The Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is a great way to lower blood pressure and the risk of heart disease. The diet focuses on reducing sodium intake and providing the appropriate amount of nutrients. With lifestyle changes like diet and exercise we can often reverse high blood pressure without the use of medication….
A Vaccine to Prevent Cancer Gardasil 9 Gardasil 9 has currently been a hot topic in many recent healthcare articles. Gardasil 9 could help protect girls, young women and boys against certain cancers caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). January is Cervical Cancer Awareness month, so I thought now would be a great time to inform…
Common questions and answers about the New Pneumonia Vaccine: With increased commercial and ad time, the pharmacy has been receiving many questions on Prevnar 13® —the newest pneumonia vaccine. With this, we have created a blog to answer some frequently asked questions to help increase understanding and to find out if the vaccine is right…
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) With the holidays quickly approaching, the pharmacists here at Valu-Med thought it would be a good time to discuss a very common issue we see with many of our patients, gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD. In addition, National GERD Awareness week is November 22-28 so it’s a great time to provide…
Vitamin D: What is it and why do we need it? Many years ago, doctors realized that sunlight, which allows you to produce vitamin D, helped prevent a bone condition called rickets in children. Recent research shows a link between vitamin D and strong healthy bone. Moreover, vitamin D may be important in preventing and…
Over the last several years, we have seen a tremendous increase in international travel. From business or missionary trips to simply traveling on vacation, people are visiting more international destinations than ever before. With this increase in travel, people may be exposed to rare and exotic diseases that are not typically found in the…
What is a medication prior authorization? Imagine this scenario… You’ve just walked out of your physician’s office with a prescription following a routine visit. You take the prescription to your favorite local pharmacy, only to find out that your insurance company is denying the claim and requiring something called a Prior Authorization. The pharmacist informs…
What is Shingles and should I get the Shingles shot? It seems like shingles outbreaks have started occurring more and more frequently in our patients here at Valu-Med Pharmacy over the last several years. Many of our patients have had to be treated for this disease and we have had more questions than ever on…