Pharma-sea

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sea of pharmaceuticals

Many of us in America are swimming in the “pharma-sea” of medications. We are a pill popping nation. Interestingly, years ago when I was dating a frenchman, whenever we’d go to France to visit his family, his mother would request certain vitamins/supplements that are not available in Europe. Apparently pharmaceuticals isn’t as “pushed” or emphasized in Europe as it is in the U.S. I found that interesting. I don’t know how it is today in Europe (that was more then ten years ago and the frenchman and I have since parted ways) but, I think it is safe and credible to say that big pharma is a big business in America.

When I have spoken to my mother-in-law about ALL the medications that she takes and ALL the ones that she is in charge of making sure my father-in-law takes, she knew the basics on what they were for. However, she wasn’t truly aware of how the medications “work” or the possible side-effects they can have. My father-in-law is the sickest person I personally know. My in-laws kitchen counter top practically looks like an apothecary! My husband believes that the years of prednisone that his father had been on for rheumatoid arthritis for years has kicked him into acquiring chronic myelogenous leukemia.  It is worth mentioning that shortly after being on prednisone, my father-in-law gained quite a big of weight and eventually acquired diabetes. Perhaps it is my mother-in-laws generation that doesn’t question what the doctors prescribe them. They just want to feel better and they trust their doctors. My husband on the other hand isn’t as trusting. He has even done much research on the many medications that his father takes and even came across an article that said taking prednisone long-term is like giving yourself HIV because of how much is suppresses the immune system. When my husband spoke to his parents about the information he found on the certain medications his parents were taking, it seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Sad.

It is prudent to say that before we dive into the “pharma-sea” of drugs out there, we should definitely get some swimming lessons or at least wear our floaties, lest we sink.

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SRI Intertidal Research Update

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IMG_2324Currently completing a two week tour on Santa Rosa Island in order to complete 22 vertical and layered point intercept transects. These transects capture a variety of ecological parameters such as species counts, percent cover, and spatial variations. Once transects are complete, data analysis will begin.

 

 

We made it to the islands!

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The majority of the team is now on Santa Rosa Island! We have a great ride aboard the ship, The Ocean Ranger, courtesy of the national park service.

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We arrived and immediately consumed work space with numerous toolboxes, parts, and ROVs.

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The MPA surveys have been going very well, despite some hangups. Team members Chris and Blake have completed in the neighborhood of 30 transects and will continue to collect data over the next week.

There is still work to be done on the intertidal unit with new reels but we are making some great progress and will be hopefully be testing it on thursday.

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What am I most anticipating about our trip

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The time is almost here , and soon we shall  be walking the plank in New Orleans.  I am anticipating an overall great learning experiance , with an amazing group of people . Our continued efforts within this program will be known for many years to come . I am thankful to be given this opportunity.

Jonathan Fausto
Senior ESRM undergraduate from CI

How much do they know?

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pills222

It was clear within the first few minutes of speaking to my aunt that the common person does not know much about medication. Luckily, she is pretty healthy and only has hypothyroidism, for which she takes synthroid. When I spoke to her about her medication, she did know what she was taking it for but was not aware of possible side effects or other significant drug facts. I also asked her about regular over the counter medications she takes or has taken such as the very common Tylenol. She was not aware that Acetaminophen meant the same thing or its possible side effects. More importantly, she did not know about withholding it when taking other medications with acetaminophen. It was a big eye opener, I couldn’t help but think that here I am with so much knowledge gained throughout the nursing program and I have not yet attempted to share my knowledge about things so simple yet so significant. Perhaps sharing our knowledge just for fun might actually be beneficial to some people, we can never assume what they do or do not know.

Medication Knowledge

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This week I spoke with my parents and roommates about what medications they are taking. I started off by talking with my mom and dad together. Before I go further, as many of you already know, my mother is a telemetry nurse and therefore knows her fair deal about medications. She often will teach me about medications that are important to know. Therefore, I focused by survey on my dad who has diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and hypothyroidism. My dad has had these conditions for at least 10 years now and has been taking similar medications for them throughout the years. I assumed that my dad would be very knowledgeable regarding his medications but he wasn’t as knowledgeable as I thought he would be after all of these years. He understood that he was taking medications for blood pressure, high cholesterol, metabolism and his diabetes but he couldn’t specifically name each medication, the dosages or the correct times to take them. Although, I do give him credit because he is usually good about taking blood pressure and blood glucose levels before taking the medication or administering insulin to himself. I think I realized that my dad has definitely become more dependent on my mom to keep him up to date and safe when it comes to his medication regime. I encouraged my dad to learn more about his medications on his own and gave him some verbal information about the medications I was familiar with.

