Common wheat (Triticum aestivum), one of the world’s most consumed cereal grains, is known for its uses in baking and cooking in addition to its medicinal uses. As this plant’s medical benefits are enormous and scattered, this narrative review was aimed at describing the pharmacological activities, phytochemistry, and the nutritional values of Triticum aestivum. It is a good source of dietary fiber, resistant starch, phenolic acids, alkylresorcinols, lignans, and diverse antioxidant compounds such as carotenoids, tocopherols and tocotrienols. These constituents provide Triticum aestivum with a wide range of pharmacological properties, including anticancer, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, hypolipemic, antioxidant, laxative, and moisturizing effects. This review summarized the established benefits of wheat in human health, the mode of action, and different clinical, in vitro and in vivo studies for different varieties and cultivars. This review also gives an insight for future research into the better use of this plant as a functional food. More clinical trials, in vivo and in vitro studies are warranted to broaden the knowledge about the effect of Triticum aestivum on nutrition-related diseases prevention, and physical and mental well-being sustenance.

Background Patients requiring hemodialysis (HD) often have several chronic comorbidities, which necessitate the use of several medications and hence put them at high risk of polypharmacy. Medication-related problems (MRPs) among HD patients are a serious issue as they can increase morbidity and nonadherence with medications. To overcome this issue, a unique pharmacy practice model including medication review (MR) and motivational interviewing (MI) is needed to improve medication adherence, by reducing MRPs and optimizing therapeutic outcomes. The present study aims to assess the effectiveness of MR and MI in improving medication adherence, quality of life (QOL) and clinical outcomes among end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients who are on dialysis. Method and design This pre-post study will be conducted prospectively among patients with ESRD who have been on dialysis at the Hemodialysis Unit, Hospital Kuala Lumpur and the Hemodialysis Affiliated Centers of the University Malaya Medical Centre, from August 2020 till August 2021. Medication adherence will be assessed using the General Medication Adherence Scale (GMAS), whilst patients’ HRQOL will be assessed using the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form 36 (KDQOL-36). Clinical parameters such as blood glucose level, calcium, phosphate, hemoglobin and serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels will be obtained from medical records. A total of 70 patients will be recruited. Discussion We hypothesize that the implementation of pharmacy-based MR and MI may expect an increase in medication adherence scores and increase in HRQOL scores from baseline as well as achieving the clinical lab parameters within the desired range. This would indicate a need for a pharmacist to be involved in the multidisciplinary team to achieve a positive impact on medication adherence among hemodialysis patients. Trial registration Ethical approval has been obtained from the National Medical Research and Ethics Committee NMRR: 20-1135-54435 and Medical Research Ethics Committee, University Malaya Medical Centre MREC ID NO: 202127-9811.

Objectives: The study aimed to measure the level of attitudes and the current practices of the female community in Brunei Darussalam regarding the usage of cosmetics. Methods: An online survey was conducted using a non-probabilistic snowball sampling approach via the social media channels WhatsApp and Instagram. The inclusion criteria were female Bruneian citizens or permanent residents, aged between 18 and 65 years old, who can understand English or Malay, and use cosmetic products at least once a day. Results: A total of 445 participants responded to the online survey. Most of the participants agreed that the use of cosmetic products improves one’s physical appearance to the public (391, 87.8%) and also improves self-confidence (405, 91.1%). There were significant differences in monthly cosmetic product expenses and participants’ attitudes about safe cosmetic use (p = 0.001). No significant changes in the individuals’ attitudes based on their age or educational level were observed. Overall, the participants had a good level of cosmetic safety practice. Almost half of the participants use social media to obtain information regarding what cosmetics to use or purchase. Conclusion: There is a medium to high level of attitude and a high level of practice regarding the safe use of cosmetics among Bruneian female adults. Social media was the main source of information for the respondents, followed by friend circle and family members.

Interprofessional education (IPE) helps fostering collaboration between pharmacy (PH) and medical (MD) students. However, the effectiveness of conducting IPE virtually has not been tested. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual IPE activity among PH and MD students. A pre-post analytical cohort study was conducted among second-year PH and MD students. The students were divided into groups, which consisted of both MD and PH students. The students from the two disciplines had to work on a clinical case and present it creatively. All the sessions were conducted virtually. The students’ team-based competencies were measured before and after the IPE activity using a self-administered Interprofessional Collaboration Competency Attainment (ICCA). Students’ responses were analyzed using a paired t-test in SPSS, version 26. P-value less than 0.05 was considered to show significant changes in the students’ competencies before and after attending the IPE activity. The mean competencies score of the students before the IPE was 97.8±25.2 and improved to 107.9±21.4 after the activity. A paired t-test showed a significant increase in competencies score, p < 0.05. More than half of the students (54.3%) had adequate team-based competencies after the virtual IPE activity. Online learning is not a barrier to cultivating collaboration and knowledge sharing between two disciplines, and virtual IPE was effective in fostering interprofessional experiential learning among students. As there is a lack of sustainable data and qualified faculties to fully address the implementation of IPE programs, this research can act as a guide to support the needs and identify the challenges around such implementation of IPE program in future academic curriculums.

Novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) causes worldwide disruption affecting most of the university students. A sudden shift to e-learning worsens the academic stress faced by pharmacy students. The impact this change on pharmacy students stress level is not well studied. This study aims to examine the severity of academic stress among pharmacy students and the factors associated with it. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate pharmacy students in a tertiary university. An online validated self-administered questionnaire which has two sections: demographic data and academic stress level was distributed to the students’ personal emails. All the data collected were analyzed using SPSS version 26.0. Out of 102 pharmacy students participated in this study, 63.8% of the pharmacy students experienced moderate stress level followed by 23.5% of severe stress and 12.7% of mild stress. Students in year 1, as well as smoking, were two independent significant factors causing academic stress among students (p-value < 0.05). This study highlights the high level of academic stress among pharmacy students especially first year students. Therefore, school management need to develop an effective counseling module to help students alleviate academic stress.