Safemedicate

  There has been much focus in the UK news media lately on low supplies of an in-demand form of hormone replacement therapy (HRT). This medication helps address symptoms of the menopause – such as hot flushes, night sweats and mood swings – by replacing hormones, such as oestrogen, that are at a lower level in those approaching the menopause. Not all menopausal women are able to take HRT or wish to do so. However, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), it is believed that as of 2019, approximately one million women in the UK used the treatment.  But with many concerns in the UK at the moment centring on an apparent shortage of Oestrogel – which is a specific type of HRT – what can be done for those who are struggling to obtain this product?  What is Oestrogel, and why is it proving so difficult to come by lately?  Oestrogel is an HRT that comes in the form of a gel, and is applied to the skin once a day. Family GP and women...

  The COVID-19 pandemic may not have dominated the national and international news headlines in recent weeks and months to quite the extent it once did, but the crisis has not ‘gone away’. The challenges for treatment, including ensuring safe medical dosage and calculations for the latest treatment options as they become available, remain very real.  This is why the emergence of Pfizer’s Paxlovid treatment has been so interesting and important. Paxlovid is one of the few antivirals presently available to treat COVID-19, having been issued with an emergency use authorisation (EUA) by the Food and Drink Administration (FDA) in the United States in December. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has also recently expanded access to this “cutting-edge” drug, which was found to reduce hospitalisations or death by 88% in clinical trials.  However, while Paxlovid has been shown to be extremely effective in the treatment of severe COVID-19, one significant disadvantage is that there ...