If you can read between the lines, you can save a life.

Last week was suicide prevention week. Scotland's suicide rates are higher than anywhere else in the UK. This means two people a day in Scotland die from suicide. Choose Life is Scotland's suicide prevention strategy aimed at reversing this trend.

The new awareness campaign is all about "Reading between the lines" and encourages people to look out for signs that a friend or family member is struggling and talk to them about how they feel as a first step. The bottom line is:

If you are worried that someone is suicidal, ask them. It could save their life.

Most people thinking about suicide will try to let someone know. The key to helping is watching out for the warning signs and knowing what to do to help. There are several signs to watch out for and remember everyone is different so if you are concerned, the best thing you can do is be there to listen.

Someone you know may be at risk of suicide if they:

• appear stressed, anxious or depressed
• don’t seem to be coping with any problems they may have
• are distracted, moody or withdrawn
• show marked changes in their eating, sleeping or drinking habits.

You can help:

• take all signs of distress seriously, even if the person seems to be living a normal life
• ask the person about what’s troubling them
• listen carefully to what they have to say
• let them know you care
• encourage the person to make an appointment with their GP or to call a helpline such as Breathing Space or Samaritans.

If it feels right, ask if they are thinking about suicide. It won’t put the thought in their head if it wasn’t there before, but it can be a big relief for them to be able to say, ‘Yes, I am’ and acknowledge they need help.

I know of two people who have died from suicide. I don't know whether this campaign would have changed the outcome for them, but having seen the devastation caused to family and friends left behind I feel that if another life could be saved by spotting a person in distress and asking the right questions that has to be a good thing, doesn't it?

• Breathing Space on 0800 83 85 87 (24 hours at weekends, Fri–Mon 6pm–6am and Mon–Thurs 6pm–2am)
• Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 (24 hours, 7 days a week)

Dieting and Downton Abbey

I never thought I would use dieting and Downton Abbey in the same sentence and particularly not as a blog title*. Bear with me - and it might start to make sense.

Sunday evening sees the return of the blockbuster show. Series three follows the Crawley family and their servants into the early 1920s, as they all try and put the hardships of the Great War behind them. Gripping stuff, I'm sure. The first two series had a reported 5.5 million viewers per episode and it has its own wikipedia page. To put it simply - It is MASSIVE!!!!

Any marketing department who wants  to launch its television advertising during the series premier of a blockbuster show must think it has a winning product and so we arrive at XLS Medical.

XLS Medical claims to help you lose three times more weight than diet alone. Now this is a big claim. Its nearest rival Alli came off prescription a few years ago and has at best a claim to double your weight loss. Not to mention the unpleasant side effects (diarrhoea) from Alli and the fact that a manufacturing issue has left it unavailable for months and this seemed like an ideal product to add to our weight management service at Barnton Pharmacy.

So, in the interests of providing a personal recommendation, I started taking it myself.

It was time to admit defeat. My second son was six months old and the baby weight was not shifting.....mainly due to too many latte and cake mornings with my mummy friends. In truth I hadn't fully lost the baby weight since my first son!

It ought to be simple and we all know the principles: eat less and move more and you will lose weight. In practice it is harder. There is a toddler and a baby who leave food and I hate waste so I pick at there plates. My partner and I both love our food and will often make something the recipe claims will feed four -  but rarely does in our house! And because of aforementioned baby, toddler, partner (and dog) I no longer have time to go to the gym!! I didn't like the fact that all my clothes were getting tighter and I don't want to buy a new wardrobe in THAT size.

I'm 10 days in to my new regime of healthy eating and XLS medical and so far so good - I've lost four pounds. I know that isn't masses but its a start and it is certainly the kickstart I needed.

The benefits of the tablets which need to be taken after every meal are that you really do not feel hungry. If anything I feel quite bloated. I need to remember this and stop eating when I feel full rather than when the plate is empty.
There are no unpleasant side effects so far.
The hard bit is remembering to take the tablets.

Alongside a massive marketing campaign XLS medical have celebrity endorsements and a great website which will support you with meal plans and recipe ideas as well as an online weight tracker.

XS medical is available at Barnton Pharmacy as part of our weight management service and we will even weigh you every week to help keep your weight loss on track. Pop is to ask me how it is going and find out what we can do to get you on the right plan for you.


*I should point out that I have never watched it and don't intend to start now!!!!

My diabetes, my way

"Chat, click, call" is a new diabetes awareness campaign.

Launched by the Scottish Government and Diabetes UK Scotland in August this campaign aims to empower people with diabetes to be well informed in the management of their condition.

Three resources are available to diabetics:

Chat

Talk to your pharmacist about your medication, general advice about diabetes and also about blood glucose monitoring.

If you are unsure about whether you should be monitoring or need help with your meter, come and see us.

Click

All people with diabetes can access their diabetes related data online.

I think this is a massive step forward and should help those people that want to be involved in their own care to do so.

I wonder how long before all of us will be able to access our own clinical data online?

Call

The final strand of the campaign reminds people with diabetes about the Diabetes UK Scotland Careline which can be access by calling 0845 120 2960. A call to the care line will give you information and support and allow you to share your experiences with others.

These are excellent resources for people with diabetes in Scotland.

Remember that at Barnton pharmacy we are here to help and we also offer a diabetes screening service. Call 0131 339 3449 for more information.

