ZAEEM's BLOG

Iron deficiency anaemia: basic management The Pharmaceutical Journal , FEB 2015 By  Niamh McGarry Test your knowledge with this case study on a common condition with non-specific symptoms. Source: Power and Syred / Science Photo Library Iron deficiency anaemia affects the body’s ability to produce healthy red blood cells, shown here under scanning electron micrograph (SEM) In this article you will learn: ·          The possible presenting symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia ·          Patient groups who are at increased risk of iron deficiency anaemia ·          How to start and manage iron replacement therapy Miss Bones, a 36-year-old woman, asks for your advice in the pharmacy. She is very active, eats a balanced vegetarian diet, and is a committed club-level hockey player. She has noticed that she has much less energy and has found her training sessions more challenging in the last couple of months. She is also now finding she has less energy at work and is uncharacteristically irri

WHO announces new policy guidelines on injection safety The Pharmaceutical Journal ,  The World Health Organization (WHO) wants to see universal adoption of syringes that can only be used once, to address the global problem of unsafe injections that are driving the spread of a number of infectious diseases. It has released new policy guidelines on injection safety that recommend countries transition to the exclusive use of “smart” syringes by 2020, except in a few circumstances where a single use syringe would interfere with the procedure (such as when a patient is using an intravenous pump with a syringe). The guidelines focus on the application of “good practices coupled with good technology” to make health safer, says Edward Kelley, director of the WHO service delivery and safety department. WHO estimates that about 16.7 billion injections are given annually — around 90% are given into muscle or skin to administer medicines — and that many are unnecessary. A 2014 study   estimated t

Lenvatinib versus Placebo in Radioiodine-Refractory Thyroid Cancer The 10-year survival rate among patients with differentiated thyroid cancer that is refractory to radioiodine (iodine-131) therapy is 10% from the time of detection of metastasis. 1-3 Although treatment options have historically been limited, efforts have first targeted vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor (VEGFR), since this signaling network has been associated with the aggressiveness and metastasis of thyroid cancer. 4-6 However, other molecular pathways of tumor growth and maintenance beyond VEGF-driven angiogenesis contribute to the pathogenesis of thyroid cancer, including BRAF, NRAS, HRAS, RET/PTC, fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR), and platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR). 7-16 Because of the involvement of these multiple pathways, multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors are being investigated for the treatment of thyroid cancer that is refractory to iodine-131. 17-22