Hospital Pharmacy Europe: Optimising physical health in the patient with severe mental illness

People with severe mental illness die about 10–20 years earlier than the general population, mainly due to physical health. Evidence about the role of pharmacy in optimising care in this vulnerable patient population and research carried out as part of a recent PhD is provided in our cover article by Dr Dolly Sud.

In a new Expert Opinion series, Hospital Pharmacy Europe had the pleasure of speaking with experts in the fields of hereditary angioedema, cancer-associated thrombosis, and anticoagulation following orthopaedic surgery. 

Anticholinergic medication is associated with adverse clinical outcomes, including delirium and cognitive decline. Various anticholinergic burden risk scales have been devised to aid medication reviews and an article from members of the Pharmacy Department, Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust reports on their retrospective study investigating overall anticholinergic drug burden during an inpatient stay on five wards typically caring for older people.