| PHARMWORKS | ||
 Home
|
Pepin’s Pharmaceutical
Prattle
for
10-10-2005 Quote of the day: "Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?" Rose Kennedy (1890 - 1995)
Unclean! Here we are in the cold and "flu" season again. The best public health activity in which you can participate is … hand washing. Do it yourself and encourage others to do it. It will help prevent the spread of viral infections. Vaccination against the common strains of influenza will help. Get yours and encourage others. If you do become ill then remove yourself from society until you are better. The custom of shaking hands originated with either the Romans or Knights http://charlestonschoolofprotocol.com/newsdetail.asp?ID=219 who would clasp the right forearm of someone they met so as to check for weapons. (Sounds like most people were right handed and could not be trusted). Today it serves as a way to greet and make a connection with others and a "universal" ritual of business (even though subpoenas can be carried in either hand). Boy Scouts use a left-handed shake http://www.scoutresources.org/bs/handshake.html to leave the right hand available for helping. I caught a "cold" on my way to a pharmacy convention in Nashville. A little sniffle early Thursday steadily progressed. I could not remove myself from the meeting but isolated myself as best I could. Conventions are all about meeting and greeting people and the most acceptable greeting is the handshake. Even though I was washing my hands regularly I did not feel comfortable in shaking the many hands offered… so I did not. Most were new faces who never would have pegged me as "Typhoid Steve" when they arrived home, sick, in a few days. Though I would remain anonymous, I felt that I would rather face ostracism and shame than make another person ill. When I said, "I would love to shake your hand but don't want to give you my cold." the reactions were just about all the same… a quick pull back of the hand, a brief glint that said "I just dodged that bullet", and then a reserved "thank you" that screamed "Unclean… he is UNCLEAN"! The "bird flu" appears to be starting to raise its ugly head. Present preparations involve stockpiling of Relenza and Tamiflu for use when people become infected. No vaccine is yet available and one may not be readily available because the virus is still mutating. Common sense public health practices such as hand-washing and isolation may be our main defense. So next time you are offered a hand to shake, even if you are not sick, try one of the following: 1) Click your heals together and bow from the neck 2) politely refusing. "I would love to shake your hand but I love you, and humanity, too much to do so!" 3) Bow deeply from the waste with your hands at your side. 4) Shake the hand and then wash your hands before touching your face or nose. You will be better equipped for the future… outcast but well. ==================================================== pss. Best answer this week to the question "How are you?" was "Fair to middling" ... in remembrance of one departed who is likely even better now.
pps. Occasionally, some of the links require FREE registration.... I'm sure you can handle THAT slight inconvenience.
==================================================== 1) Bird flu "good" for the economy? Reports from Europe that the "bird flu" is now being passed from person to person fueled a run up in Gilead and Biocryst stocks. Maybe we can be overjoyed when funeral home stocks hit all time highs. (Projections are 2 to 7 million deaths... see ppp from last week). http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=45550+08-Oct-2005+RTRS&srch=drug History of 1918 pandemic: http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/ With the recent decoding of that 1918 virus it has been found that it was a bird flu! 2) the hot topic at the convention…Part D Marketing to seniors begins. Some providers are waiting to market their products hoping to be at the top of the pile once seniors start going through the reams of information. 3) Old drug approved for breast cancer. New indication for a drug formerly approved for advanced breast cancer: Aromasin http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/113/110656.htm October is breast cancer awareness month… and an ounce of prevention… go to Buddy check http://www.kare11.com/health/buddy/buddy_main.aspx to be e-mailed a monthly reminder for self examination. 4) …and now something for the gentlemen. Treatment with anti-testosterone drugs prior to radiation improves survival. Be a man… take your medicine! http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_27326.html 5) A subject near and dear to me…. melanoma. Interleukin 21 (IL-21) was granted orphan status by the FDA. http://www.plwc.org/ac/1,1003,_12-002123-00_18-0042520-00_19-0042521-00_20-001,00.asp http://www.zymogenetics.com/ir/newsItem.php?id=511542 (company press release with more info) 6) Drug War? PBM and pharmaceutical manufacturer go toe to toe. Pfizer told to take their ball and go home! So much for any illusion that PBMs and Pharma are in "cahoots". http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=204266+05-Oct-2005+RTRS&srch=drug 7) Slime rises to the top… With the demand rising for influenza drugs rising you can expect the counterfeiters to flourish. Do not buy from internet suppliers! http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-10-07T194526Z_01_MAR736729_RTRUKOC_0_US-ROCHE-TAMIFLU.xml&archived=False ------------ Have a SUPER-FANTASTIC week. Steve Disclaimer: "Pepin's Pharmaceutical Prattle" (AKA "The Prattle") is the property of PHARMWORKS, LLC and Steven M. Pepin, Pharm. D, BCPS. The opinions expressed are those of the bald-headed author. To start or stop any drug without the advice and supervision of your physician would be stupid. So don't do anything based upon what you read here without professional advice. To be added to or removed from the distribution list please e-mail your request to spepin@pharmworks.com . All insightful comments from readers are thoughtfully considered (the rest are callously discarded). Copyright 1998-2005 PHARMWORKS, LLC all rights reserved. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1998-2005 PHARMWORKS.LLC all rights reserved |
