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Choosing Pharmaceutical Products for Clinics and Hospitals

Choosing Pharmaceutical Products for Clinics and Hospitals

To ensure your patients receive proper medical care, you must stock up your healthcare facility with the right type of pharmaceutical products in sufficient quantities.

However, this process can be complicated and incur high costs when not carried out systematically. Here are the factors you should consider when choosing products for your clinic or hospital.

1. Legal requirements

Legal requirements

To obtain drug supplies from manufacturers and wholesalers for your facility, you first need to have an Annual Practicing Certificate (APC) as stated in the Poisons Act 1952. You will also need to renew your APC annually.

2. Choosing the Right Pharmaceutical Products Supplier

Choosing the Right Pharmaceutical Products Supplier

Did you know that the cost of pharmaceutical products is the second-highest after staff costs in any given country’s healthcare system?

Besides that, the public has voiced their disapproval regarding private facilities known to overcharge for products. This has led to the public purchasing directly from pharmacies and companies sourcing from pharmacies to reduce staff medical benefit costs.

Therefore, researching and finding a supplier committed to providing reasonably-priced and high-quality products is critical. This way, you will be able to offer affordable services to your patients. Make sure to consider the supplier’s prices, shipping policy, dependability, return policy, drug quality and reputation.

3. Types and Quantities of Pharmaceutical Products

Types and Quantities of Pharmaceutical Products

The next question is: what products should you procure, and in what quantities? Equipping your facility with the right products and amount to meet your patients’ needs and avoid wastage is crucial.

Firstly, your facility should have sufficient quantities of essential drugs (basic medicines that meet the population’s healthcare needs) at all times. These products are listed on Malaysia’s National Essential Medicine List (NEML).

The NEML currently consists of 359 medicines. Ideally, a hospital should have 150-200 medication on hand, while smaller facilities need around 40-50 medications.

You will also need to carry out quantification to estimate the demand for specific products during a certain period. To quantify accurately, you will need information from the essential medicines list, consumption data, epidemiological data, prescription patterns, stock levels, stock-out frequencies, and length of procurement cycles.

4. Storing Pharmaceutical Products

Storing Pharmaceutical Products

Before purchasing pharmaceutical products, you need to ensure your facility has the right storage conditions for every product.

Besides, you will have to maintain proper segregation, temperature, lighting, humidity, sanitation, and ventilation levels. Additionally, you must keep dangerous drugs and psychotropic substances under lock and key with an alarm system.

These measures are vital to avoid contamination, disfiguration of labels, theft and loss, and pest infestation and maintain the product quality or potency.

Lastly, you should monitor and take note of each product’s expiry date regularly. Moreover, implementing a FEFO (First To Expire First Out) policy can help avoid wastage.

If you’re looking to procure pharmaceutical products for your facility, Mayflax can help you. Mayflax is a one-stop pharmaceutical wholesaler that provides over 2,000 quality pharmaceutical products to healthcare professionals at low prices. Find out more about them here.

How to Open and Set Up a Private Clinic in Malaysia

How to Set up a Medical Clinic in Malaysia

It might be a dream of yours to open and set up your own private clinic in Malaysia.

After years of acquiring experiences and knowledge, it really is a great idea for you to take the next step to open and set up your very own clinic in Malaysia.

Now, you might do some research on how to open and set up your own private clinic in Malaysia, but still haven’t found a clear answer yet, you’ve come to the right place!

Here, we will share with you the steps on how to open and set up a private clinic in Malaysia.

1. Location To Open and Set Up Your Clinic in Malaysia

You may already envision where the location is or even have purchased a location for your private clinic.

Setting up a private clinic also depends on a good location.

A good location is where the traffic is and not to forget, it must also be accessible.

However, you might also need to consider other factors such as patient demographics.

This factor closely affects your target patients.

Based on your expertise, find a location that is situated between the right age group.

For example, if you’re planning to set up a clinic specialized in pediatrics, then move to a location where the demographic is young parents.

