Background Social media (SM) is everywhere, and it affects all aspects of life, including health care. This study aimed to identify pharmacist activity in SM and explore the potential for pharmacist contributions using SM. Methods Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in four cities in Indonesia. The investigators collaborated with a local pharmacist association to select a wide range of pharmacists as participants. The discussions were audiotaped, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. Results Forty-one pharmacists participated in the FGDs. Four broad themes were identified: pharmacist use of SM, current initiatives using SM, public acceptance, and opportunities for role expansion. WhatsApp was the most used SM and had meaningful contribution to spread information and change a patient’s behavior. Participants used SM mainly for personal purposes, but when it came to pharmacy and health issues, they were among the first to be contacted by patients or to counter misleading information in SM. A number of participants actively used SM for health promotion in form of sharing health information, promoting use of medicines, providing drug reminders, and encouraging compliance to medication. The public had a high trust to information provided by pharmacists in SM. Although participants believed pharmacists can play a role in educating patients and influencing the health of the communities, they considered being active in SM as burdensome, time consuming, and potential for lawsuit. Conclusions SM has become a venue for pharmacists to improve the health of the people. Several unique features in SM may facilitate pharmacist contributions; however, whether pharmacists continue to undertake such initiative cannot be guaranteed.

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Objective: Hyperlipidemia is one of the risk factors that contribute to the prevalence of coronary heart diseases and antihyperlipidemic agents, such as statin, was used to treat hyperlipidemia as a current therapy. Boesenbergia pandurata has not been exploited for antihyperlipidemic effect. Hence, this study aims to screen for the antihyperlipidemic activity of methanolic extracts of B. pandurata rhizomes (BPR extracts) in hypercholesterolemia-induced Sprague-Dawley rats.Methods: BPR extracts were prepared using the maceration method with 1500 ml of 80% methanol at room temperature for about 7 days. A toxicity study was carried out based on OECD guidelines. Hypercholesterolemia was induced by 6% lard oil, 2% of cheese, and egg yolks. Two different doses of BPR extracts, 200 and 400 mg/kg, were used to screen for antihyperlipidemic effect. Histopathological study was carried out in the liver. The results were evaluated for the statistically significant difference by using the one-way ANOVA followed by post hoc Dunnett test.Results: No mortality was witnessed even till 2 g/kg. Only 400 mg/kg of BPR extracts statistically reduced in total cholesterol (p<0.05), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (p<0.05) and an increase in high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (p<0.05) when compared to the positive control. BPR extracts (400 mg/kg) showed less enlargement of lipid droplets as compared to positive control.Conclusion: BPR extracts can be a promising medicinal plant for treating hyperlipidemia in underdeveloped countries.

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