Coordination of oral anticoagulant care at hospital discharge (COACHeD): pilot randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: To evaluate whether a focused, expert medication management intervention is feasible and potentially effective in preventing anticoagulation-related adverse events for patients transitioning from hospital to home.

Design: Randomised, parallel design.

Setting: Medical wards at six hospital sites in southern Ontario, Canada.

Coordination of Oral Anticoagulant Care at Hospital Discharge (COACHeD): protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial.

Background: Oral anticoagulants (OACs) are commonly prescribed, have well-documented benefits for important clinical outcomes but have serious harms as well. Rates of OAC-related adverse events including thromboembolic and hemorrhagic events are especially high shortly after hospital discharge. Expert OAC management involving virtual care is a research priority given its potential to reach remote communities in a more feasible, timely, and less costly way than in-person care.

In vitro analysis of the herbal compound Essiac.

Background: Despite the recommendation of the Task Force on Alternative Therapies of the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative, little research has been published on the widely used herbal compound Essiac. We aimed to address this deficiency by conducting a series of assays to determine some of the purported activities of Essiac in vitro.

Materials And Methods: The activity of Essiac was measured using established assays to assess anti-oxidant, fibrinolytic, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, immune modulation, cell-specific cytotoxicity, and impact on cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzyme pathways.

Application of the precautionary principle by senior policy officials: results of a Canadian survey.

Though use of the controversial precautionary principle in risk management has increasingly been recommended as a guide for the construction of public policy in Canada and elsewhere, there are few data available characterizing its use in risk management by senior public policymakers. Using established survey methodology we sought to investigate the perceptions and terms of application of the precautionary principle in this important subset of individuals. A total of 240 surveys were sent out to seven departments or agencies in the Canadian government.

Impact of African herbal medicines on antiretroviral metabolism.

We examined the effects of two African herbal medicines recommended for HIV/AIDS patients on antiretroviral metabolism. Extracts from Hypoxis and Sutherlandia showed significant effects on cytochrome P450 3A4 metabolism and activated the pregnane X receptor approximately twofold. P-glycoprotein expression was inhibited, with Hypoxis showing 42-51% and Sutherlandia showing 19-31% of activity compared with verapamil.

Knowledge of safety and herb-drug interations amongst HIV+ individuals: a focus group study.

Objective: To determine how HIV+ individuals access safety and knowledge of drug interactions related to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

Methods: We conducted two separate focus group sessions with HIV+ users of complementary therapies. A total of 8 men participated at an urban health centre.