Moreover, the average income of the location will also affect your consultation fees.

2. Register your company with SSM

Since you are going to open and set up your clinic in Malaysia, you have to register your company with the Companies Commission of Malaysia, under the Registration of Business Act 1956.

You may have already registered your company, but if you haven’t already, then these steps will help you to achieve this!

You will need to visit the nearest SSM office once for confirmation of identification.

The fee for the registration of a company is RM1,010.

A step-by-step guide on the registration of your company is as the following:

  1. Account registration on MyCoID portal
  2. Activate your account at SSM counter
  3. Then, you will receive MyCoID portal login credentials upon account activation
  4. Company name search on the Direct Incorporation Application on MyCoID portal homepage
  5. Other information under Name Search
  6. Super Form to clarify your proposed company name
  7. Business code selection and description
  8. Directors and shareholders information
  9. Application submission
  10. Make the payment of RM1,000 as an incorporation fee (before tax) and get a transaction receipt.
  11. Notice of Registration as proof of incorporation received through email

3. Approval of Signboard for Your Clinic From The Local City Council

A signboard can help to notify your local community of your soon-to-be-open clinic.

This will improve your clinic’s presence in the community.

You can apply for approval of the signboard online at your clinic’s local city council.

For example, if your clinic is located at Petaling Jaya, Selangor, then the application must be made to Petaling Jaya City Council ( MBPJ).

As such, requirements to apply for a signboard license may vary according to the respective local authority.

Generally, the documents that you need are as the following:

  • Copy of either the rental agreement or the sale and purchase agreement of the company’s business premise
  • Copy of the location plan of the company’s business premise
  • Photographs showing the location of the company’s signboard
  • Samples of the signboard indicating its design and colors
  • Samples of the signboard indicating its design and colors

4. Registration of Your Private Clinic in Borang A

In order to set up your private clinic and legally operate, your clinic must comply with Act 586 Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act 1998 and its regulations.

Furthermore, you also have to obtain a Certificate of Registration to operate the private medical clinic.

In order for you to get this, you must register your clinic using Borang A.

So what exactly is Borang A?

Borang A is a form that must be filled out to set up a private clinic.

This is in accordance with Act 586.

You can fill Borang A online, from the CKAPS website or you can print out Borang A.

Fill Borang A accurately and completely.

For the instruction on how to fill in Borang A online, click here.

On the other hand, if you fill this form manually, only use a black ink pen and it must be written in capital letters.

In Borang A, you need to fill in all the details such as details of your clinic such as the clinic’s name and operation hours.

The name of your clinic should comply with the requirement. It should describe the services that your clinic provide.

For example, “Klinik Perubatan Dr. Tan” or “Klinik Pakar Kanak-Kanak Dr. Lee”.

On top of that, using names that may mislead customers or overclaim is not allowed.

Your clinic’s name must be the same on the clinic’s signboard and on the Certificate of Registration.

On top of that, you will also need to fill in details on the applicant’s information and details of the person-in-charge or ‘Orang Yang Bertanggungjawab’ (OYB), such as name, address and past working experience.

To add, you also need to fill in the details of the business.

Lastly, fill in details on employees as well as the clinic’s proposed floor plan.

The floor plan must be drawn on a scale of 1:100 (1cm=1m).

A complete floor plan must also include a symbol legend, measurements of each room and measurements of the door opening, and all the related rooms labelled.

Another thing is, all the documents must be certified by Commissioner for Oaths or Grade A Management or Professional Group.

The copies must also be made into 2 copies each.

5. Submit Borang A to Unit Kawalan Amalan Perubatan Swasta (UKAPS)

Now, since you’ve already completed Borang A, it must be printed out (if the form is done online).

A processing fee of RM500 must be paid in order to proceed to the next step.

If you fill the form manually, you should complete the processing fee to UKAPS Jabatan Kesihatan Negeri/Wilayah Persekutuan (JKN/WP) and submit for processing.

