Pharmacy Daily | Dispensary Corner 10 Oct 13

Research for a better wakening. Everyone has their own favourite hangover cure, or at least treatment. But a team of Chinese scientists has tested 57 different morning after drinks to find that Sprite performed the best at relieving alcohol-related symptoms. Edzard Ernst, Professor of complementary medicine at the University of Exeter, told Chemistry World: “These results are a reminder that herbal and other supplements can have pharmacological activities that can both harm and benefit our health.” Our livers release an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), which breaks ethanol in into acetaldehyde. This is then broken down into acetate - which is linked to some health benefits of alcohol - by an enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). The key to alleviating the damaging effects of alcohol is reducing the time that acetaldehyde is in the body, they concluded, and Sprite was among the fastest to speed up the the ALDH process. Professor Ernst stressed that more research was needed to confirm the findings. A new website has launched in the US which claims to sell condoms for dogs and cats. The site, which is now online at www.petcondoms.org promotes a product called Animal Instincts Pet Condoms, with helpful sections such as an instructional video showing “How to put on a pet condom - what every owner needs to know” and a section titled “Is Sparky a Sex Addict? spot the signs”. However clicking on the various links reveals that it’s in fact a promotion from the San Francisco Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, promoting the importance of having domestic animals desexed.

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