy, it’s safe to say I have seen a lot of transactions between counter staff and customers. But are these always 100% safe and effective?
New thinking
After revising my lectures, in which we covered the immune system, I started to think....If our immune system has the ability to recognise cancer cells, due to them displaying a signal that they have been transformed, could we use them to help treat certain cancers?
A new role for macrophages?
I have just stumbled across an article, purely by typing the wrong thing into google. I put it down to fate! I found some fascinating research that I hope interests one or two of you as well as me!It turns out that our immune system, specifically leukocytes, have a huge role in metabolic disease and are intrinsically linked with obesity.
Are we getting the most out of our patients?
Yes, you read it right – are we getting the most out of our patients, or more accurately are patients getting the most out of other patients?Let me explain myself!
Regenerative medicine
What a weekend! I have just got back from the BPSA conference and the focus of today was ‘Science into practice’. Something that I am really interested in, as you can probably tell from my other blogs!
Sophie the scientist
I never thought I was very good at science – it always posed more questions than it answered and was very complicated with lots of work to learn for exams. Since I started Uni, I realised that learning was SO much more than passing exams.
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