Effectiveness of the SUGAR intervention on hypoglycaemia in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes: A pragmatic randomised controlled trial.

Background: A pharmacist-led, individualised, educational intervention (SUGAR) was formulated to prevent hypoglycaemia among elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Jordan.

Objective(s): To evaluate the effectiveness of the SUGAR intervention added to usual care compared with usual care only in preventing hypoglycaemic attacks in elderly patients with T2DM in Jordan.

Methods: A single-centre, pragmatic, open-label, randomised controlled trial with embedded process evaluation was conducted at the outpatient clinics of a hospital in Jordan.

Saving bones without risking brain-bisphosphonates and risk of stroke: matched case-control study.

Unlabelled: We investigated the association between bisphosphonate treatment and the risk of stroke using a large routine clinical dataset. We found no association between bisphosphonate treatment and risk of stroke, after adjusting for large number of clinical and demographic confounders.

Introduction: There is conflicting evidence on the link between bisphosphonates and stroke with studies variously showing increased, decreased or unchanged risk.

Supervised pharmacy student-led medication review in primary care for patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomised controlled pilot study.

Objective: To pilot and feasibility-test supervised final year undergraduate pharmacy student-led medication reviews for patients with diabetes to enable definitive trial design.

Method: Third year pharmacy students were recruited from one UK School of Pharmacy and trained to review patient's medical records and provide face-to-face consultations under supervision while situated within the patient's medical practice. Patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited by postal invitation letter from their medical practice and randomised via automated system to intervention or usual care.

Impact of active monitoring on lithium management in Norfolk.

Background: Lithium has been used in the fields of rheumatology and psychiatry since the 1800s and it is now generally considered to be a gold standard treatment for bipolar disorders. However, lithium is known to have significant side effects and requires close serum level monitoring to ensure levels remain within the therapeutic range to minimize the risk of serious adverse effects or toxicity. This article reviews the monitoring of lithium and reports on the implementation of a regional lithium register and database within Norfolk.