A Book That Explains Women (and Medications)

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 23 Mar 2010 - 11:00 PDT


Just as diseases affect women and men differently, so do drugs. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) has just released first pharmacotherapy reference to focus on women's health.

Women's Health Across the Lifespan:A Pharmacotherapeutic Approach is the first reference that explains how the differences between the sexes can affect treatment for women of all ages. Edited by pharmacists who are nationally recognized educators and researchers, Women's Health Across the Lifespan contains contributions from more than 150 clinical experts in pharmacy, medicine, and nursing.

"We created this book to fill a real gap in the medical literature," said Editor Laura M. Borgelt, Pharm.D., F.C.C.P., B.C.P.S. "Women's Health Across the Lifespan offers an in-depth examination of every aspect of women's health from a medication therapy perspective."

A valuable contemporary resource, Women's Health Across the Lifespan covers not only sex- and gender-specific medication response, but also the social and ethical issues unique to women that should enter into every health care provider's decisions about medication use. Five clinical content sections cover topics such as menstrual health, contraception and pregnancy care, and women-specific cancers, as well as explore how treatment of broader health conditions such as cardiovascular issues, digestive disorders, and infectious diseases differ in women. In addition, three other sections tie in socioeconomic, biologic, and ethical considerations of medication therapy. The result is an in-depth guide to providing effective medication therapy for women.

Please visit http://www.ashp.org/womenshealth to find additional content, case studies, links to sites of interest, and linked references.

About the Authors

Laura M. Borgelt, Pharm.D., F.C.C.P, B.C.P.S.

Dr. Borgelt is an associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver in the Departments of Clinical Pharmacy and Family Medicine. Dr. Borgelt is a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist and a fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. Dr. Borgelt's teaching, practice, and research focus on women's health pharmacotherapy, with an emphasis on reproductive health. Dr. Borgelt has served as past-chair of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Women's Health Practice and Research Network (PRN), participated in the AHRQ Expert Panel for Medication Overuse in Women/Older Adults, and has been a member of the University of Colorado Women's Health Program Steering Committee and the AACP Women's Health Content Expert Panel. She has published numerous peer-reviewed women's health articles in leading scientific journals and has presented on women's health topics at local, national, and international conferences.

Mary Beth O'Connell, Pharm.D., B.C.P.S., F.A.S.HP, F.C.C.P.

Dr. O'Connell is an associate professor in the Pharmacy Practice Department at the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI. She is also a geriatric ambulatory care pharmacy specialist with the Detroit Medical Center Rosa Parks Geriatric Center of Excellence.

Dr. O'Connell's teaching, practice and research focuses on geriatric and women's health pharmacotherapy with an emphasis on osteoporosis prevention and treatment. She has over 50 peer reviewed publications in pharmacy and medical literature and textbooks. She participates in international teaching and pharmacy organization activities, and is an active member of many professional organizations including being the past president of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy and the Minnesota Society of Health-system Pharmacists and chair of many committees and task forces. Dr. O'Connell is a member of the National Institute of Health's Office of Research on Women's Health Advisory Board and the editorial boards for Pharmacotherapy and Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Judith A. Smith, Pharm.D., F.C.C.P., B.C.O..P

Dr. Smith is an associate professor in the Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Division of Surgery, University of Texas (UT) M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. In addition, Dr. Smith has a joint-faculty appointment as an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UT Health Sciences Center (UTHSC) at Houston Medical School and in the Department of Clinical Sciences and Administration at the University of Houston, College of Pharmacy.

Dr Smith is an active oncology clinical pharmacist as well as the core pharmacology laboratory director at UTHSC Medical School at Houston. Her research in women's health has a focus on drug development for gynecologic cancers, defining chemotherapy interactions, and mechanisms/modulation of drug resistance. She also has done research in the integration of herbal and nutritional supplements for treatment and prevention of cancer. Finally, Dr Smith participates in numerous aspects of evaluation of safety of medication and supplement use during pregnancy.

Karim Anton Calis, PharmD, M.P.H., F.A.S.H.P., F.C.C.P.

Dr. Calis is a clinical reviewer in the Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a Clinical Investigator with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. He is a professor at the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and a clinical professor at the University of Maryland.

Dr. Calis is a nationally recognized clinical scientist who has authored over 130 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals, major medical textbooks, and authoritative electronic media. Over the past 20 years, his clinical research has focused on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis disorders, primary ovarian insufficiency, and childhood growth and obesity. Dr. Calis is an active member of multiple professional organizations and has chaired numerous committees and task forces, including the U.S. Pharmacopeia Endocrinology Expert Committee.

Source
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists

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