June 2020

For the vast majority of girls and women menstruation comes with discomfort or pain. Jonathan Chilton-Towle chats to Auckland pharmacy owner Hee Seung Lee about what pharmacy staff can do to help ease symptoms 

Christchurch pharmacist Sarah Mooney asked new mothers why they visited their pharmacy in the first six weeks after childbirth – this is what she found out

Fiona Cassie wanted to know what happens to the thousands of nasal swabs that are sent away for analysis each day. The Southern Community Laboratories experts who answered her questions are clinical microbiologist Arlo Upton, molecular pathology department head Jenny Grant and clinical microbiologist James Ussher 

Ngā Kaitiaki o Te Puna Rongoā – the Māori Pharmacists’ Association
– outlines its actions to help Māori during the pandemic lockdown and its aftermath

Physical activity is a modifiable lifestyle factor that we all know is important for health, but how much and what type is best for older people? In this article Ngaire Kerse and Kristina Zawaly summarise recent research that indicates the commonly recommended 10,000 steps per day may not be necessary. It also describes how physical activities that have a cognitive load may help with dementia  

In his spare time Cliff Comins, owner of Comins Pharmacy in Cambridge, likes lifting things, really heavy things that most people would struggle to get off the ground. Jonathan Chilton-Towle speaks to Cliff about being a competitive strongman