Tibetan Medicine preserved

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Tibetan medicine

Tibetan Medicine Preserved for the Future

Tibetan medicine may be preserved thanks to a project to put important documents on CDs, according to sources at the Tibetan Medical College. Tibetans began using plants, minerals, and animal organs to treat diseases in the 4th century BC Tibetan medicine has proven effective in treating some chronic ailments that did not respond to more modern methods, but science is only beginning to try to understand why. Medical records interspersed with Buddhist scriptures contain some 20, 000 prescriptions, many of which are not recorded anywhere else, and some have been lost during the chaos of history. Scholars expect to put the "Four Classics" of Tibetan medicine onto discs as well as hundreds of prescriptions collected by Choru Cerang, one of a handful of surviving Tibetan medicine masters. The discs can preserve Tibetan medicine and help in its study by means of technology, scholars say. China has spent 3 million yen (370,000 US dollars) recording Cerang's lectures on Tibetan medicine. These materials will be put onto discs. The Chinese government now encourages the use of Tibetan medicine in other parts of China, and has begun a program to help foreigners learn more about it. At least 20 countries have Tibetan medical research institutes or use the methods.

Prescription Sales top $100 Billion

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire-- For the first time in history, retail sales of prescription drugs will exceed $100 billion this year, according to projections released today by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

NACDS estimates 1998 year-end sales will reach $102.5 billion, an increase of 15 percent over the 1997 level of $89 billion. Chain community pharmacy, which includes traditional chain drug stores, mass merchant chain pharmacies and supermarket chain pharmacies, will account for 61 percent of these sales and will exceed $62 billion for the year.

Additionally, sales of over-the-counter medications in chain pharmacies will reach over $28 billion in 1998, an increase of more than 10 percent over the $26 billion in OTC sales in 1997.

NACDS also announced projected increases in the total number of prescriptions expected to be dispensed by retail pharmacies for 1998 will reach nearly 2.8 billion prescriptions, representing an increase of six percent from the 2.6 billion prescriptions in 1997. Of this total, chain pharmacies will dispense over 60 percent.

Looking to the future, NACDS projects that continuing growth in prescription volume will lead to nearly four billion prescriptions being dispensed in 2005 by community pharmacies. By 2005, the number of retail prescriptions dispensed is projected to be nearly double from 1992's total of 2.07 billion.

Factors contributing to the increase in prescription volume are increasing utilization of prescription drugs, especially by the elderly (those over 65), and the growth in managed care and its reliance on prescription drugs and pharmacy therapy for their enrollees. Currently, the elderly represent about 12 percent of the US Population and consume one-third percent of all prescriptions. The NACDS projections are based on actual store experience for the first six months of this year, as well as US Government sources of prescription sales data and data from IMS America, which tracks pharmaceutical industry trends.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) membership consists of 135 retail chain community pharmacy companies. Collectively, chain community pharmacy comprises the largest component of pharmacy practice with over 91,000 pharmacists. The chain community pharmacy industry is comprised of 19,000 traditional chain drug stores, 6,300 supermarket pharmacies and nearly 5,000 mass Merchant pharmacies. The NACDS membership base operates more than 30,000 retail community pharmacies with annual sales totaling over $135 billion including prescription drugs, over-the-counter (OTC) medications and health and beauty aids (HBA). Chain operated community retail pharmacies fill over 60% of the more than 2.7 billion prescriptions dispensed annually in the United States. Additionally, NACDS membership includes more than 1,300 suppliers of goods and services to chain community pharmacies.

Source: National Association of Chain Drug Stores

Sick Building Syndrome Linked To Certain Molds

LONDON, ENGLAND -- Aug. 25, 1998 -- Certain types of fungal molds seem to be strongly associated with sick building syndrome, finds a study in Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Sick building syndrome was first recognized in 1982 and as yet no single cause has been identified. Symptoms typically include allergic rhinitis, breathing difficulties, headaches, flu and watering eyes.

Researchers analyzed the indoor and outdoor air quality of 48 United States schools where complaints had been made about air quality in the buildings and where symptoms such as runny noses, congestion and itchy or watering eyes were common. More than half the occupants of these schools had also complained of increased levels of respiratory infections such as tonsillitis, bronchitis and even pneumonia. Swabs and samples were taken from areas of visible mold growth and dampness, ventilation and heating systems, standing water, dead air spaces and dusty surfaces. The results showed that in complaint areas two types of fungi -- Penicillin and Stachybotrys -- were significantly more common in indoor air than in outdoor air samples or in non-complaint areas. A high prevalence of Penicillin molds was found in 25 schools. In 11 schools in areas of high humidity, Strachybotrys molds were found under damp carpets, on damp walls and under vinyl wall coverings. Cladosporium and Aspergillus species were also found, although to a lesser extent, in some of the other schools. Penicillin species can easily adapt to most human environments, the authors write. They can grow at mild temperatures (50 F or 10 C) and in conditions of relatively little moisture. The spores are small and can easily enter the lungs. Unattended water leaks and poorly maintained heating and ventilation systems can encourage the molds to develop, the authors write.