Pharmacological phenomena

New estimates for breast cancer risk associated with HRT

New estimates of the increased risks of breast cancer associated with use of different hormone replacement therapy preparations have been published in the BMJ.…

Patients taking placebo and statins experience similar side effects

Patients experience similar side effects taking a placebo as they do taking a statin, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine has suggested.…

Bravo to the pharmacist whose yellow card is making inhalers safer

Reporting a risk to the Yellow Card scheme: do you think it’s worth it? Well, one pharmacist obviously did. And it can make a difference. In September 2020, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) shared that one pharmacist’s yellow card is helping to m…

EMA to investigate possible link between remdesivir and acute kidney injury

The European Medicines Agency’s safety committee is to review reports of acute kidney injury in some patients being given remdesivir for COVID-19.…

Vitamin D may protect against colitis adverse events in patients taking immune checkpoint inhibitors

People with melanoma who take immune checkpoint inhibitors are less likely to develop colitis if they are taking vitamin D supplements at treatment initiation, a study published in the journal Cancer has suggested…

Withdrawal and preventive therapy best management for medication overuse headache

Medication overuse headache is best treated with a combination of analgesic withdrawal and pharmaceutical prophylaxis, the authors of a study in JAMA Neurology have said.…

Why we need to talk about sex and clinical trials

The under-representation of women in clinical trials is slowly being addressed, but we cannot move towards truly personalised healthcare unless we have an equal balance of the sexes in all new medicine trials.…

Corticosteroids should be used with caution in patients with COVID-19, researchers say

The use of corticosteroids in coronavirus infections is associated with increased risk of death and side effects, such as bacterial infections and hypokalaemia, researchers have said.…

Spotting the signs of acute kidney injury

With 65% of cases beginning in the community, pharmacists can help detect acute kidney injury early and review patients’ medicines before their condition worsens. …

Drug interaction may explain cannabidiol’s effects on severe form of epilepsy

A drug–drug interaction between cannabidiol and clobazam may explain why cannabidiol reduces the frequency of seizures in patients with a severe form of epilepsy, researchers have reported.…