At this stage, UKAPS will review your application.

This also includes the proposed floor plan for your clinic.

The approved floor plan will be given a “No Objection Letter”.

Once you receive this letter, the renovation of your clinic can proceed.

The usual renovation period is 3 months.

In the event that the renovation takes longer than 3 months, a written letter notifying your local JKN/WP regarding this must be submitted.

However, there is also a chance that you may need to improve your floor plan.

Thus, you shall make an improvement on your floor plan and submit the document again to your local JKN/WP.

6. Renovation of your premise

Clinic Floor Plan Layout from EnviMedi consultant

As mentioned before, the layout of your clinic’s floor plan has to comply with the regulations set by the Ministry of Health (MOH).

There are several aspects of your clinic that need to comply with the regulation, which are infrastructure, documents available in the clinic and pharmaceutical services.

i) Infrastructure

As for the infrastructure, do ensure that your clinic’s main entrance has a clear door opening with at least 1.2 meters and does not swing to the corridors.

On top of that, your premises should not connect to other premises through doors or any other entrances.

For the waiting area, it must have adequate space and the height of the ceiling must be more than 2.4 meters for air-conditioned and more than 3 meters if non-air-conditioned.

The consultation room must also be commensurate with the number of personnel.

Justification and purpose of each consultation room must also be given if there is more than 1 consultation room.

Your clinic must also have the patient’s toilet, janitor’s closet, storeroom and staff restroom as well as basic emergency care services.

ii) Documents available in clinic

There are documents that must be readily available in your clinic.

This includes a written policy, policy statement, patient grievance mechanism plan and organisation chart.

A written policy may include a written contract between the practitioner and private clinic, the procedure of patient registration, attendance and referral as well as incident reporting, infection control, general maintenance and fee schedule.

On the other hand, policy statements comprise staff identification, billing procedure and patient’s right.

The patient Grievance Mechanism Plan is a mechanism where patients and their families can avail themselves when dissatisfaction occurs.

When this occurs, the licensee or person in charge is should provide a speedy resolution whenever possible.

Solutions include explanation and apology.

iii) Pharmaceutical Services

Every private clinic must have a dispensing counter.

The work counter must be an impermeable surface.

What’s more, the dispensing counter should also be equipped with medicine storage, a locked cabinet for narcotics, psychotropics, poisons and controlled drugs.

Additionally, a refrigerator must be available if you carry medications that require refrigeration, such as vaccines.

You should also record the temperature at least twice daily.

Do notify CKAPS after the completion of your clinic’s renovation through either letter, email or phone.

7. Inspection of Private Clinic by UKAPS

After notifying UKAPS of the completion of your clinic’s renovation, the date of inspection will be given.

During the inspection, aspects of your clinic, as listed above, must be complied with.

The inspection will also follow this guideline.

You can read through this guideline to have a better view and understanding of what will be evaluated during the inspection.

If everything complies with the requirement, your application will be sent to CKAPS in Putrajaya.

8. Evaluation of Private Clinic Application by Cawangan Kawalan Amalan Perubatan Swasta (CKAPS)

During this stage, your application will be evaluated thoroughly by CKAPS within 4 weeks by the processing officer.

The status of your application will be notified.

If your application is approved, you will be sent a letter to pay a withdrawal fee.

You will need to pay a fee of RM1,000. Payment must be made in either bank draft or money order to ‘Ketua Setiausaha Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia’.

Personal cheques or cash will not be accepted.

After payment, you will be able to print out Borang B, which enables you to start operating your private clinic.

9. Launch your Clinic

Now that you know how to set up your own private clinic, here are some tips and tricks on how to attract and retain customers to come to your clinic.

Firstly, your patients will be grateful if you keep them engaged with personalized, and timely outreach during their journey.

You should also drive more qualified leads to generate revenue.

Most importantly, improve your strategic advantage to attract patients.

