[Prevention and treatment of Herpes Labialis]. / Herpès labial: Comment le soigner? Comment l'éviter?

Herpes labialis, more commonly known as cold sores or fever blisters, is the most common clinical manifestation of infection with Herpes simplex virus type 1. It is a highly contagious and widespread infection. Generally benign, cold sores may however disturb those who suffer from them, because of the symptoms they cause or their unsightly and frequent appearance. The pharmacist is often consulted to relieve cold sore recurrences. As for any request for advice, the pharmacist will assess if he can help the patient himself or if medical advice is more appropriate. Besides a possible symptomatic treatment, the pharmacist will also advise the patient to prevent recurrence and the contamination of other people.

[How can the community pharmacist improve the adherence to anti-osteoporotic treatments]. / Ostéoporose: que faire pour favoriser l'observance thérapeutique?

Adherence of patients with chronic conditions to their treatment is generally low. However, poor medication adherence or persistence reduces therapeutic effectiveness and increases morbidity and health care costs. This is also the case for anti-osteoporotic treatments that, in order to be effective, must be taken correctly, regularly and long-term. The community pharmacist can play an important role in encouraging long-term adherence to antiosteoporotic treatments. To promote adherence, it is essential, from the beginning, to give to the patient the information needed for a good understanding and a proper course of treatment. The repeated contact between pharmacist and patient creates an opportunity to regularly assess adherence. In order to improve adherence, one needs to identify the causes of non-adherence and adapt the interventions accordingly. Persistence also requires follow-up of the patient. Regular reassessment of patient's adherence, taking into account changes that may affect his expectations, preferences and priorities, is essential to adjust interventions to his new needs. This article suggests ways and tools to improve therapeutic adherence, particularly in osteoporotic patients.

[Osteoporosis: risk factors and prevention]. / Ostéoporose: facteurs de risque et prévention.

Osteoporosis is a chronic disease with an increasing prevalence due to the ageing of the population. The consequences of this disease are not negligible because of the morbidity and mortality associated with it. Osteoporotic fractures are often the cause of loss of independence in the elderly, requiring considerable resources in terms of health services. Osteoporosis can be prevented effectively, but remains underestimated. Thanks to his frequent contacts with the public, the pharmacist can play an important role by informing about the disease and raising awareness for the prevention of it.

[Osteoporosis: treatment and pharmaceutical care]. / Ostéoporose: traitement et soins pharmaceutiques.

Osteoporosis is a chronic disease with an increasing prevalence due to the ageing of the population. The consequences of this disease are not negligible because of the morbidity and mortality associated with it. Osteoporotic fractures are often the cause of loss of independence in the elderly, requiring considerable resources in terms of health services. Osteoporosis can be prevented and treated. However, it remains underestimated, underdiagnosed and undertreated. Thanks to his frequent contact with the public, the pharmacist can play an important role at multiple levels: supporting patients in treatment, by providing information on the disease, its treatment, proper use of medication, adherence and persistence, as well as raising awareness for the prevention of osteoporosis and identifying patients at risk.

[Drugs and driving]. / Conduite et médicaments.

Driving requires alertness at every moment. If everybody knows that between drink and drive, you must choose, few people know that many drugs can have an adverse effect on their ability to drive a vehicle. Most often it is because they can cause drowsiness, make them less attentive or slow reflexes that some drugs increase the risk of accidents, but they can also affect the ability of judgment, impair the view or cause dizziness what becomes dangerous when you're on the road. It is the responsibility of the pharmacist to attract the attention of the patient during the provision of these drugs on the negative impact they can have on driving.

[What can the pharmacist do for a patient with heart failure?]. / Que peut faire le pharmacien pour le patient insuffisant cardiaque?

Heart failure is a chronic and progressive pathology. Its prevalence is increasing due to aging of the population and improved care for patients with cardiovascular disease. This pathology is responsible of very significant costs, particularly because of frequent hospitalizations of patients. Heart failure cannot be cured, but can be effectively treated. The treatment aims to improve the quality of life of the patient by controlling the symptoms of the disease and prolongs life by slowing disease progression. Treatment will consist not only in good drug therapy, but also in educating the patient about his illness and his treatment. This article presents some important elements that the pharmacist must remember to provide optimal care to his patients with heart failure.

[Patient compliance with inhaled medication approach in community pharmacy]. / Médicaments a inhaler et observance thérapeutique: conseil et accompagnement en pharmacie.

Non compliance with chronic administration of inhaled medication is a great pitfall. Pharmacists have an important task in optimizing patient compliance since they hold several advantages for that purpose: they possess an overview of the patient's medication, even prescription free medication such as cough medicines. Moreover, the pharmacist is capable of explaining the role of the medication in therapy and he enjoys the patient's confidence to do so. This article highlights some strategies to measure patient compliance and seeks to understand the underlying reasons for non-compliance. The appropriate pharmacist's action will depend on that reason.

[Approach of dry cough in community pharmacy]. / Prise en charge de la toux sèche en officine.

Cough is a common symptom, often experienced as troublesome. The cough reflex is a physiological defense of the respiratory tract, most often triggered by irritation or obstruction of the airways. Productive cough can expel bronchial secretions. This cough is certainly useful. An irritating, dry cough however, has no purpose and can justify the temporary use of a cough suppressant to relieve symptoms. The pharmacist is often the first person to whom the patient turns. Persistent cough generally indicates an underlying condition that requires a causal treatment. In this case, the pharmacist should refer the patient to the doctor. This article aims to provide guidelines for dealing with dry cough in the pharmacy.

[Managing drug interactions at the pharmacy counter. The case of NSAIDs]. / Que faire face à un risque d'interaction? Cas pratique: les AINS.

Every day, pharmacists are confronted with risks of interactions. If some interactions are well known by the pharmacist and easily detectable the considerable number of possible interactions makes necessary the use of IT technology to highlight them. However, once the risk of interaction identified, we need to analyze it to respond appropriately taking into account various factors that may influence the occurrence of adverse consequences for the patient. The computer is invaluable at this level, but it does not replace the knowledge and thinking of the pharmacist essential for meaningful and practical interpretation of interaction alerts and rational and safe use of medicines. In addition, pharmacists must remain vigilant because, in some situations, interactions whose consequences can be serious, will not be identified by computer systems. To illustrate this, some significant interactions of anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are discussed in this article.

[Pharmacovigilance in pharmacy practice]. / La pharmacovigilance en pratique.

Although rigorous clinical studies are conducted on drugs before they become available to the patient, some side effects are often only detected after marketing. It is the role of pharmacovigilance to identify these effects. Notification of adverse reactions by health professionals and pharmaceutical companies contribute to a better understanding of the safety profile of a drug and thus to better care for patients. As a care provider and in the context of pharmaceutical care, the pharmacist has a responsibility and an active role in monitoring the safe use of medicines. This article deals with the organization of pharmacovigilance in Belgium and some practical aspects