DIGESTIVE DISORDERS (ANNAVAHA SROTAS VYADHI) IN OLD AGE – ISSUES AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Old age is the result of the natural process of ageing and the time to enjoy life. As at this time, we are almost free from all responsibilities. But it can be enjoyed only when one is free from major ailments otherwise it becomes a great burden on ourselves as well as on others too. Due to increased health awareness, the average age of people is increasing day by day and the advancement in medical science provides great help in this regard. Therefore, peo- ple live longer but the natural process of ageing and exposure to unfavourable things causes a lot of derangements and weakening of bodily systems and organs in old age. So, there is a great need for geriatric health care in day- to-day practice so that we can improve the quality of life of old age. Besides a lot of major health problems of old age like Heart Disease, Hypertension, Diabetics, Joint disorders, Dementia, Strokes, etc; some minor ailments are equally important as they are often the cause of many major ailments e.g., Gastric Upsets, Insomnia, Anxiety, etc. Keywords: Digestive Disorders, Old age, Vriddhaavastha, Annavahasrotasvyadhi, Issues, Solutions, Agni

Self medication among under-graduate students in IGIMS, Patna - An observational & prospective study

Inapt medical use is a major problem to ensure effective and safe treatment. Most common health diseases are treated by the people themselves without medical supervision, commonly referred to as self-medication (SM). However, it is also known that responsible SM must be accompanied by relevant health information. It has become a serious problem that raises concerns about misdiagnosis and drug reactions as well. To determine the pattern of SM procedures, to identify common diseases and common drugs used, SM causes and to examine the relationship between the level of medical education and SM practices among undergraduate medical students. A structured and validated questionnaire was used for the study to collect information regarding age, gender, awareness of SM practice, type of drugs self-medicated and source of information. Students were also interviewed to check their knowledge and attitude towards self-medication. Results obtained from this study were presented in tabular form and data were interpreted by using Microsoft Excel 365 software. Out of 387, 365 students (94.32%) students accepted self-medication practice. Most of the self-medicators used the medicines for fever (24.11%) followed by common cold (17.26%) and headache (16.71%). Paracetamol was used by 51.78% of students. Most of the students took self-medications for quick relief and for minor ailments.our study shows that SM is most prevalent in medical students of North India. Schedule H drugs have also been used without a prescription. This highlights the need for improved drug control.

Community Pharmacists' Attitudes and Practice in the Management of Minor Ailments

This study aimed to know the attitudes and practice of pharmacists regarding the management of minor ailments in Iraqi community pharmacies. A cross-sectional study for 320 community pharmacists was conducted during February 2020 using a newly developed and validated questionnaire. Only 4.4% of pharmacists prefer not to deal with minor ailment cases. Minority (15.6%) of participated pharmacists refer more than half of minor ailment cases they face to the physician. Regarding the assessment of minor ailments using WWHAM technique, what are the symptoms are the most commonly asked questions by pharmacists. Only 49.1% mentioned that they ask all WWHAM questions. On the other hand, most pharmacists (90%) educate their patients about the dosing regimen. Meanwhile, less than 10% of pharmacists provide their patients with all possible information about their medications. All demographic factors had no effect on the pharmacists' usage of WWHAM technique and in pharmacist's role in patient counseling or education. In conclusion minor ailment services that provided by community pharmacists' in Iraq was poor at which most pharmacists don't use WWHAM technique appropriately and also fail to provide their patients with the required medication counseling and education.

Self Medication Practices: Insights from Caregivers to Their Under Five Children in Southwestern Nigeria

The act of childcare by caregivers requires meticulous attention especially to under-five children in any clime. This paper aggregates the understanding of caregivers on the practice of self-medication to their under-five children. A qualitative approach using Focus group discussions among selected caregivers to under-five children in Osun and Lagos states of southwestern states of Nigeria was used for data collection. Thematic analysis was done with the assistance of the ATLAs Ti package. The caregivers’ understanding of the practice included; re-use of medications based on previous illnesses, use of familiar drugs, and use of medications without conducting any laboratory investigations. Also they ascribed the practice to the use of medication for minor ailments only and largely on their individual perception of their under-five children. Most caregivers were knowledgeable of the practice though in diverse contexts, thereby provided different social milieu for the practice. In the overall, the study revealed the caregivers’ different understanding of what self-medication practice to their under-five children are.

