Topic of Choice 2019

In 2003, here were 13,722 students who applied to pharmacy and 4,638 students got accepted which was a 34.1% acceptance rate. Fast forward to 2017-2018, there were 130 pharmacy schools and there were 15,886 students who applied and 82.7% of them got accepted. These stats pretty much state that anybody who can get through their required classes has a very good shot of getting accepted.             The situation was not always like this but in 2006, Congress created the Grad Plus loan program. Before this program, students were able to get a loan with a limit of $33,000 per year. However, this program allowed a student to borrow all the money needed to cover their graduate school studies.   All a pop-up school needs to do is get approved to open and they are guaranteed to be able to fund their school with as much money as they want. They can overcharge for their tuition and have students pull out as much money as n...

How to Fail the First SPI: Just Take Tylenol A new study recently showed that taking acetaminophen reduces empathy compared to placebo. 114 college students were split into two groups (placebo and acetaminophen 1000 mg) and then asked questions about hypothetical characters. In general, Tylenol reduced people's empathy for pain. The exact mechanism of action of the drug is unknown however it is proposed to reduce prostaglandins in the brain. Because prostaglandins have such a wide variety of action, it is safe to assume action in the brain contributes to both the analgesic properties as well as the antipyretic properties. Originally it was hypothesized that acetaminophen is more sensitive to COX-3 than other COX's as COX-3 resides in the brain. However, that theory has not gained traction and recently there has been conjecture acetaminophen has some sort of COX inhibition in the presence of endogenous hydroperoxide compounds. Acetaminophen reduces the psychological activity a...

            Alternative medicine is an increasingly polarizing topic, even among healthcare providers. By definition, alternative medicine is any therapy that does not stand up to science, and yet people have continued to resort to them for thousands of years. A National Health Interview Survey conducted in 2007 found that 38% of adults and 12% of children had used some form of alternative medicine in the past year, and spent almost $34 billion out-of-pocket on these therapies. This includes therapies such as herbal supplements, acupuncture, homeopathy, cupping, and chiropractic therapy. Although chiropractic therapy is becoming more mainstream, it is continued to be classed as alternative due to lack of evidence surrounding the practice. Chiropractic therapy has only been shown to be effective for back pain, but not superior to traditional medicine and is more expensive. It also comes with its own risks. There is...

Glaucoma is an eye disorder that has plagued the lives of over 3 million Americans (2019). The National Eye institute projects that this number will reach 4.2 million by the year 2030. The pathophysiology of glaucoma involves an increase in IOP due to an overproduction of aqueous humor, fluid that provides nutrients and maintains the IOP of the eye. Although increased IOP is not the sole diagnostic criteria for glaucoma, there is a positive correlation between the two as increased IOP is a risk factor. This increase in IOP can be observed in both open angle and closed angle glaucoma. However, open angle glaucoma is the most common form and accounts for over 90% of glaucoma cases in the US. Currently, prostaglandin analogues are the first line agents for glaucoma and although there are four currently FDA approved for treatment of open angle glaucoma, Bimatoprost and Latanoprost are the most prescribed and thus are on the top 200 drug list. Prostaglandin analogues wor...