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RCGP council meeting 21/2/20

council members can now access papers online! ** major advance *** – thank John Cosgrove for raising and driving this. topics for today that I spoke on – there is no point in repeating other peoples’ points, and we can only report what I said. have been elected to trustee board, thankyou. Will do my […]

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Inside Health 18/2/20- healthcare staff and contagious disease

Edinburgh 1969-78 hepatitis B  https://www.jstor.org/stable/4452769?seq=1 Prejudice against people with certain diseases, historically minimal risk to HPC re HIV Ebola impact on staff , deaths in healthcare staff due to Ebola , impact on communities, stigma, SARS impact , retrospective , analysis of outbreak in Toronto, impact on staff , post outbreak effects, Coronavirus Lancet stats, […]

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Inside Health 4/2/20

potentially unnecessary vaginal examinations – study JAMA commentary 2013 systematic review Annals Internal Medicine 2014 PLCO study showing bimanual exams don’t help screen for ovarian cancer

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blood pressure and head lice – Inside Health 29/10/19

lovely combination Blood pressure pills at night reproducibility crisis  review article  and old Cochrane review  new study – Hygia project  and trial registration (spot difference) old study and BP levels with diurnal meds – taking (similar bp results, didn’t address morbidity) MAPEC study HEAD LICE Nice guidance  resistance   wet combing   

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Withdrawal/discontinuation effects of antidepressants – Inside Health 22/10/19

a history of antidepressant withdrawal 1950s – class of drug called tricyclics started to be used for depression reports of withdrawal side effects in medical literature in 1960s and 70s suggesting slow withdrawals https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/070674376601101S27 another class of drugs called MAOIs – again not commonly used nowadays for depression, available in 1950s onwards, lots of interactions […]

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Inside Health 15/10/19 the confusion of Zantac

these are just notes, sorry! recall affects brand only, prescription only, zantac preparations (i.e. The four products affected are Zantac 150mg/10ml Syrup, Zantac 50mg/2ml Injection, Zantac 150mg Tablets and Zantac 300mg Tablets)  and not the over the counter version of  zantac or other generics of raniditine.  Issues with this contaminant since summer 2018 – issues with […]

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Inside Health over several programmes – Carl H and I on OTC rx

NHSE document on prescription restrictions Headlice http://www.bad.org.uk/for-the-public/patient-information-leaflets/head-lice/?showmore=1&returnlink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bad.org.uk%2Ffor-the-public%2Fpatient-information-leaflets#.XZR045NKjfY https://www.bmj.com/content/331/7513/384 verucca /warts https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11686980 out of the chemicals dimeticone best https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31510998 NSAID gel https://www.cochrane.org/CD007402/SYMPT_topical-non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory-drugs-acute-musculoskeletal-pain-adults Cold sores A Systematic Review on the Efficacy of Topical Acyclovir, Penciclovir, and Docosanol for the Treatment of Herpes Simplex Labialis https://cks.nice.org.uk/herpes-simplex-oral    

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Inside Health 8/10/19 – anticoagulants, antiplatelets, gastric protection

the key trials are these two COMPASS and US retrospective study  pharmaceutical journal report medication safety report  NICE guidance growth in DOAC use  other issues https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(15)00926-2/fulltext risk of bleeding scores after blood clots https://www.thrombosisresearch.com/article/S0049-3848(17)30047-6/fulltext https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10840-014-9930-y This systematic review focused the high bleeding-risk category of commonly used risk scores in AF. Our main findings were as follows: (1) Overall […]

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Inside Health 8/10/19- anticoagulants and gastric protection

the key trials are these two COMPASS and US retrospective study  pharmaceutical journal report medication safety report  NICE guidance growth in DOAC use  other issues https://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(15)00926-2/fulltext risk of bleeding scores after blood clots https://www.thrombosisresearch.com/article/S0049-3848(17)30047-6/fulltext https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10840-014-9930-y This systematic review focused the high bleeding-risk category of commonly used risk scores in AF. Our main findings were as follows: […]

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Inside Health 1/10/19 OTC statins

https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/online-version/ https://www.england.nhs.uk/2019/09/nhs-to-review-making-statins-available-direct-from-pharmacists-as-part-of-long-term-plan-to-cut-heart-disease/ https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg181/chapter/1-Recommendations#identifying-and-assessing-cardiovascular-disease-cvd-risk-2

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