Pharmacy News Online: Canada Pharmacy Online Suggests Less Sugar Intake to Avoid Health Concerns

Mail-Order Pharmacy for New Statin Prescriptions Achieve Better Cholesterol Control in First 3-15 Months Of Therapy

Kaiser Permanente Northern California patients who obtained new statin prescriptions via a mail-order pharmacy achieved better cholesterol control in the first 3-15 months following the initiation of therapy — compared to those patients who only obtained their statin prescription from their local Kaiser Permanente Northern California pharmacy.

Greater adjusted rates of LDL-C control in mail-order pharmacy users were seen across all gender and race-ethnicity groups, according to the study that appears in the current online issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

After adjustment for demographic, clinical, and socioeconomic characteristics, as well as for potential unmeasured differences between mail-order and in-person pharmacy users, 85 percent of patients who used the mail-order pharmacy achieved target cholesterol levels, compared to 74.2 percent of patients who only used the local Kaiser Permanente pharmacy.

Previous studies have shown that mail-order pharmacy use is associated with greater medication adherence. However, this is the first study to examine whether mail-order pharmacy use is related to improved cardiovascular risk factor outcomes, according to Julie Schmittdiel, PhD, an investigator with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif., and the lead author of the study.

“While the findings of this study should be confirmed in a randomized controlled trial, they provide new evidence that mail-order pharmacy use may be associated with improved care and outcomes for patients for risk factors with cardiovascular disease,” Schmittdiel said.

“Though mail order may not be right for all patients, this study shows that it is one possible tool in the broader health care system-level toolbox that can help patients meet their medication needs.”

At Kaiser Permanente, members have 24/7 access to online pharmacy and pharmacy refills at kp.org using My Health Manager, which can be mailed to them free of shipping charges or made available for pick-up at any Kaiser Permanente pharmacy.

In comparing the effectiveness of mail-order pharmacy vs. local pharmacy use on cholesterol control in new statin users, investigators tapped a study population of 100,298 Kaiser Permanente members who were statin users between Jan. 1, 2005, and Dec. 31, 2007. Statin use was obtained from automated pharmacy records and patients were considered to be new users if they had not recorded use of statin in records prior to the initial statin prescription date.

Greater adherence to these medications by mail-order pharmacy users may reflect improved access to medications, researchers explain. Mail order does not require travel to the local pharmacy, which may provide ease and convenience for patients refilling medications. To address possible selection biases – for example, the possibility that patients who use mail-order pharmacy services are more motivated to take care of their health than patients who do not use such services – researchers conducted additional analyses.to minimize such biases. All analyses, even those accounting for such potential differences, showed a positive, significant association between mail order pharmacy use and cholesterol control.

This study is part of an ongoing body of work analyzing the impact of mail-order pharmacy use on clinical outcomes, and seeks to further understand how health care systems can work with patients to optimize medication use without compromising patient choice or safety.

In a January 2010 study in the American Journal of Managed Care, researchers from UCLA and the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research found that patients with diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol who ordered their medications by mail were more likely to take them as prescribed by their doctors than did patients who obtained them from the local pharmacy.

Additional authors on the Journal of General Internal Medicine study include Andrew J. Karter, PhD; Wendy Dyer, MS; Melissa Parker, MS; and Connie Uratsu, all with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. James Chan, PharmD, PhD, with the Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy Outcomes and Research Group, and O.Kenrik Duru, MD, MSHS, with the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, also are co-authors. Funding was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Division of Diabetes Translation) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases.

PharMerica Corporation to Broadcast Second Quarter 2011 Results Conference Call Live on the Internet

PharMerica Corporation PMC
+0.29% announced today
that it will provide an online simulcast of its second quarter earnings conference call on Friday, August 5, 2011. The Company’s results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2011, will be released after the close of the market on Thursday, August 4, 2011.

The live broadcast of PharMerica’s conference call will begin at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, August 5, 2011. A 30-day online replay will be available approximately one hour following the conclusion of the live broadcast. A link to these events can be found under the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website, www.pharmerica.com or at www.earnings.com .

About PharMerica

PharMerica Corporation is a leading institutional pharmacy services company servicing healthcare facilities in the United States. At March 31, 2011, PharMerica operated 95 institutional pharmacies in 43 states. PharMerica’s customers are institutional healthcare providers, such as nursing centers, assisted living facilities, hospitals and other long-term care providers. The Company also provides pharmacy management services to long-term care hospitals.

Canada Pharmacy Online Suggests Less Sugar Intake to Avoid Health Concerns

Sugar is the common additive in food, but Canada Pharmacy Online suggests that people should avoid high levels of sugar in their daily diet, as it can trigger weight gain, is capable of accelerating growth of cancer cells, and is directly related to accelerating the process of aging.

One of the cheapest ingredients in food, sugar adds flavor and is often use to replace spices from the food. Along with salt and water, it can be added to desserts, sweets, candies, pastries, cakes, and many other sweetened products freely available in the market.

Sugar has traditionally been used to make cookies and cakes at home. It is usually used to supplement regular food in small quantity. However, marketing and commercialism has allowed manufacturers to brand certain products containing high amounts of sugar to unsuspecting people. Large amounts of cakes and pastries are consumed leading to obesity based on easy lifestyle. Once obesity creeps in, regular exercise is reduced, and people find it difficult to expend higher energy levels induced through excess sugar intake.

The World Health Organization has already published a review establishing that populations of the world with high sugar intake faced a higher risk of getting chronic diseases. Problems related to dental caries and obesity were increasing on a regular basis. Researchers suggested that total dietary intake should not exceed 10% on a regular basis.

People often buy Cymbalta and other drugs from Canada Pharmacy Online to fight depression. However, high intake of sugar is responsible for depression as well as several other diseases such as hyperactivity, mood swings, panic attacks, hypoglycemia, chronic fatigue, high cholesterol, dental problems, obesity, and mineral deficiencies. If neglected, chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease could strike.

Keeping the right balance in blood sugar levels is vital for maintaining proper health and stamina. Excess sugar is the number one reason why people experience fatigue. Often, refined carbohydrates lead to high sugar levels which can be equally damaging. Soft drinks can contain eight to nine teaspoons of sugar. More importantly, these aerated drinks often contain high salt content which makes people thirstier after consuming the drink.

A safe way to go about avoiding high sugar intake is to begin with avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and do away with bad habits like smoking. Fried and fatty foods, fast foods, candies, and other food material that contains high quantity of sugar must be avoided. Sugar by itself will not indicate symptoms directly, but once obesity and other chronic ailments set in, people will have low resistance levels that will force them to resort to different prescription drugs in order to live a full and active life.

Canada Pharmacy Online suggests that people adopt exercise therapy for cleaning up the lymph and blood supply system. Good circulation helps in strengthening the immune system, builds up endurance power, and rejuvenates tissues of the body. Regular sugar intake may not be damaging, but a busy lifestyle makes it difficult to compensate for several conditions associated with obesity and anxiety, both at the workplace and at home. By reducing sugar intake, people are giving themselves a better chance to fight off chronic illnesses.