PurposeThis study objective was to explore the pattern of self-medications among King Khalid University students, Saudi Arabia.Patients and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted over five months among King Khalid University students, Abha, Saudi Arabia.ResultsAmong all the study participants, nearly 98.7% were practicing self-medication. Headache (75.9%), cough and cold (52.5%), and fever (35.6%) and body pain (24.6%) were the most reported symptoms. Use of painkillers (91.6%) was significantly predominant among the medical students, whereas non-medical students used antibiotics (35.4%).Time saving (64.2%), mild symptom (51.7%) and quick relief (36.9%) were the reasons behind seeking self-medication in this study.ConclusionSelf-medications was common in King Khalid University. Educational programs are highly recommended.

Background. Hypertension is extremely prevalent in patients with diabetes. Limited data exist on utilization patterns of antihypertensive in this population are consistent with evidence-based practice guidelines. Objective. To evaluate utilization patterns of antihypertensive agents among diabetic patients with hypertension. Design. Retrospective descriptive cross sectional. Patients / Participants. 149 patients with diabetes and hypertension from outpatient department at Family Medicine Hospital, Ahaderfieda. Khamis Mushait, K.S.A. Results. Over 43% of patients were receiving calcium channel blockers (CCB), 36.2 % of received angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI), followed by angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) (34.9%), diuretics (34.2%) and β-blockers (16.2%). Patients on monotherapy were mostly receiving CCB (34.3%) and ACEI (29.9%). The majority (55.03%) of treated patients were on multidrug regimens. In patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), a diuretic with ACEI (25%) and calcium channel blocker with angiotensin receptor blocker (25%) was most commonly prescribed. Conclusions. Patterns of antihypertensive therapy were generally consistent with international guidelines. Areas of improvement include increasing ACEI/ARB and diuretic use, decreasing the number of untreated patients, and increasing the proportion of patients with controlled BP in this population.

The pharmacokinetic of simvastatin 40 mg tablet was assessed in 9 healthy Malaysian male subjects after a single oral dose in Pinang Hospital, Malaysian. Blood samples were collected at specified time intervals, plasma separated and analyzed for simvastatin using validated LC-MS-MS method at unversiti sains Malaysia. The pharmacokinetic parameters AUC 0-24 C max , T max , t 1/2 , K e , Cl and V d were determined from plasma concentration-time profile for simvastatin. The results of this current method were consistent with other methods previously reported.

Objectives: This study was directed to evaluate community pharmacists’ attitudes towards professional practice and determine their observed competence in various pharmaceutical activities. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in the city of Kuala Lumpur. The questionnaire contained 40 questions splitted into six sections that addressed several aspects of practice and demographic information. The study was involved in 223 licensed pharmacists who work in community pharmacies. Data were analyzed by using SPSS. Chi-square and Pearson’s correlation tests were used for statistical significance for dichotomous data. Key findings: Among the 233 respondents in managerial activities, 194 (87%) achieved the score good, and 5 (2.2%) had the score poor. In dispensing activities, 199 (89.2%) achieved the score good, and 5 (2.2%) had the score poor. In pharmaceutical care activities, 209 (93.7%) got the score good, and 4 (1.8%) got the score poor. In inter/intra professional activities, 108 (48.4%) got the score good, and 10 (4.5%) got the score poor. In public health activities, 153 (68.6%) got the score good, and 6 (2.7%) got the score poor whereas in the maintenance of competency activities, 160 (71.7%) got the score good, and 3 (1.3%) got the score poor. Conclusions: The highest of participants got a good attitude was 93.7% for pharmaceutical care activities while the highest of participants got poor attitude was 4.5% for inter/intra professional activities. The majority of the participants are accepting the activities to maintain competence.

Introduction: The Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) for determination simvastatin in human plasma has been developed after extraction by by ethyl acetate and hexane (90/10%, v/v) using lovastatin as internal standard. Material and Methods:The mobile phase consisting of mixture of acetonitrile and water (75/25%, v/v) 500μL/min by separated the solutes on a C18 column. discussion:The lower limit of quantitation of 0.25 ng/mL was achieved when the calibration curve was linear from 0.25-50 ng/mL. The entire run time for analysis was only 6 min. The quantitation in the selective reaction monitoring (SRM) in positive ion mode, the daughter ions m/z 325 for simvastatin and m/z 285 for lovastatin were used. The Parent ions in positive ion mode were m/z 441.3 for simvastatin and m/z 405.1 for lovastatin. The intra-day coefficients of variation were less than 14% while the inter-day coefficients of variation were less than 10%. conclusion:The LC-MS-MS detection is sensitive due to its capability to eliminate interferences from endogenous components.