Monkeypox is a viral infection. It’s similar to the virus that causes smallpox, and it leads to a similar rash. Fortunately, monkeypox is much less deadly than smallpox. And it does not spread from person to person as easily.
Continue readingHow digital administration can improve benefits plan access for employees?
Employers, employees and benefits advisors alike have long struggled with the inefficient and largely paper-based approach to administrating benefits.
Continue readingHow pharmacist prescribing can alleviate health-care system pressures
Starting next January, pharmacists in Ontario will be able to prescribe medications to treat patients for certain minor ailments. This expanding scope of work is a natural evolution of the wider services pharmacists across the province have been performing since COVID-19 began to stretch the health-care system. They have taken on COVID-19 testing, vaccinations, and the distribution of antiviral medications like Paxlovid.
Continue reading8 Things I Wish People Knew About Shingles
Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) — the same virus that causes chickenpox. Once a person has chickenpox, the virus remains inactive in the body and can re-emerge at any time as shingles.
It is more common in older people and anyone with a weakened immune system. Lisa had been diagnosed several years earlier with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a form of arthritis in which the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues.
Continue readingCan Calcium Supplements Raise Your Risk of Heart Disease?
Many people take calcium supplements daily. Calcium can also be used to treat acid reflux, treat or prevent osteoporosis, or simply to raise blood calcium levels.
But how else does calcium affect the body? And can taking too much be dangerous for your health? It’s estimated that over 40% of people in the U.S. take dietary supplements containing calcium. Could some of these people be at higher risk for certain complications?
Continue readingHOW CAN MEDCHOICE PHARMACY SAVE YOUR HEALTH BENEFIT PLAN?
When Should I Go to the ER for Back Pain?
Back pain is a common condition. It affects up to one in four people, and it’s one of the most common reasons people go to the emergency room (ER). While it can be significantly painful and disruptive to daily life, back pain usually isn’t a condition that threatens life or limb. It usually improves over time with gentle exercise, stretching, and over-the-counter medications.
Continue readingEvusheld: first product approved for pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19
The FDA has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the investigational long-acting monoclonal antibodies tixagevimab and cilgavimab (Evusheld – AstraZeneca) to be administered concomitantly by IM injection for pre-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 in persons ≥12 years old who weigh ≥40 kg and have either a history of severe allergy that prevents their vaccination against COVID-19 or moderate or severe immune compromise (see Box).
Continue readingCanada Authorizes AstraZeneca’s Drug for COVID Prevention
Canada on Thursday authorized British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc’s antibody-based therapy for preventing COVID-19 infections, giving itself another weapon against the disease as cases rise in the country.
Continue readingOnline Program Helps Stroke Survivors Recover
Lifestyle changes, such as reducing or eliminating tobacco and alcohol use, getting more physical activity, eating a healthy diet, and treating depression and anxiety, can significantly improve stroke survivors’ quality of life.
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