Editorial Note

Abstract

In this third issue of volume 14, the Journal has been proudly presenting five studies. The disciplines and issues of these research papers were somewhat diverse from traditional medicines, to clinical practice, and teaching. As a substantial health burden, hepatitis B needs a more effective therapy. The study entitled “Lamivudine as Initial Treatment for Chronic Hepatitis B Virus in a University Teaching Hospital: a Retrospective Patient Record Review Study” revealed effectiveness of lamivudine in a real-life practice. The investigators found that the use of lamivudine 150 mg as initial treatment for chronic hepatics B virus could achieve undetectable levels and ALT normalization. However, a small number of patients had HBe seroconversion and 58.2% needed additional antivirals. This moderate achievement in hepatitis B treatment brought some hope and led for the future research for this ailment. The second study on developing a pharmacist-involved multidisciplinary team to take care of patients with non-communicable disease (NCD) at a community hospital level is much needed. Most previous studies emphasized on the quantitative outcomes of drug-related problems relieved. On the other hand, the present study provided more detail on how to develop the team. All obstacles found in the developing process of this study could be beneficial for other healthcare settings in implementing the NCD clinic with pharmacist participation. The study entitled “The Use of Medicinal Plants for Gynecologic Ailments by Thai Traditional Folk Healers in Nakhonnayok Province” provides the insight of traditional medicines based on herbs. The link between scientific enquiries and the depth of Thai traditional herbal medicine has been evident. In addition to the relevant matters between scientific findings and traditional medicine, the realization of the need to fully understand the Thai traditional medicine before one could make such as link is crucial. Otherwise, such link could turn out to be merely a hoax. The fourth study entitled “Effects of Thai Traditional Play Program on the Ability to Control Muscle and Reaction Time of Muscle among Female Students in the Primary School” demonstrates an effort to promote health by reliving the traditional Thai plays. Since all play modalities tested emphasized the movement of the legs, the ability to control muscle and reaction time were improved immensely. This study was a proof the traditional wisdom in any given culture has benefit its people regardless of time and worthy reserving and promoting for practical use. The last study is another effort to improve learning experience in pharmacy. The study entitled “Effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Instruction of the Pharmacology of Anticancer Drugs” showed a comparable effectiveness of a CAI of pharmacology of anticancer drugs to that of the traditional handout in the two self-study sessions after the usual lecture class. Even though not better than the traditional handout for self-study sessions, CAI could offer a more relaxing learning experience with immediate interactive feedbacks. In the era of communication technology, more learning modalities could be created and tested for better learning effectiveness. Lastly, the review article entitled “The Colony-Stimulating Factors and Febrile Neutropenia” has offered the hope that more advanced biosimilar products could be more available for Thai patients. In this challenging endeavor of the Thai Pharmaceutical and Health Science Journal, we are hopeful to better the quality of the articles published. We urge more submissions from international research community, regional and global. We would like to thank in advance for any prospective submissions.