After speaking with my parents, I spoke with some of my roommates. Half of my roommates are really into homeopathic remedies and alternative medicine. They would rather use essential oils to relax them or do meditation to help a headache. Although on the other hand, the other half of my roommates wouldn’t think twice before taking an Ibuprofen to cure a headache. Of these roommates, I asked them what the usual dosage they take are when they have a headache. I was surprised to find that one said 600 mg and the other said 800mg meaning they were aware of dosages. One of my roommates was aware that this medication can cause stomach ulcers and the other had no idea. Overall, I think this was an interesting experience, as I had the opposite results of what I had anticipated when it came to both my parents and my roommates responses.

Who Knows About Drugs?

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I interviewed my sister, my mom, and my dad asking them about the medications they usually take. I was surprised both at what they knew versus what they needed more teaching on.

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(They look so colorful! Who knew there was so much to know about them?)

My sister: My sister takes vitamins and birth control pills. When asked if she knew how they work to prevent pregnancy she was unsure, stating she “had been told 3 times and still not quite sure.” So she learned how they work by preventing ovulation and changing the uterine lining. She named some side effects, such as weight changes, mood swings, and potential skin changes. I gave her more information on additional side effects, especially pointing out the risk for blood clots, which she was not aware of either. She did know about potential interactions of birth control and other items, such as grapefruit, but I let her know also about medications such as certain antibiotics that would require the use of additional birth control methods.

My mom and dad: My mom is a nurse, so I expected that she would know about medications she takes. She only uses albuterol and corticosteroid inhalers when needed for asthma. She was able to state the correct steps in using them, such as coordinating the MDI with inhalation, holding your breath for 10 seconds, and rinsing your mouth after the corticosteroid. I was surprised when asking my dad about the medications he takes, which includes OTC Tums, Tylenol when needed, and Prilosec. He explained how Tums work to neutralize the hydrochloric acid in the stomach, how Tylenol can cause liver damage, especially with alcohol. He answered almost every question I had correctly. I did remind him though to check other medication labels for acetaminophen to make sure he didn’t combine multiple drugs with Tylenol.

It can be easy to forget in the healthcare profession how other people do not get the same education regarding medications that we do. Things that seem so common sense to us now are not that way to others. I think it emphasizes the importance to educate our patients on the medications they are taking as we are giving them. It is something that has been engrained in us now since pharmacology, however it never hurts to survey people every now and then to see how much they really know.

Bae Yonce

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Late post! Check out our groups Once Upon A Time story below! :)

Once upon time there was an old superstar, queen named Bae Yonce. She lives in Miami and had always wanted to ride her surfboard; unfortunately she couldn’t because she was always cold and kept getting leg cramps when she would get in the water. She also couldn’t wear her favorite bikinis because she had gained weight around her stomach, she had developed cankles, and her flow was too heavy – she never knew when it was coming, it was too irregular. Due to these unfortunate events she wrote her international hit song “Drunk in love” to get through this hard time in her life. She always used to sing, but now when she sings she just sounds drunk. All of which furthered her depressed feelings. The nurse assesses the patient and determines that she is experiencing the classical symptoms of hypothyroidism and begins to prepare her for a radioactive iodine uptake test and a thyroid scan. As a result of the actions the patient can’t eat for 8 hours! The nurse suspects that Bae Yonce has to take levothyroxine for the rest of her life. Bae Yonce thanks her nurse and hopes to return to riding her surfboard.

Wait What Medication Was That?

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Similar to the medication education we provide to our patients, when it comes down to our families and friends, we especially want to make sure they are fully informed about prescribed medications and over-the-counter (OTC) medications they take. Within my immediate family, my father is the only person that is taking prescription medications. Most of my family comes from a medical background. My father grew up with siblings in the healthcare field. Additionally, my father is a veterinarian technician and he has experience administering similar medications prescribed to dogs. My father has hypertension so his physician prescribed him valsartan which is an ARB. When I was taking pharmacology, I asked my father what he knew about the medication he was taking. As I expected my father knew about the classification, action, side effects, generic, and brand names of the drug. As for my mother and sister, they do not have prescribed medications, but they do use over-the-counter drugs such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Zyrtec, Nyquil, and Robitussin. My father usually advises my mother, sister, and I  to purchase generic names over the brand ones for pricing reasons. My mother and sister have some knowledge on identifying brand name OTC medications and their respective generic names. When my sister has any questions about medications, she usually comes to me for information and I direct her to what sources she can use to find medication information if I am not able to answer her or advise she discuss the medication with our cousin who is currently a physician. Overall, I believe that my family as a whole has a pretty good idea about the medications they often take. Whenever we don’t know what a certain prescribed medication is, we go to one another for any questions and concerns we may have as well as utilize technology.

Picture Reference: http://www.pbinstitute.com/how-to-know-if-youre-alcoholic/