@article {130, title = {Impact of Severity of Poly Pharmacy on Medication Adherence in Patients with type II Diabetes Mellitus}, journal = {International Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical Sciences}, volume = {4}, year = {2015}, month = {Dec 2015}, pages = {94-97}, type = {Research Article}, chapter = {94}, abstract = {

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a complex chronic disease and people with diabetes estimated to reach 552 million by 2030 worldwide. World Health Organization stated that only 50\% of patients diagnosed with a chronic illness were fully compliant with their treatment regime. Objectives: To test the hypothesis that adherence decreases with increase in number of medications prescribed in patients with type II diabetes mellitus. Materials and methods: It was a comparative cross sectional study conducted in the department of medicine, medical college, Kozhikode. Patients visiting in the outpatient department of general medicine who satisfy the inclusion criteria were enrolled into the study. Patient medication adherence was measured by medication adherence questionnaire. Results analyzed using student{\textquoteright}s t test. Results: A total of 218 type II diabetic patients enrolled in this 6 months study in which minor poly pharmacy accounts for 18 patients, and the remaining were major poly pharmacy regime. The average number of drugs prescribed was 4.71 {\textpm} 2.12. The mean value of medication adherence score is more in major poly pharmacy group (3.48) when compared with minor poly pharmacy group (1.96). Higher the value of medication adherence score lower is the value of medication adherence of the patient. Conclusion: Polypharmacy continues to be a significant issue and little research has been conducted regarding the relationship between medication adherence and poly pharmacy. Medication adherence is affected by certain factors other than the number of drugs prescribed.

}, keywords = {Compliance, Diabetes Mellitus, Medication Adherence, Patients, Polypharmacy}, doi = {10.5530/ijpcs.4.4.5}, author = {Manju Cheenkallel Sreenivasan and Rinisha Razak and Athira Balakrishnan and Chandni Radhakrishnan} } @article {135, title = {International Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical Sciences (IJPCS): The Journey}, journal = {International Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical Sciences}, volume = {3}, year = {2014}, month = {December 2014}, pages = {73-74}, type = {Editorial}, chapter = {73}, abstract = {

IJPCS, which began 3 years ago in the year 2012, with the intention of widely dissem-inating authentic scientific knowledge through open access and double blind peer review pro-cess, has published 55 articles till date free of charge to authors. All the articles are available for free download in the journal{\textquoteright}s website www.ijpcs.net. Since its inception in April, 2012 to Dec, 2014, IJPCS has received 148 articles from various fields of traditional and modern medicine including, pharmacology, surgery, anesthesiology, ethnopharmacology, medical education etc. In 2014, among articles submitted, 18\% were of authors from outside India. 28.8\% of articles submitted were published with a re-jection rate of 33.3\%. The review process could identify 6.6\% of articles as redundant submis-sions. Read more...

}, keywords = {Nill}, author = {Vasudha Devi} } @article {163, title = {Introduction of Integrated Lecture Module: Performance and Perception of II Year Medical Students}, journal = {International Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical Sciences}, volume = {2}, year = {2013}, month = {June 2013}, pages = {47-54}, type = {Research Article}, chapter = {47}, abstract = {

Background: Integration of subjects, facilitates acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes to {\textquoteleft}theoretical{\textquoteright} subjects in a clinical context in comparison to traditional teaching. The utility of integrated lecture modules (ILM) was accordingly planned and the objective of the study was to evaluate the performance and to document the perception of year II MBBS students exposed to both the integrated and didactic lecture modules. Materials and Methods: The project was executed on 140 consented year II MBBS students who were randomly divided into 2 groups; group I (n=70) was exposed to didactic lecture (DLG), group II (n=70) to integrated lecture (ILG). The didactic lectures were taken by Pharmacology faculty, while integrated lectures by Pharmacology, Preventive and Social Medicine and Pediatrics faculty. Before the session, students appeared for a pretest consisting of 20 MCQs. Following the post test, the evaluation of the perception of students regarding this study was done by administering an 18 item feedback questionnaire. The agree and disagree comments from the respondents was expressed in percent-age and the pre and post test scores were analysed using the t test. Results: The mean pretest MCQ score in the DLG was 6.95 {\textpm} 1.38, which increased to 13.84 {\textpm} 3.79 in posttest. Similarly, the mean pre and post test scores of ILG were 6.17 {\textpm} 1.54 and 17.64 {\textpm} 2.68 respectively. In the feedback questionnaire 96\% students opined that ILM improved their understanding (versus 77\% for DLG) and 83\% students stated that the knowledge gained in ILM will help them in clinical practice (versus 73 \% in DLG). Conclusion: Implementation of vertical integration among pre, para and clinical subjects is beneficial as observed by the improved performance of students when exposed to ILM and as indicated by their response in the feedback.

}, keywords = {Didactic lecture, Student feedback, Vertical integration}, author = {Raakhi Tripathi and Pankaj Sarkate and Sharmila Jalgaonkar} } @article {136, title = {International Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical Sciences: A knowledge base for Scientific Enquiry and Better Patient Care}, journal = {International Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical Sciences}, volume = {1}, year = {2012}, month = {April 2012}, pages = {1-2}, type = {Editorial}, chapter = {1}, abstract = {

The current health care system of the world is dependent on the modern medicine which focusses on curative rather than preventive aspects of medicine. The modern medicine has increased the life expectancy and quality of human life by delivering remedial measures for several diseases. This was possible because of advances in research and availability of evidences to practice medicine. However, in low-income and middle-income countries, drugs account for 20{\textemdash}60\% of health-care costs. [1] The large proportion of these costs is paid out-of-pocket by patients which could be due to inadequate or no coverage by health insurance. To make the condition worse, a third of the world{\textquoteright}s population lack access to essential medicines.[2] Cost of drugs is one of the factors contributing to the problem of access to medicines. It is estimated that, in India, out-of-pocket health expenditure traps 2.2\% of the population below the poverty line each year.[3] In addition, the Indian health system has to face many other challenges like inadequately control Read More....

}, keywords = {Nil}, author = {Dr.Vasudha Devi} } @article {176, title = {In-vitro Alpha-glucosidase Inhibitory Activity of Abraga Chendhooram, a Siddha Drug}, journal = {International Journal of Pharmacology and Clinical Sciences}, volume = {1}, year = {2012}, month = {Sep 2012}, pages = {79-81}, type = {Short Communication}, chapter = {79}, abstract = {

The present study was carried out to evaluate alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity of abraga chendhooram which is a Siddha drug being used to treat diabetes mellitus. The ingredient of abraga chendhooram includes biotite (K(Mg,Fe)3AlSi3O10(F,OH)2), Sesbania grandiflora, Calotropis gigantea and Momordica charantia. In-vitro alpha-glucosidase inhibitory assay was performed by standard procedure. Different concentrations of abraga chendhooram and miglitol (standard drug) were used. Abraga chendhooram exhibited a dose dependent alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity, but it was less than standard drug. Further studies are warranted to look other possible mechanisms for its antidiabetic claim and to assess its safety

}, keywords = {Abraga, Ayurveda, Basma, Biotite, Diabetes Mellitus, Herbo-metallic, Mica}, author = {R. Sathish and R. Madhavan and Hannah R. Vasanthi and Arul Amuthan} }