As such, we at Mayflax can offer you the ease of mind on the procurement of drugs.

With over 2,000 products, our hassle-free ordering process and our fast delivery, you are able to focus more on your customers and ultimately see your patient population volumes grow faster!

Sign up here to get more information on our services.

Reference

  1. GARIS PANDUAN MEMPROSES PERMOHONAN PENDAFTARAN KLINIK
    PERUBATAN DAN PERGIGIAN SWASTA
  2. SENARAI SEMAK PELAN LANTAI DAN PEMERIKSAAN PRA-PENDAFTARAN KLINIK SWASTA (KLINIK PERUBATAN SWASTA)
  3. PROSEDUR PERMOHONAN-PERMOHONAN BERKAITAN PERAKUAN PENDAFTARAN BAGI KLINIK PERUBATAN SWASTA
  4. ACT 586 PRIVATE HEALTHCARE FACILITIES AND SERVICES ACT 1998
  5. SYARAT KEPERLUAN DOKUMEN BAGI IKLAN PAPAN TANDA PREMIS

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Therapeutic potential in COVID-19 with colchicine

Cr. Fusion Medical Animation

Source from MIMS.com

Based on a study, survival rate in patients with COVID-19 was improved with the use of colchicine, which are usually used for the treatment of gout and other inflammatory disorders as compared with standard of care (SoC).

The well-recognised anti-inflammatory effects and potential antiviral properties made it as one of the drugs that was considered for the treatment of COVID-19.  140 hospitalized patients who contracted COVID-19 had their outcomes evaluated as they were treated with SoC (hydroxychloroquine and/or intravenous dexamethasone; and/or lopinavir/ritonavir) and in 122 patients treated with colchicine and SoC.

The SoC group, have lower serum concentrations of C-reactive prottein and ferritin, as well as neutrophil count but higher PaO2/FiO2 ratio at baseline.

Survival when being compared over 21 days of follow-up, it was more favourable in the colchicine than the SoC group. A lower risk of death was strongly associated with colchicine, on Cox proprortional hazards regression (hazard ratio, 0.151).

At entry, there were a higher serum levels of ferritin, worse Pa02/Fi02 and poor survival at older age for the risk factors. 

With no treatment discontinuation due to severe adverse events, colchicine had a good safety profile. In nine patients, dosing was reduced from 1 to 0.5 mg/day due to diarrhoea.

With the aim of preventing the patient’s autoinflammatory response, the current study provides proof-of-concept data supporting the possible use of colchicine in the treatment of the early phase of COVID-19.

To determine the efficacy and safety of colchicine, properly designed trials are needed with the best protocol in terms of dosage and timing of administartion in patients with COVID-19, said the researchers.

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Differences between anxiety attacks and panic attacks

Cr. Victor Rodvang

Source from my.clevelandclinic.org

People have been using the terms “anxiety attack” and “panic attack” correspondingly, when in fact, they are two slightly different medical conditions.

A breakdown:

Anxiety is typical and although it is unpleasant, it helps motivate and protect individuals from threats.

Anxiety disorders comes in many forms and people usually respond to non-threatening things with outsized fear and dread.

Anxiety attacks is just another term for a panic attack.

Panic attacks occurs without warning and are intense attacks of fear and anxiety. It is usually harmless and last for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Panic disorder occurs when an individual has repeated panic attacks and it is also a type of anxiety disorder.

Panic attack symptoms

  • A feeling that what is happening around them is not real
  • Chest pain or discomfort
  • Chills or overheating
  • Dizziness
  • Fear of perhaps that they are dying or going crazy
  • Feeling that they might be choking
  • Increased heart rate
  • Nausea
  • Numbness
  • Sweating
  • Trembling or shaking

How to deal with panic attacks

  1. Labeling it. When panic attack happens, individual who are experiencing it often thinks that they are having a heart attack or losing their mind. It is advised to assure themselves that what is happening to them won’t kill them and that it will end.
  2. Keeping track. Note the attacks and when and where they happened, how long the duration was and things that might have triggered it.
  3. Breathe. Numerous claims from people of various backgrounds said that deep breathing exercises helps. It turns down the body’s panic response, helping the breath and heart rate to return back to normal.
  4. Distract the mind from focusing about the panic attacks. Do other things that helps. For example, smell something pleasant or watching a funny TV show.
  5. Getting help. Mental health professionals can help by using a Jedi mind trick, known as cognitive restructuring.

