Archive for October, 2015

The leaves are beginning to change and there is pumpkin spice everything. Fall has arrived. Autumn is a beautiful season, but, as the weather turns colder, it is also a horrible reminder of what is coming: winter. Snow may be nice to look at, but shoveling it, traversing icy roads, and surviving the cold air seeping into your home makes winter challenging.

Cold air does not hold moisture well and whatever moisture there is in your skin, nose, and throat is quickly absorbed into the overly dry air. This absorption often leaves your skin cracked, your sinuses parched, and practically everything in your home able to shock you with static electricity. Additional problems include nosebleeds due to dry skin inside the nose, more frequent illnesses because there is not enough mucous in the nose to trap incoming bacteria and viruses, and a flurry of dust, pollen, and other allergens in the air that might irritate your airways when you turn on the furnace.

The good news is that there are ways to combat the dry winter air.

The most important thing you can do once it turns cold is to rehydrate. Rehydrate the air of your home and rehydrate your body. Ways to do this include:

– Humidifiers are a great option for adding moisture to the dry, heated air. Humidifiers help reduce static shocks from household items, as well as prevent the moisture in your skin and inside of your nose from being absorbed into the air when it is overly dry. A comfortable level of humidity is between 30% and 50%. Having the humidity in your home higher than that can cause problems such as mold and fungi. You will also want to be sure to keep your humidifier clean so that it does not blow out dust and germs into your home.

– Insulating your home will also help keep the cold, dry air out. Seal all gaps around windows, doors, attic and crawl spaces with caulk, spray foam, or weather stripping. Insulation will also help reduce your heating bill as the heat will not escape as easily.

– Drinking plenty of water throughout the day is also very important for hydrating your body. You can flavor your water with tea or flavor packets if water is not your favorite drink.

– Shortening showers will also help prevent your skin from getting too dry. Long or frequent showers can dry out your skin because they remove the moisturizing oil from the skin. Also, the heat from hot showers can dry out your skin. It is better to turn down the water temperature to a comfortable warm instead of hot.

– Moisturize skin with thick, oil-based ointments, not water-based lotions. Ointments work well to keep in the moisture in your skin. Use of these products is particularly helpful after a shower or bath and when you go outside.

Using a sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher is recommended when venturing outside to moisturize your skin and protect it from UV rays even on cloudy days.

You can also protect against chapped lips by using lip balm or petroleum jelly.

Finally, you can restore moisture to nasal passages by using saline nasal sprays or by rubbing a small amount of petroleum jelly in each nostril with a cotton swab.

Take a look at the Lovejoy’s ad for October 19-25.

Fall into Savings!!

Check out all the great 10 for $10 items. Buy one or ten. They are all only $1 each. There are hundreds of 10 for $10 items in the store.

Like Lovejoy’s on Facebook by going HERE.

For more information on Lovejoy’s IGA, visit their web site HERE.

Remember, we hope you will shop locally and support locally owned businesses here in our community!

Click on each of the pages of the ad to enlarge them. When they show up on a separate page, click again to make the pages even bigger. You can also print them out and take them with you when you go shopping!

What is the flu?

The seasonal flu is caused by a virus called influenza and may result in symptoms such as fever, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, nasal congestion, and body aches.

Generally, the flu virus is spread from person to person through coughing or sneezing.

The flu season in Ohio begins in October and continues through late March. Most people who get the flu recover in two weeks. However, of the estimated 200,000 people who will get the flu in the U.S., more than 20,000 flu-related deaths occur annually. Many of these deaths could be prevented by the flu vaccine.

Who should get a flu shot?
The flu vaccine is designed each year to protect people from the three or four strains of the influenza virus that are predicted to be the most common that season.

The flu vaccine is recommended annually in everyone over 6 months of age. Children under 6 months old are at the highest risk of getting the flu because they are too young to be vaccinated.

Receiving the flu vaccine is particularly important for those who are:

• Pregnant
• Under 5 years of age (particularly under 2 years old)
• Over 65 years of age
• Have certain chronic medical conditions
• Live in nursing homes or long-term care facilities
• Live with or care for those who are high risk

How does the vaccine work?
The vaccine is made from an in-activated influenza virus that is no longer able to cause the flu. When you are given the vaccine, your body sees what the virus looks like and remembers it. If you come into contact with the virus again, your immune system can rapidly and effectively mount a response to the virus and you will not experience symptoms or the symptoms will not be as severe and may go away more quickly.