PEMANFAATAN OBAT TRADISIONAL PENANGKAL PENULARAN COVID-19

In this time of the rampant Covid-19 pandemic, all recommended treatments and vaccines do not guarantee that you will be protected from the Covid-19 virus. Moreover, currently the positive rate of Covid-19 is very high in Indonesia so that people really need traditional medicines in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. Several researchers in Indonesia suggest traditional medicines that have been tested in the laboratory as an alternative in handling Covid-19, apart from being easy to find and cheap, traditional medicines are also believed to increase the body's immunity. Online media in Indonesia are also not a few who report about traditional medicines that are effective in handling Covid-19, social media is also a place for all information on traditional medicines. This article was created with the aim of making people aware of the benefits of good traditional medicines to increase body immunity. In this article, using normative legal research methods. Soerjono Soekanto and Sri Mamudji (2007) explains that in normative legal research, the basic data used are library materials which in research science are classified as secondary data. The results of this study show that: (1) the role of traditional medicine is very helpful for first aid during the Covid-19 pandemic; (2) factors supporting the body's immunity during the Covid-19 pandemic; (3) disease prevention and cure of minor ailments. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that traditional medicines such as garlic, ginger, honey, red ginger, turmeric, bitter, and several other herbal medicines can be focused on extraction to produce active compounds as Covid-19 immunomodulators.Masa pandemi Covid-19 yang sedang marak ini, sehingga segala pengobatan dan vaksin yang dianjurkan tidak menjamin akan terhindar dari virus Covid-19. Terlebih, sekarang ini tingkat angka positif Covid-19 sangat tinggi di Indonesia sehingga masyarakat sangat membutuhkan obat-obat tradisional dalam menghadapi pandemi Covid-19. Beberapa peneliti di Indonesia menyarankan obat-obat tradisional yang sudah teruji di laboratorium sebagai alternatif dalam penanganan Covid-19,alasannya selain karena mudah ditemukan dan murah, obat-obat tradisional juga dipercaya dapat meningkatkan imunitas tubuh. Media online di Indonesia juga tidak sedikit yang memberitakan tentang obat-obat tradisional yang ampuh dalam penanganan Covid-19, sosial media juga menjadi wadah untuk segala informasi obat-obat tradisional. Artikel ini dibuat dengan tujuan agar masyarakat mengetahui manfaat dari obat-obat tradisional yang bagus untuk meningkatkan imunitas tubuh. Dalam artikel ini, menggunakan metode penelitian hukum normatif yang berfokus pada data sekunder pengolahan dan analisis data dilakukan secara kualitatif dengan menggunakan logika deduktif .Obat tradisional sangat membantu untuk pertolongan pertama di masa pandemi Covid-19, faktor penunjang imunitas tubuh di masa pandemi Covid-19, pencegahan penyakit, dan penyembuhan penyakit yang ringan. Obat-obat tradisional seperti, bawang putih, temulawak, madu, jahe merah, kunyit, sambiloto, dan beberapa obat herbal lainnya dapat difokuskan untuk diekstraksi guna menghasilkan senyawa aktif sebagai pengatur sistem kekebalan tubuh Covid-19.

A cost utility analysis alongside a cluster-randomised trial evaluating a minor ailment service compared to usual care in community pharmacy

Background Minor ailments are “self-limiting conditions which may be diagnosed and managed without a medical intervention”. A cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) was designed to evaluate the clinical, humanistic and economic outcomes of a Minor Ailment Service (MAS) in community pharmacy (CP) compared with usual care (UC). Methods The cRCT was conducted for 6 months from December 2017. The pharmacist-patient intervention consisted of a standardised face-to-face consultation on a web-based program using co-developed protocols, pharmacists’ training, practice change facilitators and patients’ educational material. Patients requesting a non-prescription medication (direct product request) or presenting minor ailments received MAS or UC and were followed-up by telephone 10-days after the consultation. The primary economic outcomes were incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR) of the service and health related quality of life (HRQoL). Total costs included health system, CPs and patient direct costs: health professionals’ consultation time, medication costs, pharmacists’ training costs, investment of the pharmacy and consultation costs within the 10 days following the initial consultation. The HRQoL was obtained using the EuroQoL 5D-5L at the time of the consultation and at 10-days follow up. A sensitivity analysis was carried out using bootstrapping. There were two sub-group analyses undertaken, for symptom presentation and direct product requests, to evaluate possible differences. Results A total of 808 patients (323 MAS and 485 UC) were recruited in 27 CPs with 42 pharmacists (20 MAS and 22 UC). 64.7% (n = 523) of patients responded to follow-up after their consultation in CP. MAS patients gained an additional 0.0003 QALYs (p = 0.053). When considering only MAS patients presenting with symptoms, the ICUR was 24,733€/QALY with a 47.4% probability of cost-effectiveness (willingness to pay of 25,000€/QALY). Although when considering patients presenting for a direct product request, MAS was the dominant strategy with a 93.69% probability of cost-effectiveness. Conclusions Expanding community pharmacists’ scope through MAS may benefit health systems. To be fully cost effective, MAS should not only include consultations arising from symptom presentation but also include an oversight of self-selected products by patients. MAS increase patient safety through the appropriate use of non-prescription medication and through the direct referral of patients to GP. Trial registration ISRCTN, ISRCTN17235323. Registered 07/05/2021 - Retrospectively registered