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Easy treatment for headaches

Cr. Adrian Swancar

Source from Healthline.com

Headache is defined as a pain arising from the head or upper neck of the body. The pain originates from the tissues and structures that surround the skull or the brain because the brain itself has no nerves that give rise to the sensation of pain (pain fibers). Several types of headaches exist, with tension headaches being the most common. Cluster headaches are painful and happen in groups or “clusters,” while migraines are a moderate-to-severe type of headache.

Keeping hydrate : The body need certain amount of fluid for it to properly function and by drinking too little, it may lead you to develop a headache. Researchers have found that the common cause of migraines and tension headaches mostly come from chronic dehydration. This can be relieved by drinking enough water which shown to relieve symptoms in dehydrated individuals within 30 minutes to three hours –  depending on their state.

Cr. LuAnn Hunt

Cr. Annie Spratt

Taking magnesium : A study suggests that treatment with 600mg of oral magnesium citrate per day helps in reducing the frequency and severity of migraine headaches. Headaches could be cured with prescribed medicines and can be prevented with consuming food that have high content of magnesium such as pumpkin seed, broccoli and certain amount of beans.

Limiting alcohol intake : Evidence shown that alcohol can trigger migraines in about one-third of individuals who experience frequent headaches. It also cause tension and cluster headaches in many people. Alcohol is a vasodilator, which widens blood vessels and allows more flow of the blood which may cause headaches in some people. The body could lose fluids and electrolytes from frequent urination as alcohol also acts as a diuretic which can cause or worsen headaches.

Cr. Giovanna Gomes

Cr. Gregory Pappas

Getting enough sleep : Sleeping less than you required can be detrimental to your health and may even cause headaches in some people. It is found that people who has sleep deprivation had more frequent and severe headaches but getting too much sleep has also been shown to trigger headaches. It is advised to have a minimum of 6 hours sleep a day, depending on the individual.

Practice yoga : One of the ways to relieve stress and improve your overall quality of life would be relaxing with yoga. A study was conducted and it showed that the effects of yoga therapy on 60 people with chronic migraines were reduced more than those who received conventional care alone.

Cr. Kiki Vega

Cr. Peter Secan

Having caffeinated liquid : Drinking beverages with caffeine such as tea or coffee may provide relief for a headache. It improves mood, increases alertness and constricts blood vessels. It also helps increase the effectiveness of common medications like acetaminophen and ibuprofen which are used to treat headaches with mindful caffeine intake.

Exercise : Increasing your activity level is said  to be one of the simplest ways in reducing headaches. A study which involved 91 people in 40 minutes of indoor cycling, three times a week was effective in reducing headache frequency than practicing relaxation techniques.

Cr. Jenny Hill

Cr. Dominik Martin

Sip some ginger tea : Ginger root has many beneficial compounds, including antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances and they also helps reducing nausea and vomiting, which usually are the common symptoms associated with severe headaches.

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TB antibiotics in reaching targets

Cr. Simone van der Koelen

Source from Sciencedaily.com

Researchers have built up another technique that empowers them to envision how well antibiotics against tuberculosis (TB) reach at their pathogenic targets inside human hosts. The discoveries, published in the journal Science, boost understanding of how antibiotics work and could help direct the development of new antibiotics, which are truly necessary in the fight against drug-resistance.

TB treatment

TB stays as one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, with over a million TB-related deaths worldwide every year.

