What is Carnitine?

Carnitine is an amino acid-like substance that is synthesized in the body from the amino acid lysine. Carnitine is important in the metabolism of fat and energy production within the body, and promotes normal heart, skeletal muscle and liver function. Carnitine improves athletic ability. Some carnitine may be obtained from dietary sources, primarily meat since vegetables and fruit contain relatively little carnitine.

Athletes are most at risk from carnitine deficiency; vegetarians may also be at risk of carnitine deficiency if their diet contains low levels of lysine. Carnitine supplements are available in several chemical forms- only the L-form of carnitine is biologically active (the D-form is inactive). Carnitine levels are reduced by a high fat diet, certain drugs (e.g. valproic acid antibiotics), metabolic stress or disease.

Infestation with Head Lice is a global issue; people of any age can be affected, however head lice tend to be more common in children. Although the exact rates of infestation in the UK are unknown, studies have shown that around 8% of children in primary schools have live lice.

These days people tend to find the idea of head lice infestation disgusting, however it is probably worth noting that a head louse infestation only really causes itching an no other physical problems and that Lice are not known to carry or transfer any diseases.

Treatment of Head Lice requires knowledge of 2 key things:

1. The methods that are available
2. The life-cycle of the head louse

In recent years new products have become available that promise to make treatment easier and more convenient.

Head Lice are parasitic insects that live on the human scalp and feed on blood four to five times a day. They hang on to hairs close to the head, normally behind the ears or in the nape of the neck and are only rarely found in other hairy areas.  They have strong claws and cannot be removed from the hair by normal combing or brushing.

Head lice are spread through head-to-head contact because they cannot fly, jump or swim. This means that they are very unlikely to be spread through sharing combs, brushes, towels, clothing or bedding as they cannot survive for more that 12 hours away from their host. If a louse drops out of the hair than it is normally injured or too weak to crawl back to its host and will die.

Mature lice are about 3mm long and be beige, brown or blackish often camouflaging to the surrounding hair. The fertilised female can lay 5 to 10 eggs a day. The oval, yellowish-white eggs are golued singly to the hair shaft.

After 7 days the egg hatches leaving an empty egg case (or nit) stuck in the hair. Young lice are known as nymphs; they are white and smaller than adults. Over the next 10 days the nymph will moult three times and grow into a mature louse. Lice feed by piercing the skin and sucking blood from the scalp.

All the recommended treatments kill the adult lice but are less effective on the nymphs and eggs. This is why it is recommended to do a second treatment after 7 days to kill all of the freshly hatched nymphs. It is important to check that treatment has been effective 2-3 days afterwards. A Lice detection comb should be used again 8-10 days after treatment.

The main agents that are used for the treatment of head lice are physically acting compounds (dimeticone-based) and insecticides, including pyrethroids (permethrin), malathion and carbaryl. All of these except carbaryl can be supplied without a prescription.

The way that treatments like Hedrin work are not fully understood but it is believed that they work by coating the lice and disrupting their water balance meachanisms, stopping them from excreting waste and causing them to die. This means that these products are highly effective even on lice that may have become resistant to insecticides. You should always follow the instructions on any packaging fully.

Insecticide treatments like Derbac M, which use Malathion, or Lyclear are normally applied to dry hair so that the scalp and roots are saturated. It is then left to dry naturally and washed off after 12 hours. Shampoos and foam products are not normally as effective due to the short amount of contact time and the low strength of many that are available.

Pregnant women and people who suffer from asthma or eczema are normally advised to use Dimeticone based products (Hedrin).

A piece of Finnish research has shown that having a lower level of Vitamin D in your body can lead to you developing Parkinson’s Disease in later life.

They performed a study invloved 3000 people and found that people who were exposed to lower level of  Vitamin D, which is produced by your skin when it is in contact with sunlight, are three times more likely to suffer with the disease.

Some experts think that Vitamin D could help to protect the nerve cells which become damaged in Parkinson’s sufferers.

Parkinson’s disease affects several parts of the brain, leading to symptoms like tremors and slow movements.

The Finnish researchers used a set of results gained 30 years ago to conduct the research. They then closely followed the health of these people to see which of them contracted Parkinson’s disease.

This is when they found the astonishing fact that people with high levels of Vitamin D are times less likely to suffer from Parkinson’s than people with low levels.

Vitamin D is made by the body when the skin is exposed to sunlight, you can also find it in foods like oily fish, milk or cereals. There are a number of Calcium and Vitamin D supplements on the market that can also help to increase your levels of Vitamin D.

Your skin becomes less effective at producing Vitamin D as you age.

Vitamin D is also known to help the uptake of Calcium to help bone formation

But research is now showing that it also plays a role in regulating the immune system, as well as in the development of the nervous system.

Alli is a popular weight loss product that has been around since early last year. It contains an ingredient called Orlistat, which had been available only on prescription until Alli was launched.

All works in your digestive system to stop about a quarter of fat in your meals from being absorbed into your body. This fat passes out of your body and may cause changes to your bowel movements. By stopping your body from absorbing more of the fat, Alli helps you to lose weight as long as you eat the right kind of diet.

In the last few months Alli has gained a lot of press coverage in the UK because of possible “fake” Alli being sold, mainly online. So we at Pharmacy First thought that it would be a good idea to tell you exactly what you should be looking out for when you receive your Alli.

