Hypertension is the foremost risk factor for cardiovascular events globally and affects around a third of adults.

High blood pressure can affect people of all ages but does not always have symptoms. Untreated, high blood pressure may lead to conditions like heart disease or a stroke.

Monitoring your blood pressure for 24 hours can help work out if its consistently high. This would be particularly useful if you:

• Have family members with a history of high blood pressure.
• Suspect you have high or borderline high blood pressure.
• Experience variable blood pressure.
• Have conditions such as diabetes or high cholesterol.
• Already take medicines to reduce your blood pressure.
• Experience blood pressure that is hard to control.
• Want to check for Atrial Fibrillation (irregular heartbeat).

For convenience and proximity reasons, community pharmacies play an increasingly important role in hypertension screening and monitoring.

Our service involves fitting you with a device to wear, which includes a cuff around your arm that will measure your blood pressure for 24 hours.

Blood Pressure Category	Systolic mm Hg (upper number)		Diastolic mm Hg (lower number)
Normal	Less than 120	and	Less than 80
Elevated	120-129	and	Less than 80
High Blood Pressure – Hypertension Stage 1	130-139	or	80-89
High Blood Pressure – Hypertension Stage 2	Higher than 140	or	Higher than 90
Hypertensive Crisis	Higher than 180	and/or	Higher than 120

A person’s BMI, or body mass index, is one way of measuring whether you are a healthy weight for your height. Body Mass Index is calculated using a person’s weight in kilograms (kg) divided by the square of height in meters (m2).

Initially used as a statistical index of health and weight for a population group, BMI can be used to show the weight categories that may lead to health problems but it is not diagnostic of the body fatness or health of an individual. Nonetheless, your BMI is a good indication of whether you are a healthy weight, and if not, how over or underweight you are.

BMI	Classification
Less than 18.5	Underweight
18.5 - 24.9	Normal Weight
25 - 29.9	Overweight
Over 30	Obese

Obesity is currently a worldwide problem, with overweight (body mass index ≥25 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) estimated at 35% and 12% of the overall adult population, respectively.

We can assist with weight loss steps by evaluating potential obesity-related diseases; obtaining a weight history, identifying patient triggers and screening for medications that may influence weight gain. Plus, we can evaluate and track weight and height in calculating your body mass index (BMI).

Emergency Hormonal Contraception (morning after pill) can be used to prevent unplanned pregnancy.

An unplanned pregnancy could occur due to mishaps with contraceptives, a missed pill, incorrect timing of patch or vaginal ring application.

Emergency contraception is not suitable as a regular method of contraception and it does not prevent pregnancy in every woman. It can be used by women of all ages to prevent unplanned pregnancy.

Emergency contraception is most effective if taken as soon as possible after unprotected sex.

However, if you are already pregnant, emergency contraceptive pills will not work.

Medical card holders can get emergency contraception directly from a pharmacy, free of charge, without having to go to their GP for a prescription.

Emergency contraception does not provide protection from sexually transmitted infections.

Our compassionate pharmacists provide access to emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) following a private consultation.

Seasonal flu or influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by flu viruses which circulate in all parts of the world.

Seasonal flu symptoms include a high temperature, a severe (usually dry) cough, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, sore throat, and a runny nose. A person with the flu will also feel extremely unwell.

Most people recover from the symptoms within a week or two without requiring medical attention. But flu can cause severe illness or death especially in people at high risk (see below).

Illnesses range from mild to severe and even death. Hospitalisation and death occur mainly among high risk groups.

The most effective way to prevent the flu is get vaccinated. An annual vaccination is recommended as immunity decreases over time. The flu vaccine can be administered as an injection or using an intra-nasal spray.

