Where there is no energy, there is death. A fundamental requirement for maintaining our physical existence is the ability to generate energy for the body. Let’s talk about all the sources our body uses to create energy. Let me walk you through 4 metabolic processes that the body uses to create energy. Energy is soContinue reading “Blood Glucose: 4 Ways The Body Generates Energy”
Tag Archives: pharmacy notes
How to Dose Vancomycin: When Protocols Fail
Standard vancomycin dosing will not work for every patient. Let me walk you through 3 often overlooked patient characteristics that suggests the need for closer scrutiny and off-protocol dosing. This isn’t a post about how to perform detailed vancomycin calculations. It’s about learning how anticipate and be responsive to the body mechanics of patients toContinue reading “How to Dose Vancomycin: When Protocols Fail”
How to Use 5 Blood Products from Whole Blood
Every 2 seconds a blood transfusion is needed in the United States. Let me walk you through what you need to know about how we derive and how we use blood products. We give transfusions as a way to supplement blood loss, maintain hemostasis and oxygenation in a wide range of scenarios: major blood lossContinue reading “How to Use 5 Blood Products from Whole Blood”
Blood Compatibility: What You Need to Know Before Transfusion
Blood compatibility is a matter of life and death. What blood type a patient can receive is a decision that has to made quickly and accurately every time. I’ll walk you through 3 simple steps to make the right call every time when matching blood types and provide quick reference charts of blood compatibilities. UnderstandingContinue reading “Blood Compatibility: What You Need to Know Before Transfusion”
Everything You Need to Know: Dabigatran
Dabigatran changed the landscape and set a new standard for oral anticoagulation in 2010. It was the first oral alternative to warfarin and the inaugural member of the drug class Direct Acting Oral Anticoagulants (DOACs). It is still the only oral anticoagulant in the subclass of Direct Thrombin Inhibitor. Let me walk you through everythingContinue reading “Everything You Need to Know: Dabigatran”
Rivaroxaban: What You Need to Know to Maximize Patient Outcomes
2 million people use rivaroxaban each year. The benefits are proven, the risks are manageable. Let me what you through what you need to know to minimize risk and optimize efficacy. Rivaroxaban is an oral anticoagulant. It belongs to the drug class: Direct Oral Anticoagulant (DOAC). DOACs were introduced in 2010 as an alternative toContinue reading “Rivaroxaban: What You Need to Know to Maximize Patient Outcomes”
Everything You Need to Know: Apixaban
Apixaban is an oral anticoagulant. It belongs to the drug class: Direct Oral Anticoagulant (DOAC). DOACs were introduced in 2010 as an alternative to warfarin. They address alot of the complexities associated with the use of warfarin. Warfarin is effective within a very narrow therapeutic range. This window of efficacy is easily disrupted by manyContinue reading “Everything You Need to Know: Apixaban”
Fundamentals of Warfarin Dosing
Efficacy of warfarin is determined by the attain and maintaining an INR (International Normalized Ratio) with a narrow range of usually 2-3. This requires consistent blood monitoring. INR is essentially a measure of how quickly blood will clot. The unit Warfarin: The Fundamentals discusses the mechanism of action and drug interactions of warfarin in moreContinue reading “Fundamentals of Warfarin Dosing”
How to Treat: Atrial Fibrillation
Treatment of atrial fibrillation centers reducing the risk of thrombus formation and stroke as well as treatment as disease progresses. Learn how we use validated tools to balance risk of the atrial fibrillation with the risk of treatment.
Statistics: How to Calculate Specificity in 3 Steps
Specificity is descriptive of a test. It describes the probability that the test will correctly not detect a diagnostic marker in a patient where it is truly absent. Calculating statistical specificity can be done in 3 simple steps. Sensitivity and specificity are often explained together. I think this is mostly done by convention even thoughContinue reading “Statistics: How to Calculate Specificity in 3 Steps”