What is a Pharmacy First Plus Health Clinic?

Health Clinics at Pharmacy First Plus

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing requirements and guidance from our regulators, our health clinic services have been severely impacted. At present we are unable to carry out one-to-one consultations with patients for greater than15 minutes. This impacts on our ability to provide comprehensive health clinics for the moment.

I am Keith, Superintendent Pharmacist at Pharmacy First Plus. At Pharmacy First Plus, we strive to provide the best service and deliver the best health outcomes for our patients and customers. Our Pharmacists are available to meet our patients on a regular basis to ensure their health requirements are being met. That is why since 2013 we have invested in the best equipment to provide excellent pharmacy based diagnostic testing. Our clinics are designed to focus on the patient and ensure that the advice you receive is specifically tailored to your results and based on evidence.

We offer a range of services at Pharmacy First Plus including, but not limited to, Cholesterol Clinics, Healthy Heart Clinics, Diabetes Screening, Nutrition and Weight Loss Clinics and a comprehensive Full Health Assessment. These clinics all take place in the privacy of our pharmacy consultation rooms on an appointment basis.

Cholesterol Clinic

Cholesterol is a vital substance, one that keeps our cells stable and intact. The problem arises when we end up with excess cholesterol circulating in our bodies. This can lead to blockages and plaques forming in our arteries if it is consistently high, predisposing us to a range of heart diseases and incidences such as heart attack. At Pharmacy First Plus our cholesterol clinic provides you with a full lipid (cholesterol) breakdown obtained from a small blood sample. This enables us to strategically determine how we can reduce your risk of heart disease through diet and exercise intervention. Each patient receives a tailored report to aid them in achieving a lower cholesterol.

Healthy Heart Clinic

This clinic includes an electrocardiograph (ECG) reading, blood pressure testing, pulse oximetry, body composition analysis and cholesterol testing. From these results we can access your risk of suffering a cardiovascular event such as a stroke or heart attack over the next ten years.

Diabetes Screening

As part of this screening we measure your HbA1c from a small blood sample. This tells us how much your red bloods cells have interacted with glucose (sugar) over the past 3 months. It gives us a picture of how your body is dealing with sugar in your blood. We have already identified several people who, unknown to themselves, were at risk of diabetes and continue to work hard with them to ensure they keep diabetes at bay!

Full Health Assessment

This is our most comprehensive clinic. We measure nine parameters on the day and one take home test.

The following parameters are measured:

1. Blood Pressure: By knowing your blood pressure we can establish how much resistance your body has to the work of your heart. If this is high it is easily corrected by making some adjustments to your diet and lifestyle and continuing to monitor this.
2. Cholesterol: Full breakdown
3. Lung Function: By doing a peak flow measurement we can establish how many litres of air your lungs can process per minute. This is an important figure to know as it will assist us in determining your exercise capability. There is no point in asking you to do something your body isn’t capable of doing!
4. Pulse Oximetry: This is a measurement of the oxygen levels of your blood. Oxygen is an essential component of the blood, responsible for delivering energy to the cells in our tissues and organs so that they can carry out their daily functions. When this levels drops below a certain point it may indicate a problem with the function of the right side of the heart.
5. Electrocardiograph (ECG): An ECG is a magnified image of the waveform of your heartbeat. In other words it takes a look at the electric current going through your heart, making it beat. An irregularity in this could be as a result of a defect in your heart which may require further investigation.
6. Body Mass Index (BMI): Your BMI measures the relationship between your height and your weight. Naturally enough the taller a person is the more they should weigh. This measurement takes into account differences in height, age and gender, categorizing the patient as underweight, ideal weight, overweight or obese.
7. Percentage Body Fat: We also measure your percentage body fat, as BMI does not account for the differences between muscle tissue and fat tissue. By knowing your percentage body fat and comparing it to the recommended figures for your gender, age and height we can specifically target fat tissue as part of your diet and exercise regime optimizing your outcome!
8. Visceral Fat: Visceral fat is body fat that is located internally surrounding the internal organs such as the liver. This fatty tissue is responsible for causing an awful lot of conditions and can be a precursor for a whole variety of diseases such as diabetes, vitamin B deficiency etc.
9. HbA1c: Tells us your current risk of diabetes

I have my results, what next?

Our pharmacist will ask a number of non-invasive questions pertaining to your health and lifestyle in order to determine the best way for you to correct these scores and improve your health. A report unique to each individual is provided following the 20 to 30 minute assessment which includes dietary advice and any lifestyle intervention we deem necessary. We may provide each patient with a take home Faecal Occult Blood test in order to screen for blood in your stool.

Why not treat yourself to one of the excellent Pharmacy First Plus health clinics available? Enquire in store or email me at keith@pharmacyfirstplus.ie to reserve an appointment.