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Weekend Doctor: Asthma

Posted by Staff on July 22, 2023 - 6:00am

By Jami Koziel, RRT, CPFT
Pulmonary Services, Blanchard Valley Health System

Asthma is a heterogeneous respiratory disease–meaning it presents in many different ways–that affects an estimated 25 million Americans, with six million being children. The financial cost of asthma exceeds $81 billion every year and despite all the resources invested, asthma is responsible for over 3,500 deaths annually in the United States. The prevalence of asthma is proven to be higher among individuals of low socioeconomic status than among those with higher socioeconomic status. 

Generally, there has been a lack of priority in the effects and differences in asthma prevalence among populations as well as the response to therapies among racial and ethnic minorities. To illustrate, African American patients respond differently to corticosteroids in contrast with White patients. One study suggests Hispanic and non-Hispanic White children exhibit better responses to increasing therapy with Long-Acting Beta Agonist (LABA), rather than higher doses of Inhaled Corticosteroids (ICS), whereas African American children were less likely to respond to adding leukotriene receptor antagonists, and more likely to respond to increasing dosing of ICS.

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How sweet it is?

Posted by Staff on July 21, 2023 - 1:51pm

By Karen Kier
Pharmacist on behalf of the ONU HealthWise team

"How sweet it is" was a signature phrase of comedian and actor Jackie Gleason.  Born in Brooklyn, John Herbert Gleason became a success in several well-known shows such as The Honeymooners and The Jackie Gleason Show. His biography written by James Bacon was published in 1986. Jackie Gleason starred in several movies later in his life including The Hustler with Paul Newman and Smokey and Bandit with Burt Reynolds.

The Gleason signature phrase was the inspiration for the song How Sweet It Is (To be Loved by You) sung by Marvin Gaye. This American soul singer recorded and released the song on his fifth studio album in 1965. The song peaked at number six on the Billboard charts. James Taylor released a version of this song on his 1975 album titled Gorilla. His easy listening version hit number one on the charts.

How sweet it is explains why artificial sweeteners are popular for reducing calories in many foods and beverages. Artificial sweeteners can be 200 to 20,000 times sweeter than regular table sugar (sucrose) with little to no added calories.

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Weekend Doctor Column: Learning to crawl

Posted by Staff on July 15, 2023 - 6:00am

By Lisa Stewart, PT, DPT
Physical Therapist, Julie A. Cole Rehab and Sports Medicine Clinic

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently eliminated a total of 216 milestones from their guidelines, including crawling. While the CDC has stated that there is no evidence that supports the idea that 75 percent of children will crawl, many therapists (including myself) still strive to encourage and teach our pediatric patients to crawl. 

As a child learns to crawl, the entire body is affected and progresses toward success with mobility. Initial reflexes are integrated during crawling. If these reflexes do not merge into a child’s development, it could cause many pieces of dysfunction. Maintaining weight bearing on all four limbs helps encourage visual tracking, their limbs moving forward in space, crossing the midline in tracking and scanning their environment.

Crawling is the first and only time a young child will be putting their weight through their upper extremities. Therefore, they are strengthening their arms for other skills as they age, such as writing, using scissors and dressing themselves. Crawling promotes and develops the vestibular and balance system, which allows for improved mobility when the child is ready. It also helps to develop the sensory system, cognition/problem-solving and coordination. 

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Money, Money, Money: How to find patient Rx assistance programs

Posted by Staff on July 10, 2023 - 4:29pm

By Ruth Lim, Student Pharmacist with Karen L. Kier, Pharmacist
On behalf of the ONU HealthWise team

The Swedish pop group ABBA was formed in 1972 in Stockholm and the name was a palindrome of the founding band members’ first names. The group won a music contest in 1974 with their song Waterloo. 

On November 1, 1976, the group released the song Money, Money, Money. The song reached number 1 in many European countries, but only hit 56 in the United States. ABBA is still one the best-selling music acts of all time with hits between 1974 to 1982 and most recently in 2022. 

ABBA’s music became popular again with the release of Mamma Mia! the Broadway musical and the movie. Money, Money, Money was part of the score for the theater. Anni-Frid Lyngstad sang the vocals for ABBA on the album while Meryl Streep sang it in the 2008 film Mamma Mia!

Money can often be an important issue when evaluating drug therapies. Prescription pricing can vary from a few dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. How does one find if a patient assistance program is available?

In 2021, a Gallup poll found an estimated 18 million Americans went without a prescribed medication because they could not afford it. Ten percent said they skipped taking medications to save money. Americans not taking their medications causes an estimated 25% of hospitalizations and causes death in 125,000 people a year. 

One way that people can save money on their drugs is through patient assistance programs (PAP). They can be run by drug manufacturers, charities or government agencies. Some of them cover the full cost, while others only pay part. 

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Weekend Doctor: Sun safety

Posted by Staff on July 8, 2023 - 6:00am

By Claire Witschger, PharmD, RPh
Pharmacy Resident, Blanchard Valley Health System

With the summer months in full swing, school is out and vacations have started to take place. As we enjoy the warmer weather, it is important to remember the importance of sun safety. While the sun and ultraviolet (UV) radiation can be beneficial for vitamin D synthesis and can increase mood, it is also responsible for numerous damaging effects on the human skin. Some of the effects of unprotected sun exposure include sunburn, early skin aging and skin cancer. With these risks, The American Academy of Dermatology recommends sunscreen and sun safety practices to reduce the harmful effects of UV exposure.

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The same, but different

Posted by Staff on July 6, 2023 - 6:54am

By Dylan McWilliams, Student Pharmacist
With Karen L. Kier, Pharmacist on behalf of the ONU HealthWise team

The idiom known as “the same, but different” is a saying commonly used in Southeast Asian countries and especially in Thai culture. The meaning indicates there is a fundamental difference, but with the slightest similarity.

Generic drug medications are actually the opposite of this idiom, being fundamentally similar with some slight differences. These differences could be in the inactive ingredients or the color or shape of the pills, which do not alter the therapeutic effect of the drug. Generic drugs are considered small molecule entities, but new biosimilar drugs entering the market are very large molecules in comparison. 

The United States is full of competition and this is something that does not stop with drug manufacturers. When the first large molecule drugs were approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), drug companies wanted to duplicate this process similar to a generic drug.

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