Firstly, check that the website that you are purchasing from is fully accredited and has the Registered Pharmacy logo on their site. This shows that the website is registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. This goes a long way to showing that they are a reputable company to purchase medications from.

Once the product arrives there are a number of things to look out for.
Fake Alli is sometimes missing an LOT number on the side of the box. This should be a 7 digit number that shows the batch of Alli they the box was produced with.

Another thing to look out for is the expiry date. A lot of the “fake” Alli have an expiry date that includes day, month and year (e.g 19 09 2011), whereas the genuine Alli has only shows the month and the year (e.g 09 2011).

Genuine Alli capsules contain small white pelletts, as seen below, while a large number of fake tablets contain a white powder instead.

There has been a number of other articles writeen about this subject in the past that have claimed that there should also be writing printed on the foil seal of the bottle under the lid. We have spoken to GlaxoSmithKline (who make the drug) about this after a number of queries from our customers. We were informed that this used to be the case but that it is not anymore. The reason given was due to increased costs in getting this printed in numerous languages for international export.

At Pharmacy First we are committed to offering the best possible customer service, so we have ensured that the prices for our Alli Capsules are second to none. We currently sell packs of 42 Alli Capsules for £19.60 and packs of 84 Alli Capsules for £29.95.

Research by University College London suggests that Teenage smoking rates in England have dropped significantly since the legal age for buying cigarettes rose from 16 to 18.

There has been a drop from 24% to 17% in smoking rates in the age grooup 16-17 since the change of rules. However smoking rates in over 18s remained unchanged. The results for the 16-17 year old age group was based on surveying 100 people in the age group.

It is commonly accepted that more than 80% of smokers start before the age of 19 and that half of all long-term smokers will die of cancer or other smoking-related diseases.

Jenny Fidler, who led the study said: “The new law looks to have helped reduce smoking prevalence among younger age groups.

“This is good news for the future health of this generation of young people and shows that tobacco policies can make a real difference.”

Jean King, Cancer Research UK‘s director of tobacco control, said: “This result is encouraging. We would like to have seen an even bigger drop in the number of young smokers but any measure that helps stops young people from smoking is a step in the right direction.

“We need to do more to protect young people. We urge the government to prevent more lives being lost to an addiction that will kill half of all long term smokers.”

She said putting tobacco out of sight in shops and removing cigarette vending machines would be a good place to start.

If you are a smoker, there are many products on the market to aid you in quitting. These include Lozenges, Inhalators (and Electric Cigarettes), Patches and Gum. Different people find different things that work for them individually.

Pharmacy First try to be as competitive as possible on all smoking cessation products to try to help improve the state of the nations health. Please feel free to contact us about smoking or if you need any advice about  the best ways to quit.

Athlete’s foot (tinea pedis) is a very common skin infection caused by a fungus.

It most often affects the skin between the toes, making it flaky, cracked, red or sore. In some people the skin becomes very sore and may even bleed.

The space between the 4th and 5th toes is the most commonly affected and if untreated it can spread to the toenails and adjacent areas of the foot.

Cracks in the skin sometimes leads to a more serious secondary bacterial infection. There are several fungi present on our skin. Under normal conditions these fungi cause no problems and go unnoticed. However, under certain conditions the fungi are able to multiply and cause infection in warm moist closed environments such as the toes.

Athlete’s foot is contagious and can be spread from person to person through direct contact through a cut or abrasion of the foot or indirectly through towels, walking barefoot in places such as changing rooms at swimming pools. Adults are more likely than children to get athlete’s foot, and men get it more often than women.

Treatment

There are various creams (for use directly on the feet), powders (for use in shoes and socks) and sprays (for use directly on the feet and sprayed in shoes) available over the counter to treat athlete’s foot.

Imidazole creams such as miconazole and clotrimazole work by killing the fungus and need to be applied until the skin seems to be back to normal and then for a further two weeks to eradicate all the remaining fungal spores.

Topical terbinafine cream requires only 1 to 2 weeks of treatment but is more expensive than Imidazole creams.

Tolnaftates act by reducing the growth of fungus and can be used in conjunction with Imidazole creams.

Salicylic and Benzoic acid combined are able to penetrate the skin by removing surface hard skin. If symptoms do not improve it is advisable to see your Doctor who may prescribe antifungal tablets particularly if the infection has spread to the nails.

Diabetics are more prone to developing an infection in addition to athlete’s foot and should always consult a GP.

Prevention

The tips below may be useful for anybody who has athlete’s foot or who finds that the infection keeps coming back:

Wash and dry your feet daily, particularly between the toes

• Try to not let your feet get sweaty and avoid wearing thick socks or tight shoes in warm weather

• Change your socks or tights daily. Wear socks and shoes made from natural materials

• Wear plastic shoes or flip flops in public showers, changing rooms and around pools

• Do not share towels

• Air your feet as often as you can

• Avoid re-infection

Treatment (without Prescription)

There are a number of good treatments available for athletes foot. Scholl make a very popular athletes foot spray which targets the fungi and prevents reinfection while also helping to stop itching and soreness.

Other popular products for dealing with athletes foot include the Daktarin range of products which are very effective antifungals that are effective for removing the causes of the infection and ensuring that it does not return.