At the point when an individual is infected with Mtb (mycobacteria), their immune system attempts to clear the microorganism by calling upon specialised immune cells called as macrophages that perceive and engulf Mtb. However, the bacteria frequently discover ways to survive and duplicate, causing illness. Patients require at least four antibiotics for at six months to defeat the disease.

It was previously unknown whether antibiotics enter all the compartments of the macrophage where the Mtb hide and duplicate.

The method pioneered in this study, which consolidates three kinds of imaging (correlated light, electron and nano-scale ion microscopy), permits researchers to picture the circulation of TB drugs in Mtb-infected human macrophages at high resolution, for the first time.

A test-case TB drug

Utilizing bedaquiline as an test-case, the group contaminated human macrophages with Mtb, and following up after two days, they treated them with the medication. Their imaging results revealed that bedaquiline accumulated in various compartments of the cell, most eminently, inside lipid droplets.

The bacteria can interact with and consume these lipid droplets. Be that as it may, the group (Crick-led team) didn’t know whether bedaquiline would be moved to the bacteria, or whether the lipid droplets were retaining the antibiotic and keeping it from arriving at the bacteria. Including a chemical that kept lipid droplets from forming significantly decreased the measure of bedaquiline in Mtb, proposing that the lipid drops are responsible for moving antibiotic to the bacteria.

“Now that we can see exactly where antibiotics go once they enter macrophages, we can build up a much clearer picture of how they reach their targets, and harness these observations to design more effective treatments in the future, not only for TB but for other infectious diseases too” says Max Gutierrez, Crick group leader and senior author of the paper.

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Women with recurrent pregnancy loss could reduce their stress with emotion-focused strategies

Cr. Matteo Di iorio

Source from MIMS.com

According to the data presented at ESHRE 2020, perceived stress in women who had recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) could be reduced by meditation and mindfulness interventions.

Karen Kirchheiner from Hdidovre Hospital in Denmark, stated that studies have shown perceived stress and moderate-to-severe depression are more prevalent in women with RPL than other women trying to conceive.

“A 7-week meditation and mindfulness programme significantly reduced perceived stress [vs] a standard supportive care programme for women with RPL,” she said.

The researchers in the study randomized 76 women, 1:1 to receive supportive care alone or with a 7-week meditation and mindfulness programme facilitated by an authorized instructor. Daily guided audio of meditation for 10-20 minutes were also instructed for the women in the intervention arm while women in the control arm were instructed against meditation; 63 women completed the study.

Mean perceived stress significantly dropped from baseline in both the intervention and the control arms at 7 weeks with intervention outweighed the control protocol in terms of perceived stress reduction for between-group comparison.

The between-group difference was not significant as the perceived stress levels remained low in both intervention and control arms at 12 months vs baseline.

Women in the intervention arm had a significant reduction in personal stress from baseline, which were based on COMPI-FPSS scores at week 7. No significant differences were seen in the other two domains despite the reduced scores.

Consistent numerical reductions were seen across all COMPI-FPSS domains with the intervention protocol at 12 months, 9.2 to 8.7 points, and 7.9 to 7.6 points with only the social domain score reduction was statistically significant.

At week 7, depression was reported at baseline, dropping to none for two women in the intervention and at 12 months, only one had depression. However, these reductions did not equate to statistical significance.

Kirchheiner stated that there are no any significant decrease in depression in all three timelines and underlined that the study was not powered to detect differences in Major Depression Index (MDI).

“[Nevertheless, our studies suggest that] guided self-administered meditations could be a useful tool in the care for women experiencing RPL …. We now have a documented tool to reduce perceived stress. The question now is how to implement this in our clinical practice,” she concluded.

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Facing the pandemic with a mental health : Students are struggling

Cr. Sam Balye

Source from WebMD.com

College life could be both stressful and demanding and from that, anxiety, depression and inactive lifestyles are actually common among students. Now with the pandemic of COVID-19 happening worldwide, a new study might have found that the mental-health issues could be escalated and turn for the worst.

