Alcohol consumption in college students from the pharmacy faculty.

Alcohol consumption is highly prevalent in university students. Early detection in future health professionals is important: their consumption might not only influence their own health but may determine how they deal with the implementation of preventive strategies in the future. The aim of this paper is to detect the prevalence of risky alcohol consumption in first- and last-degree year students and to compare their drinking patterns.Risky drinking in pharmacy students (n=434) was assessed and measured with the AUDIT questionnaire (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test). A comparative analysis between college students from the first and fifth years of the degree in pharmacy, and that of a group of professors was carried to see differences in their alcohol intake patterns.Risky drinking was detected in 31.3% of students. The highest prevalence of risky drinkers, and the total score of the AUDIT test was found in students in their first academic year. Students in the first academic level taking morning classes had a two-fold risk of risky drinking (OR=1.9 (IC 95%1.1-3.1)) compared with students in the fifth level. The frequency of alcohol consumption increases with the academic level, whereas the number of alcohol beverages per drinking occasion falls.Risky drinking is high during the first year of university. As alcohol consumption might decrease with age, it is important to design preventive strategies that will strengthen this tendency.

El consumo de alcohol es muy prevalente entre los estudiantes universitarios. La detección precoz en futuros profesionales sanitarios es muy importante  puesto que  puede incidir no solo en su salud, sino también en su enfoque en futuras acciones preventivas como profesionales de la salud.Detectar la prevalencia del consumo de riesgo de alcohol en estudiantes de farmacia y en el profesorado y comparar el patrón de consumo entre estos grupos, y según el curso académico.Se realiza un cribado del consumo de alcohol mediante el cuestionario AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) a estudiantes universitarios de farmacia (n=434) en el marco de un proyecto de innovación docente. Se realiza un análisis comparativo entre los estudiantes de primero y quinto curso, y el profesorado. El 31,3% de los estudiantes fueron identificados como bebedores de riesgo. La mayor prevalencia de consumidores de riesgo y las mayores puntuaciones totales se observaron en los alumnos de primer curso. Los estudiantes de primero de turno de mañana presentaron un riesgo de 1,9 (IC 95%1,1-3,1) comparado con los de quinto. La frecuencia de consumo de alcohol se incrementa con el curso académico, mientras que el número de consumiciones por día de consumo se reduce. Durante el primer año en la Facultad los estudiantes presentan una elevada prevalencia de consumo de riesgo. Puesto que con la edad se observa una tendencia decreciente en dichos consumos, es importante diseñar intervenciones preventivas que la favorezcan.

Determination of aflatoxins in medicinal herbs by HPLC. An efficient method for routine analysis.

A fast and easy to perform method for the routine determination of aflatoxins in medicinal herbs was developed. The described method involves a single-step extraction with a non-chlorinated solvent, an immunoaffinity clean-up and HPLC with fluorescence detection. Whilst assays with naturally contaminated and with spiked samples of several herbs showed that the recoveries were somewhat low and dependent on the kind of sample and the degree of grinding, the intra-batch reproducibility was good, allowing a reliable quantitation by the standard-addition method. Good linearity, repeatability and accuracy were demonstrated in assays involving several medicinal herbs. The limit of quantitation was of the order of 0.05-0.1 ng/g, being dependent of the species analysed, and the method required no tedious concentration or back-extraction steps.

Single-blind comparison of venlafaxine and nortriptyline in elderly major depression.

The objective of this single-blind study was to compare the efficacy and safety of venlafaxine extended-release and nortriptyline in elderly patients with moderate to severe major depression. In- and out-patients (N=68) with unipolar major depression were randomized to receive 6-month treatment with either nortriptyline or venlafaxine. Outcomes of the two groups were compared using measures including the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and the Newcastle Scale. Side effects were assessed with the UKU side-effect rating scale. Of the 34 venlafaxine-treated patients, 22 were remitters, 7 were nonremitters, and 5 dropped out. The intent-to-treat remission rate was 71% (22 of 31). Of the 34 who received nortriptyline, 21 were remitters, 7 were nonremitters, and 6 dropped out. The intent-to-treat remission rate was 70% (21 of 30). These results suggest that the remission rate with a therapeutic plasma level of nortriptyline is similar to the remission rate with a standard dose of venlafaxine in this group of elderly major depressed patients. No significant differences were observed between dropout rates in the two groups, but autonomic side-effects were significantly more frequent for nortriptyline than for venlafaxine. These results confirm the efficacy and safety of venlafaxine extended-release for treating elderly major depression.