Detect cancer early

This month, we have been promoting the Scottish Government's "Detect Cancer Early" initiative.
The programme’s key aim is that overall 5 year survival for people in Scotland diagnosed with cancer will improve.
There has been much progress in cancer care over the last 20 years. Screening has been improved, new treatments are now available and waiting times have been reduced.
More can still be done.
Scotland still lags behind the rest of Europe in terms of cancer survival rates. One way of improving this figure is to detect cancer earlier, when it is possible to use simpler, less toxic treatments.
The messages are to look out for the following signs:

• A new lump which appears or gets bigger in the breasts, testicles or anywhere else
• A sore that does not heal in the mouth, throat or skin
• A mole that changes shape, size or colour
• any growth that appears on the skin, and continues to grow
• coughing up blood, or blood in the urine or mixed through stools
• things t6hat refuse to clear up, like a cough that never goes away, or a pain somewhere that won't settle
• a change in the pattern of going to the toilet
• unexpected weight loss (that is not because you've been on a diet)

Contact your GP to discuss anything you are worried about and together we can help to detect cancer early.

Pharmacy and the Olympics

At Barnton HQ we are getting very excited about the Olympics. On Friday we set off en famille to London to soak up the sights and sounds of this once in a lifetime adventure. We are going to see the rowing, beach volleyball and some hockey in the Olympic Park. Our children cannot quite "get" what it is all about, but I hope they will look back and be pleased to be able to say they were there.

I thought it would be interesting to have a look around at what impact the Olympics will have on the world of pharmacy.

The Olympic pharmacy services will provide a service to around 200,000 including athletes, officials, press and support teams during the olympics and paralympics. Quite a feat! The figures are incredible:
There will be approximately 17,000 people residing in the Olympic and Paralympic Village in London. Each of the pharmacies will dispense prescriptions written by local UK doctors and for over 1000 visiting team doctors from 205 different countries for the Olympic Games and a smaller number for the Paralympic Games. In addition to catering to the specialist medicine requirements of elite athletes, the pharmacy staff will be involved in providing information to athletes about drugs restricted in sport, with a comprehensive specialist medicines information service provided for the Games.

There are about 100 pharmacist volunteers manning the pharmacies at the Olympic villages. David Mottram is blogging about his experiences at as volunteer. He seems to be surprised at how often he needs to replenish the stock of free condoms!

My community pharmacy colleagues in London have been advised by the National Pharmacy Association to make the most of the Olympics by considering extending their opening hours and upskilling their knowledge on sports medicine. There will inevitably be disruption to "normal Service" and deliveries may be out of hours, but I am certain my colleagues in London will innovate and get through this very special time.

All the learning from London 2012 will be great for Scotland when we host the commonwealth games in Glasgow in 2014, but for now it is all eyes on London.

Come on Team GB! Do us proud!!!

Life begins at 40

As many of you will know, I had a big birthday recently.
As if turning 40 wasn't bad enough, every birthday card screamed it in big numbers, some even came with badges. There were balloons, streamers, banners and even a cake!!!
So I got over that, and I thought I could quietly enjoy the rest of my 41st year without fanfare, but sadly not so.

A letter arrived last week from NHS 24 and Healthier Scotland telling me that "Life begins at 40" and that this is a new service which can help me think about different areas of my life and how they might affect my health and well being now and in the future. Brilliant!

I was invited to complete an assessment. I chose to do it online, but could have done it over the phone and in any language I wanted.

So I thought I'd give it a go......purely so I could let you know the results*. How kind am I?

After logging in you get the option of answering questions in four categories:

• How you treat your body
• How you are feeling in yourself
• How you can stay well
• Things in your life that affect you

The questions are pretty much as you would expect and after each section you are given access to masses of resources ranging from how to reduce the amount of salt in your diet to help with employment and money issues.

It is clear that a huge amount of work has gone into setting up this service and I am certainly impressed by the volume of information available-which can be accessed without having a password - but I am concerned that a huge amount of money will have been spent on targeting a relatively small number of people (those who turn 40! ) and like most of these things, the people who need the advice the most are likely to be those who access the service the least.

*If you are really interested in the results, you'll have to speak to me directly!

Palliative Care: Care when you need it most

This fortnight I am on call as the Palliative Care pharmacist for Lothian. When we signed up to the scheme last year, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. We attended a training session covering which drugs can go into syringe drivers together, what doses of painkillers are comparable and the logistics of the scheme. We agreed to stock a core list of drugs used in palliative care and also signed up to be on call on a rota with eight other pharmacies.

The aims of the palliative care network in Lothian are to:

• Allow timely access to palliative care drugs for patients being cared for at home
• Provide quality information regarding palliative care drugs to patients, carers and other health care professionals
• Support and maintain a network of "palliative care" community pharmacies in NHS Lothian and liaise with other health care professionals on palliative care issues to ensure ongoing excellence.

The Scottish Government produced a forward thinking paper a number of years ago - Living and Dying Well which has prompted a huge amount of good work for patients with conditions which cannot be cured. Much of the work is around anticipating what a person may need and planning their care. In Lothian we are fortunate enough to have two fantastic hospices, Marie Curie and St Columba's. Their teams work across primary and secondary care and with all sectors to give patients and their families the best quality of life for however long that may be. It is an excellent example of great communication and a commitment to deliver top quality care.

The network of pharmacies in Lothian, I think, was the first in Scotland and is now a well used model across the country. Each call out has been different. One has needed my specialist knowledge, one merely a signposting exercise to another pharmacy on a Saturday evening, and the last was to provide a package of drugs used to treat the symptoms which come on in the last days of life. Each of those call outs has hopefully made a difference to those patients and their familes at a time when there are so many other things to worry about. Getting access to the right medicines at the right time should not be one of those things. I feel very proud to be part of this network and will continue to try to help my patients have a good death.

The Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care is an umbrella and representative organisation which, through a collaborative approach, supports and contributes to the development and strategic direction of palliative care in Scotland. Its objective is to promote equitable access throughout Scotland to high quality palliative care for all patients and families on the basis of need not diagnosis. There website is well worth a visit.