Our Specialties
At Pharmacy-X we are always managing solutions for even the most complex challenges. Below you will find more information on some of our specialty conditions.
Hemophilia
The function of clotting factors in blood is to stop bleeding, however people with Hemophilia have low levels of clotting factors, particularly VIII or IX.
The severity of Hemophilia depends on the amount factor on the blood, the lower the amount of the clotting factor, the more severe and the more likely the patient will experience serious health problems.
Hemophilia is caused by mutation in the gene, located on the X chromosome, that provides instruction for making the clotting factor. The two most common types of hemophilia are A, caused by a lack or decrease of clotting factor VIII, and B, caused by a lack or decrease of clotting factor IX. Hemophilia A is four times more common than B and about half of the people with hemophilia A have the severe form of the disease. Hemophilia occurs in about 1 of every 5,000 male births. Currently, about 20,000 males in the United States are living with hemophilia and all racial and ethnic groups are affected.
Oncology
Cancer is the name given to a collection of related diseases. In all types of cancer, some of the body’s cells begin to divide without stopping and spread into surrounding tissues.
Cancer can start almost anywhere in the human body. Normally, human cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cancer develops, this process breaks down.
As cells become more and more abnormal, old or damaged cells survive when they should die and new cells form when they are not needed. These extra cells can divide without stopping and may form growths called tumors. Many cancers form solid tumors, which are masses of tissue. Cancers of the blood, such as leukemia, generally do not form solid tumors. Cancerous tumors are malignant, which means they can spread into, or invade, nearby tissues. In addition, as these tumors grow, some cancer cells can break off and travel to distant places in the body through the blood or the lymph system and form new tumors far from the original tumor.
It is estimated that more than 1.7 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and 600,000 cancer deaths will occur in the United States in 2019. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among males (20%), followed by lung (13%) and colorectal (9%) cancers. Among females, breast (30%), lung (13%), and colorectal (7%) cancers are the most common.
Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) involves an immune-mediated process in which an abnormal response of the body’s immune system is directed against the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS is made up of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.
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Within the CNS, the immune system causes inflammation that damages myelin— the fatty substance that surrounds and insulates the nerve fibers — as well as the nerve fibers themselves, and the specialized cells that make myelin.
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When myelin or nerve fibers are damaged or destroyed in MS, messages within the CNS are altered or stopped completely.
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Damage to areas of the CNS may produce a variety of neurological symptoms that will vary among people with MS in type and severity.
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The damaged areas develop scar tissue which gives the disease its name – multiple areas of scarring or multiple sclerosis.
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The cause of MS is not known, but it is believed to involve genetic susceptibility, abnormalities in the immune system and environmental factors that combine to trigger the disease.
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People with MS typically experience one of four disease courses (types of MS). There are over a dozen treatments to help modify the MS disease process.
HIV/AIDS
HIV (Human Immunodeficiency virus) is a chronic, sexually transmitted condition that affects millions of people worldwide. HIV can be transmitted via human blood, sexual fluids, and breast milk. If HIV is left untreated, it can lead to AIDS (Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), the most advanced stage of HIV, which can leave the body unable to fight basic infections and diseases. Preventative measures such as having proper sexual protection, taking medications preventatively, avoiding sharing medications/needles, and getting tested regularly will help drastically lower the chance of contracting HIV.
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Since the discovery of pre and post exposure prophylaxis and HIV testing, the number of new cases has declined dramatically. With the development of many HIV treatment regimens, people diagnosed with HIV can live long and healthy lives.
Autoimmune
There are more than 100 Autoimmune Diseases. Some are well known, such as psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, crohn’s disease, and rheumatoid arthritis, while others are rare and difficult to diagnose. With unusual autoimmune diseases, patients may suffer years before getting a proper diagnosis. Most of these diseases have no cure. Some require lifelong treatment to ease symptoms.
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One of the functions of the immune system is to protect the body by responding to invading microorganisms, such as viruses or bacteria, by producing antibodies or sensitized lymphocytes (types of white blood cells). Under normal conditions, an immune response cannot be triggered against the cells of one’s own body. In some cases, however, immune cells make a mistake and attack the very cells that they are meant to protect. This can lead to a variety of autoimmune diseases. They encompass a broad category of related diseases in which the person’s immune system attacks his or her own tissue.
Transplant
Prior to a transplant, many screenings and test must be done in order to find a potential match.
Transplantation is the removal of living, functioning cells, tissues, or organs from the body and then their transfer back into the same body or into a different body. Once the transplant is complete, your medical team will closely monitor you and come up with a strategy to prevent transplant rejection.
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More than 113,000 people need a lifesaving organ transplant and out of those, 74,000 people are active waiting list candidates. Every 10 minutes, another person is added to the waiting list and 20 people each day die while waiting for a transplant. It is important for those who get a transplant get the best care possible so organ rejection is minimal.
Hepatitis C
An infection caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), that attacks liver cells leads to inflammation. Hepatitis C is usually spread when the blood from a person infected with Hepatitis C virus enters the body of someone who is not infected.
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Many people with Hepatitis C do not have symptoms and do not know they are infected. The following symptoms may occur and they include, but not limited to fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, upset stomach, nausea and vomiting, dark urine, grey-colored stool, joint pain, and yellow skin and eyes. Symptoms can occur anytime from 2 weeks to 6 months after infection. Chronic infections occur in up to 85% of cases since patients don’t have symptoms. Chronic infections may lead to cirrhosis and/or liver cancer. Diagnosis usually occurs with blood tests to detect HCV antibodies and how much virus is in your body. With adequate treatment, up to 90% of patients can be cured.
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About 1-2% of the population in the United States has chronic HCV infection and about 3% of the world’s population are HCV positive. Prevalence varies greatly among geographic locations with the highest occurrence in Africa, Middle East, Central and East Asia. The incidence of HCV is about 17,000 new infections per year in the United States.
Gastrointestinal
Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis are two if the most common forms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in the United States. Both CD and UC are conditions characterized by chronic inflammation of the digestive tract. Although they share many similarities, there are key differences between the two diseases.
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Both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis affect men and women equally and can occur at any age but often develop in teenagers and young adults. The symptoms of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease patients experience are similar. Although the causes of the disease are unknown, both have similar types of contributing factors such as environmental, genetic and the body’s immune system response.
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In contrast, some of the most notable differences between Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are that Crohn’s disease can occur anywhere between the mouth and anus whereas ulcerative colitis is limited to the colon; in Crohn’s the intestine is both healthy and inflamed throughout whereas in ulcerative colitis there is continuous inflammation and lastly, Crohn’s disease can occur in various layers of the intestinal wall where as ulcerative colitis affects the inner lining.
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Both disease can often require surgery to remove or repair damaged sections of the bowels or to remove obstructions But when treated early with immunosuppressants, patients can live a quality life while staying in remission.