Researchers at Dartmouth College determined that the coronavirus pandemic had an immediate impact on the mental health of this particular undergraduate group of 200 students, using a mix of smartphone data and online surveys.

The study involved students who were participating in a research program tracking mental health at the New Hampshire university with Spikes of depression and anxiety were reported at the beginning of the pandemic in early March, just as the school pushed students to leave campus and begin remote learning all by their selves.

The study found out that the students’ overall anxiety and depression levels remained consistently high than in previous years, even if their self-reported anxiety and depression lessened slightly later on in the semester.

Jeremy Huckins, a lecturer at Dartmouth stated that there is a large-scale shift in mental health and behaviour compared to the observed baseline established for the group over previous years.

In addition, the students reported around spring break period in mid-March that their day-to-day lives were dramatically more sedentary than pervious terms.

Huckins suspected that spring break 2020 was stressful and confining for the students in the study and it might be responsible for a large number of college students across the country even though it is usually a period of decreased stress and increased physical activity.

A smartphone app developed at Dartmouth was used by the researchers to calculate sedentary time. It collected information such as number of phone unlocks, phone usage duration and sleep duration from the student volunteers.

Through the app, data on depression and anxiety were also collected using weekly, self-reported questionnaires. The decrease in activity among these students may have been related to lockdown orders implemented at the time.

Huckins also said that when social distancing was recommended by local governments, students were more sedentary and visited fewer locations on any given day. “The impact of COVID-19 extends beyond the virus and its direct impacts. An unresolved question is if mental health and physical activity will continue to degrade over time, or if we will see a recovery, and how long that recovery will take”.

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Study shows that having red meat before exercise does not offer any additional benefits

Cr. Victoria Shes

Source from MIMS.com

A new study has shown that people who are consuming lean red meat in line with current recommendations does not improve muscle mass, strength, nor cognitive functions of healthy community-dwelling older adults undertaking resistance-based exercise training 3 days/week compared to those consuming carbohydrates.

154 random adults aged ≥65 years was picked by the researchers as they participated in a multicomponent 3-day/week resistance-based exercise programme to either a lean red meat group, the exercise plus lean red meat or a control group receiving carbohydrates in the form of one-half cup or rice or pasta or 1 medium potato, the exercise plus carbohydrate control, on training days.

For the primary outcomes in total body lean mass, leg LM, thigh muscle cross-sectional area, leg and back muscle strength, and executive function;  there were no significant differences between-groups in exercise-induced improvements.

There were also no significant differences in improvements for the secondary outcomes of global cognition function, fat mass, physical function measures, or systolic blood pressure.

In terms of arm Lm, gait speed, muscle density, and appendicular LM in the per-protocol analysis, the improvements were greater for the Ex + meat group than the C + Ex group.

At the same time, net improvements in working memory learning after 12 weeks and 24 weeks were greater in the C + Ex group than the Ex + Meat group.

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Bleeding and cardiovascular risks heightens after consumption of NSAIDs

Cr. JESHOOTS.com

Source from MIMS.com

Researchers conducted a study that investigated the risk for cardiovascular and bleeding events according to groups of antithrombotic medications and subtypes of NSAIDs. The first diagnosed MI in the nationwide cohort study was retrieved from 108,232 patients that they have accessed the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service database between 2009 and 2013.

Based on their prescribed antithrombotic medications, the patients were divided into groups  with the thromboembolic cardiovascular and clinically relevant bleeding events as the study outcomes.

Concomitant NSAID treatment significantly elevated the risk for cardiovascular events and bleeding events compared with no NSAID treatment over a mean follow-up of 2.3 years. Celecoxib and meloxicam showed the lowest risk of cardiovascular and bleeding events among NSAID subtypes.

The authors stated in their research that although NSAID treatment should be avoided after MI, celecoxib and meloxicam could be considered as alternative options in cases in which NSAID use is unavoidable.

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