A free seminar on the quality use of medicines and herbals by
older people will be held Friday 30 March as part of UniSA’s highly popular Successful
Ageing in Australia seminar series.
The seminar will be run by Associate
Professor Andrew Gilbert and Dr Susan
Semple of the School of Pharmaceutical, Molecular and Biomedical Sciences at the
University of South Australia, and will canvas such issues as mixing medicines,
side-effects, and conventional versus herbal drugs.
"South Australia has more than 200,000 citizens aged 65 years and over, about 14
per cent of the State’s population. Our seminar series is a free community service to
that growing slice of the community. There are a number of seminars on finance, but our
series fills a gap by addressing lifestyle issues," says Successful Ageing
Coordinator Desiree Utting.
The seminar is one of a five-part series to be held throughout 2001. Other topics
include independent living, stress and the older person, and the quality of our drinking
water.
"The seminar on the quality use of medicines and herbals is of particular
relevance to SA’s ageing population. As people get older, they are often on more
medications. It’s a fact of life," says Ms Utting.
"Just because a medication is natural, that doesn’t mean it is safe. People
need to know that herbal medicines can react badly with conventional medicines. Even with
conventional medications, those on a number of drugs should regularly have the combination
checked out with a pharmacist to ensure there are no serious side-effects."
Prof Gilbert has worked as a community pharmacist for more than 20 years. He helped
establish the Drug and Therapeutics Information Service at the Repatriation General
Hospital. He is the leader of the Pharmacy Research Practice Group at UniSA.
Dr Semple has worked at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide and
has conducted research into the use of plants by Indigenous Australians in treating viral
illness. She is currently a researcher at UniSA.
The 2000 Successful Ageing attracted 1100 people over the year, primarily those
aged 55 years and over, but also a noteworthy number of aged-care professionals. The
series is sponsored by National Pharmacies.
For further information, contact Ms Desiree Utting on (08) 8302 0964.
Media contact: Jessie Byrne (08) 8302 0578; h (08) 8355 0081
