University of Louisiana Monroe APhA-ASP

This week for Women's History month, APhA Operation Reproductive Health wants to celebrate Dr. Gabriela Andonie and Dr. Ashley Barbo. Thank you ladies for everything that you do and for being amazing role models for future pharmacists! We also want to thank all the amazing women at the College of Pharmacy! See our previous posts to learn more about some other amazing women.

This week Operation Reproductive Health would like to celebrate Dr. Miller, Dr. Walker, and Dr. Gautreaux for Women's History Month! We are so happy to have these wonderful ladies at the pharmacy school! Thank you for being influential and inspiring!

March is National Women's History Month! This is a time when influential women from history are celebrated and recognized. This month, Operation Reproductive Health is taking nominations from the student body on women within the College of Pharmacy that they feel are influential, inspiring, and awesome. We are beyond pleased to highlight Dr. Heather Savage and Dr. Jessica Brady this week!

This past Friday some of our members had the opportunity to participate in a health fair sponsored by Brookshires Pharmacy. ULM COP students preformed blood glucose and blood pressure screenings and educated on OTC Med Safety.

Valvular heart disease is when any valve in the heart has damage or is diseased. There are several causes of valve disease. Any valve in the heart can become diseased, but the aortic valve is most commonly affected. Diseased valves can become “leaky” where they don’t completely close; this is called regurgitation. If this happens, blood leaks back into the chamber that it came from and not enough blood can be pushed forward through the heart. The other common type of heart valve condition happens when the opening of the valve is narrowed and stiff and the valve is not able to open fully when blood is trying to pass through; this is called stenosis. Sometimes the valve may be missing a leaflet—this more commonly involves the aortic valve. If the heart valves are diseased, the heart can’t effectively pump blood throughout the body and has to work harder to pump, either while the blood is leaking back into the chamber or against a narrowed opening. This can lead to heart failure, sudden cardiac arrest (when the heart stops beating), and death. About 2.5% of the U.S. population has valvular heart disease, but it is more common in older adults. About 13% of people born before 1943 have valvular heart disease. There are several causes of valvular heart disease, including congenital conditions (being born with it), infections, degenerative conditions (wearing out with age), and conditions linked to other types of heart disease. Heart valve disease can develop quickly or over a long period. When valve disease develops more slowly, there may be no symptoms until the condition is quite advanced. When it develops more suddenly, people may experience the following symptoms:
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Fatigue
- Dizziness or fainting
- Fever
- Rapid weight gain
- Irregular heartbeat
Visit https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/valvular_disease.htm for more information about Valvular Heart Disease.

Heart failure — sometimes known as congestive heart failure — occurs when the heart muscle doesn't pump blood as well as it should. When this happens, blood often backs up and fluid can build up in the lungs, causing shortness of breath.

At first the heart tries to make up for this by:
- Enlarging. The heart stretches to contract more strongly and keep up with the demand to pump more blood. Over time this causes the heart to become enlarged.
- Developing more muscle mass. The increase in muscle mass occurs because the contracting cells of the heart get bigger. This lets the heart pump more strongly, at least initially.
- Pumping faster. This helps increase the heart’s output.

The body also tries to compensate in other ways:
- The blood vessels narrow to keep blood pressure up, trying to make up for the heart’s loss of power.
- The body diverts blood away from less important tissues and organs (like the kidneys), the heart and brain.

These temporary measures mask the problem of heart failure, but they don’t solve it. Heart failure continues and worsens until these compensating processes no longer work.

Proper treatment can improve the signs and symptoms of heart failure and may help some people live longer. Lifestyle changes — such as losing weight, exercising, reducing salt (sodium) in your diet and managing stress — can improve your quality of life. However, heart failure can be life-threatening. People with heart failure may have severe symptoms, and some may need a heart transplant or a ventricular assist device (VAD).

One way to prevent heart failure is to prevent and control conditions that can cause it, such as coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.

For more information go to https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-failure

February is American Heart Month. The ULM Chapter of APhA-ASP’s Operation Heart is putting on a month long of events to raise awareness and money for the American Heart Association. Each week, we will make posts highlighting a specific topic related to heart disease in order to spread awareness and start a conversation. This week we are highlighting Women’s Heart Health.
Cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer of women, causing 1 in 3 deaths each year. It’s a third of our mothers, sisters, friends, neighbors, coworkers and more. Cardiovascular disease impacts some women at higher rates than others, but the simple truth is that most cardiovascular diseases can still be prevented with education and healthy lifestyle changes. Heart disease and stroke can affect a woman at any age, making it vital for all women to understand their personal risk factors and family history. Furthermore, research shows that stress may impact health, making it important for women to understand the mind-body connection and how to focus on improving both their physical health and mental well-being.
Friday, February 3rd is National Wear Red Day to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease and help save lives. Here at ULM’s College of Pharmacy, we are extending this to all week long. Students will be able to pay $1 each day to wear a red shirt with jeans and all proceeds will go to the American Heart Association.
The American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women movement was launched in 2004 with the goal of raising awareness and fighting a woman’s greatest heath threat — cardiovascular disease. Today, Go Red for Women not only advocates for the health of all women, funds lifesaving research and educates women across the United States and around the world but is committed to removing the unique barriers women face to experiencing better health and well-being. For more information go to https://www.goredforwomen.org/en/

For the month of January we will be highlighting our Substance Abuse Disorder Operation. This past semester our chapter was able to participate in two very meaningful events relating to Substance Use Disorder!

Members were able to attend an event for Overdose Awareness Day hosted by Delhi Community Health Center. We were able to listen to amazing speakers who shed light on the bias people with SUD are working against in the healthcare system, as well as the toll the disorder takes on family members.

October 29th, 2022 was National Drug Take Back day. APhA members were able to help give back to our community by safely collecting medications that were no longer needed. It was a great experience, and let members share their knowledge on how to correctly dispose of medications along with the dangers of failing to do so!

APhA is selling pajama pants! They’re perfect for this nice fall weather we’re finally having! They’re $30 each and we’re offering a shipping option for an additional $8. We’re taking venmo (-ASP-ULMonroe), cash, and checks! Orders are due Thursday Nov 3rd at midnight. Please let Nicole Brashear or Maggie Brian know if you have any questions or if you’re paying with cash or check! Here’s the link to order:

APhA-ASP Fall Fundraiser APhA-ASP is selling pajama pants for our fall fundraiser! They will be $30 each and are perfect for the Pancakes & PJs breakfast the faculty puts on for us during finals week! :) If you need yours shipped, we are providing shipping for an additional $8! Please have form and payment turned in by Thur...

☆October Recap☆

This month APhA held our annual Free Flu Clinic on Main Campus. It was a huge success! We also had our blood glucose and blood pressure boards there to give screenings and education. We were joined by NCODA’s Be The Match program to find bone marrow donors! Thank you to everyone who came and received their annual flu shot with us.
Also in October, 21 of our members attended MRM! We are so happy that so many students joined in on this opportunity and were there to witness our chapter win the Regional Award for our OTC Med Safety Operation!
Along with these events we had many service opportunities such as visiting local schools to educate about medication safety, participating in National Drug Take Back Day, and hosting a health fair at the University Mile where Ace got a blood pressure screening.

Bring on November!

Last Friday, our chapter had the opportunity to volunteer at the Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana and help with their Boxes for Seniors Program. We were able to pack 140 boxes for seniors in our community. Thank you to the staff at the food bank for allowing us this chance to give back!