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Capsule moments

CANCER AND FATIGUE:

I’m sure you have run across Dr. Mike Evans and his cartoony educational blogs on various health topics.  He did one on cancer fatigue and should be watched by everyone with a cancer diagnosis.  Just having cancer is worrisome enough but not having the energy to accomplish day-to-day activities due to fatigue only adds to that worry. As Dr. Evans says in this fatigue episode, “My brain says go.  My body says no”.   And although it’s counterintuitive, keeping moving is the answer.  And the cardinal rule that is applicable to many health and pharmacy situations is valid here….”Start low and go slow”.  

LIVER SPOTS:

Many people are really bothered by these because it’s a sign of aging.  Doctors can check them to see if they are innocuous or not because sometime it is hard to differentiate between liver spots and melanoma.  Pharmacists are often asked about lightening these spots and creams containing retinoids like tretinoin, cortisone products and hydroquinone can sometime help to lighten the spots.  Some people go so far as to have them removed cosmetically by cryotherapy with liquid nitrogen, laser surgery, micro-abrasion or even a chemical peel which involves brushing the skin with a chemical solution causing exfoliation.  There are other solutions that fall under the heading of “home remedies”.  These include aloe vera, red onion skin, orchid extract as well as topical creams containing ingredients like azelaic acid, vitamin E, vitamin C, alphahydroxy acid and copper chlorophyllin.  Or you can simply cover up the spots with make-up.  Using sunscreens (SPF 30+) daily will prevent the spots from getting darker.  Other prevention ideas is to use gloves when gardening in the sun for a long time and don’t use tanning beds!

KIDNEYS:

My Dad had kidney disease.  He used to think it was his 42 years working in a lead/zinc smelter that had something to do with it.  He was on dialysis three times a week for many years while waiting for a transplant but unfortunately died before one became available.  Kidney disease is a nasty business.  We don’t even think about them normally and they just do their job silently when they’re healthy.  This is why I occasionally put a comment about kidneys in the column to remind people of how important they are and how to keep them as healthy as possible.

NEW DRUG-NAMING:

I was interested in how Viagra was named.  Evidently thousand of names were winnowed down to a few Pfizer used focus groups of urologists.  These doctors were asked what it felt like to their patients when the ED problem went away.  The phrase “visualize a strong stream” resulted and spawned the name Viagra, a fusing of the words “vigorous” and “Niagara” to come up with a brand name that I wouldn’t be surprised made it into the Oxford dictionary as well.   Picking a brand name is an intricate process because the name will be used worldwide and spoken in many languages.  The name Tylenol comes from its chemical name:

N-acetyl-p-aminophenol.  As mentioined, Viagra suggests virility.  The name chosen for Pfizer’s new drug for RA is Xeljanz.  The “-janz” part of that name comes from its ability to target a special protein called Janus kinase which makes it different from other RA drugs. I suppose once people learn how to pronounce it, it may become well-known.  If not, people will use its common name….tofacitinib instead.