Emerging and Trending Research Themes in Clinical Pharmacy

Description

Clinical pharmacy has significant impact on the overall healthcare. Clinical pharmacy research mainly focuses on the different states of disease and various novel therapeutic approaches. The current clinical pharmacy practice needs improvement with regard to knowledge of clinical pharmacist on the latest drugs and therapeutics the various skills and competencies for effective clinical practice with special emphasis on the hospital pharmacy, community pharmacy, clinical research and the role of the government and non-governmental organization, academic and research organizations. The role of the pharmacists is expanding for effective treatment of the patients including the treatment of the common diseases, medical issues, therapeutic issues and patient centric issues. In-depth analysis of the drug therapy on the efficacy of the treatment of diseases is also the focus of improvement.

Clinical pharmacy has become trans-disciplinary in nature that includes principles of epidemiology, disease etiology, clinical manifestations and pathology of the disease, diagnostic investigations and treatment, in addition to the drugs used in the treatment. It also involves assessment of the risk factors in consonance with other dietary and nutritional guidelines and specific case studies. Such comprehensive approach will yield best possible evidence-based practice.

Rational antibiotic prescription and therapy is another area of research study. Advancements in the therapy of the chronic renal failures and the kidney transplantations are also one of the major emerging research topics in clinical pharmacy. New drug formulations for treating Epilepsy and Parkinson are also gaining more importance in the pharmaceutical research community. Clinical pharmacy of the neurological diseases now includes multiple sclerosis, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Clinical pharmacy is also gaining more relevance in infertility treatment and menopause. Over the past decade there has been a transition to emphasis on the treatment aspect rather than the diagnostic aspects with focus on the patient centered cure. The role of the pharmacist is growing progressively in clinical pharmacy. Some of the trending and the emerging topic of research is gene therapy and the associated health service models, development of the pharmaceutical software for addressing the legal controversies, medical ethical issues, drug dosing, electronic prescriptions of medicines, post marketing surveillance of the drugs, generic equivalency evaluations and quality management. There have been increase in the complexity of the clinical pharmacy including the problems associated with the medication related morbidity and mortality rates as well as the role of the clinically empowered clinical pharmacists for safe effective pharmaceutical care of the patients.

Experts in the therapeutic use of medicines are clinical pharmacists. They regularly offer reviews of pharmaceutical therapy and recommendations to patients and other medical professionals. Clinical pharmacists will give advice and suggestions about the safe, appropriate, and economical use of drugs.  Additionally, clinical pharmacists are now becoming more accessible to the general people. In the past, mainly hospitals, clinics, or educational institutions had access to clinical pharmacists.

Conclusion

New information is now available in the research domains of controlled drugs, adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, anaphylaxis, and clinical trial of drugs, herbal medicines, patient care and management, rehabilitation, calculations associated with pharmaceutical formulations, policies and regulations. Clinical pharmacy is also having enormous role in palliative care and symptoms management. With emerging infectious disease conditions, pharmacogenetics, thyroid disorders, domiciliary oxygen therapy have come into forefront in clinical pharmacy. The concepts, methodology, and applications of clinical pharmacy has evolved and with cutting edge research  the treatment regimen, pharmacovigilance, pharmacokinetics, community and public health pharmacy  and new interventional models of pharmaceutical administration have developed.