While everyone should consider getting a flu vaccine, it is especially important that the following groups get vaccinated:

• Persons aged 65 years and older.
• Persons with a chronic illness requiring regular follow up, e.g. chronic respiratory disease (including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, moderate or severe asthma and bronchopulmonary dysplasia), chronic heart disease (including acute coronary syndrome), chronic renal disease, diabetes mellitus, haemoglobinopathies, chronic liver disease, chronic neurological disease (including multiple sclerosis, hereditary and degenerative disorders of the central nervous system).
• Those who are immunosuppressed due to disease or treatment including those with missing or non-functioning spleens.
• All cancer patients.
• Patients with any condition that can compromise respiratory function, e.g. spinal cord injury, seizure disorder or other neuromuscular disorder.
• Persons with Down syndrome.
• Those with morbid obesity, i.e. body mass index over 40.
• All pregnant women (vaccine can be given at any stage of pregnancy).
• Healthcare workers.
• Household contacts of at-risk persons.
• Out-of-home care givers to at-risk persons.
• Residents of nursing homes and other long stay institutions.
• Carers.
• People with regular contact with pigs, poultry, or waterfowl.

If you find it difficult to come to the pharmacy to collect your medicines, we are happy to deliver to patients in the locality for free. Please call us if you need to avail of this service and we can organise a delivery time that suits.

The goal of the Health Check programme is to offer a straightforward risk assessment of your general health. It will highlight any risk factors you might have and advice around how you could lessen those risks. Depending on a needs-assessment, your blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol, blood glucose levels and BMI amongst other markers may be checked.

Living a healthy lifestyle and completing a regular health check can improve your health, general well-being and ultimately your life expectancy.

We offer a home delivery services and are especially conscious of our vulnerable patients. Delivery is perfect for patients who have difficulty coming into the store for their medicines due to tight schedules, illness, or other reasons.

Marie, in addition to being our Supervising Pharmacist who finished top of her class when studying Pharmacy at Trinity College Dublin, also studied Nutritional Therapy at the renowned Institute for Optimum Nutrition. Marie is passionate about getting to the root cause of illness and using a functional nutritional approach to treat patients. Nutritional Therapy is the application of nutrition science in the promotion of health, peak performance and individual care. Marie uses a wide range of tools to assess and identify potential nutritional imbalances and understand how these may contribute to an individual’s symptoms and health concerns. This approach allows Marie to work the individuals to address potential nutritional imbalances and help support the body towards maintaining health. Unfortunately, in the world out there, there can be a lot of confusing and conflicting advice around recommended lifestyle and dietary changes. So why don’t you avoid all the confusion and put it in the hands of a trusted professional you will look after you and will put front and centre.

Nutritional Therapy Philosophy

Nutritional Therapy is an evidence-based scientific method of practice which aims to optimise nutrition to support vitality. It identifies nutritional imbalances through analysing diet and explains how these can impact on a person’s health. Nutritional Therapy can support digestion, optimise energy levels, optimise detoxification pathways among many others. Knowing this and understanding of how nutrition is influenced by the science of food is a great motivator for making changes which will support vitality. Given time you may find that you surprise yourself…. because nothing changes if nothing changes.

Consultation

So why don’t you book an appointment for an initial consultation by either calling into the pharmacy, call a member of the team or indeed book online through the website or the pharmacy app. (link here). The consultations typically take place in person, in private, in the pharmacy consultation room. The first consultation is free, is a “mini” consultation and should take approximately 15 to 20 minutes and is designed to take people through the Nutritional Therapy Programme in detail.

Nutritional Therapy Programme

If the person decides that the Nutritional Therapy Programme is for them, then before the 2nd consultation the person is asked to complete a health and nutrition questionnaire. Subsequently the 2nd consultation will last between 60 and 90 minutes where time is taken to establish a much greater understanding of the person’s needs. Each person is individual and unique and during this consultation a personal strategy specific for the individual person is prepared along with the person’s input. The strategy always takes the persons lifestyle into account so that it is easy to implement and integrate into what is sometimes a hectic life.

"Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food." – Hippocrates*

*5th Century Greek physician who is considered the founder of modern medicine

According to the HSE, obesity levels in Ireland have reached “epidemic proportions” and affect up to a fifth of all adults and result in 2,000 premature deaths annually.

Weight management means maintaining a healthy body weight. Body weight can affect health in many ways. Being overweight can increase your chances of developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and other cardiovascular problems.

If people maintain a healthy weight, this will decrease the risk of developing these problems. In addition to improve general health, losing weight can help to increase levels of confidence and make people feel better.

If people are serious about losing weight, we could help reach the goal, with the support of a highly trained healthcare professional on hand for information, advice, and encouragement.

We are here to help you figure out what direction is best for you as there is no such thing as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ weight management product or programme.