The flu vaccine is an injection into your muscle. Side effects after the shot are rare, but you may experience some soreness in the muscle, redness or swelling where the shot was given, low grade fever, or body aches. These symptoms are generally minor and will go away in a day or two.

I got the flu shot and still got sick?
Some people receive the flu vaccine and then get sick with flu-like symptoms. These symptoms can occur for a few reasons:

• The flu vaccine does not work immediately. It takes about two weeks for your body to build protection against the influenza virus and it is possible for you to get the flu during this time period.
• You may become ill during flu season due to a different virus, such as the rhinovirus, that can produce symptoms similar to those caused by influenza.
• You may come in contact with a strain of the influenza virus that is not covered by the vaccine.
• Unfortunately, some may still get the flu despite getting the vaccine. The protection that the vaccine provides varies widely and depends on your age, health status, and other factors at the time of vaccination. The vaccine works the best in younger, healthy adults and older children. Some older adults and those with a compromised immune system may not be able to develop as much immunity after the vaccination. The flu vaccine is still recommended in those who may develop less immunity because it can still help prevent the flu.

What types of flu vaccine are available?
Plain City Druggist offers three types of flu vaccines: trivalent, quadrivalent, and high dose.

• Trivalent vaccine – offers protection against the three most anticipated strains of the influenza virus for the season and is recommended in anyone 6 months and older.
• Quadrivalent vaccine – offers protection against the top four strains of the virus. Some forms of the quadrivalent vaccine are recommended for all those 6 months and older and some are recommended in those 3 years and older. While the quadrivalent vaccine covers an additional strain of the flu and, therefore, may offer more protection against the flu, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) does not recommend one flu vaccine over the other.
• High dose – is recommended in those 65 years and older. It is intended for older adults because, as we age, our immune system gets weaker. The high dose form of the vaccine is designed to help 
older adults’ bodies produce a stronger immune response and, therefore, better protection against the flu.

Please see the pharmacy for additional information on which forms of the flu vaccine your insurance covers.
For more information, please also visit the CDC at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm or the Ohio Department of Health at http://www.odh.ohio.gov/features/odhfeatures/seasflu/seasonalinfluenza.aspx.

Take a look at the Lovejoy’s ad for October 12-18.

Fall into Savings!!

Check out all the great 10 for $10 items. Buy one or ten. They are all only $1 each. There are hundreds of 10 for $10 items in the store.

Like Lovejoy’s on Facebook by going HERE.

For more information on Lovejoy’s IGA, visit their web site HERE.

Remember, we hope you will shop locally and support locally owned businesses here in our community!

Click on each of the pages of the ad to enlarge them. When they show up on a separate page, click again to make the pages even bigger. You can also print them out and take them with you when you go shopping!

We’d like to introduce you to our October student pharmacist, Nadia Szymanski, who is a fourth year student at The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy. Nadia will graduate in May of 2016 to start her career as a pharmacist. She will be with us the entire month of October and we hope you will make her very welcome.

Here is what Nadia has to say about herself:

Hi, everyone. My name is Nadia Szymanski and I am a pharmacy student from The Ohio State University. I will be an intern at Plain City Druggist during the month of October and I am looking forward to my time here.

I am from Erie, Pennsylvania and, surprisingly, I miss the changes in elevation. Central Ohio is rather flat, but it is great for gas mileage. I live in Hilliard with my soon-to-be husband (we are getting married on October 7th!) and our ever-growing petting zoo. We have a two-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog named Luna, a 7-year old cat, Titan, and a 7-month-old rabbit, Olli. We have plans to soon include another dog and possibly llamas.

I graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor degree in chemistry. It was my love of chemistry, particularly organic chemistry, that got me interested in pharmaceuticals. Also, during ungraduate school, I did a great deal of chemistry tutoring and really enjoyed talking to people and helping them understand complex ideas. This all cumulated into me becoming interested in pharmacy.

Throughout my time in pharmacy school, I learned about compounding pharmacy and nuclear pharmacy. Both areas allow me to mix my passion for chemistry with helping people. Also, I love working in the community setting, getting to know patients, and taking care of them long-term. I would enjoy working in an independent pharmacy and I am considering ownership in the future.

When I am not in the pharmacy, I love to watch TV and movies, read, and do things outside.

We just took our dog on her first camping trip last month at Tar Hollow State Park and had a great time. Even though our dog is not a water dog, she tried swimming for the first time since she was a puppy and was successful! We want to continue to explore the state parks that are near Columbus.

I hope to meet all of you throughout October and am happy to help in any way that I can.