AMH Online is the Australian Medicines Handbook for desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones with internet access. An independent, evidence-based national drug reference, it is an important clinical resource for health practitioners concerned with the quality use of medicines. It offers concise, reliable and comprehensive information with easy-to-find comparative drug data allowing users to compare drugs and make informed prescribing choices. AMH Online is a 12-month, single-user licence subscription.
Australian Medicines Handbook (AMH) is a peer-reviewed medicines prescribing guide for Australian health professionals. The handbook is available in paper and digital formats and is supplemented by the AMH Aged Care Companion and the AMH Children's Dosing Companion.
The AMH was first published in May 1998 driven by the need for a local, independent and up-to-date source of drug information to foster rational prescribing. Reflecting contemporary Australian clinical practice and adhering to the principles of the quality use of medicines, it is generally considered the Australian equivalent to the British National Formulary on which it was partly modelled.
The consumer medicines information is also written by the pharmaceutical company. It is based on the product information and provides clear, unbiased information to help patients take medicines safely.
The current product information and consumer medicines information are available from the TGA website, NPS MedicineWise and from compendia like MIMS and AusDI (previously AusDI Advanced or Catalyst). Many prescribing software packages use MIMS as their information source, while AusDI is the information source behind Medical Director.
Everyone's pain is unique and different pain-relief medicines will work in different circumstances. Some people's pain will respond well to non-opioid medicines. You may also find that one opioid helps you manage your pain better and with fewer side effects than another.
It's important you dispose of unwanted opioid medicines safely. Unused medicines can be returned to any pharmacy. Don't keep unused morphine 'just in case', as this can lead to dangerous or inappropriate use.
AMH has partnered with the ACNP to provide its members up to 10% discount on all online and print products. Australian Medicines Handbook provides practical, reliable, comparative medicines information resources for health professionals.
Our core product, the AMH, is the evidence-based independent medicines reference preferred by thousands of clinicians in the Australian healthcare sector. We also publish a range of other books and software products aimed at improving the quality use of medicines.
Therapeutic Guidelines Limited was recently selected by the Department of Health and Aged Care as the new publisher of Australian Prescriber. All volumes of the journal including new issues can be accessed in the website australianprescriber.tg.org.au
This article provides a practical guide on when and how to prescribe the above medicines for people with CKD. It includes an algorithm (see Figure 2) and follows the case study of a patient named Ken.
The risk levels in the colour-coded CKD staging table correspond to colour-coded clinical action plans presented in the Kidney Health Australia 2020 CKD Management in Primary Care 4th edition handbook.1 See Table 1 below for an adapted version of these clinical action plans.
Each clinical action plan includes a set of clinical and laboratory assessments and measures, management goals, and non-pharmacological management and pharmacological management recommendations, including medicines to slow CKD progression and reduce CV risk.1
If Ken's blood pressure remains above target, further blood pressure-lowering medicines may need to be added. Often, three or more blood pressure-lowering medicines are needed for most people with CKD to adequately meet the blood pressure target.1
The KDIGO 2021 Clinical practice guideline for the management of blood pressure in chronic kidney disease and Kidney Health Australia 2020 CKD Management in Primary Care 4th edition handbook recommend:1,6
Ken meets this guideline recommendation for lipid-lowering therapy and also the PBS criteriato add ezetimibe 10 mg daily to atorvastatin, based on his eGFR being 56 mL/min/1.73 m2 and having an absolute CV risk score of 16%.19,20 He can take the two medicines as a combination product21 to reduce pill burden.
Other medicines are likely to be needed in these situations. GLP-1 receptor agonists are generally preferred because of their demonstrated CV benefits, particularly among patients with established atherosclerotic CVD, and possible kidney benefits.7
There is a strong body of evidence that supports the recommendation for glucose-lowering medicines to stop CKD progression and reduce CV risk for people with CKD and type 2 diabetes. For example, SGLT2 inhibitors have been found to decrease the risk of kidney failure by 35%7,40 and GLP-1 receptor agonists reduce the risk of CV death by 12% in people with type 2 diabetes.7,41
eGFR should not be used for calculating doses for medicines for patients at extremes of body weight unless it is first corrected to the actual GFR for that patient.43 For these patients the eGFR calculation is:1
Careful estimation of GFR and subsequent dosage modification is particularly pertinent for medicines with a narrow therapeutic index (eg aminoglycosides). Therapeutic drug monitoring, if available, should be used to individualise dosing.44
All people with CKD should first be prescribed an ACE inhibitor or ARB that is up-titrated to the maximum tolerated dose. Other medicines should be added as needed, including blood pressure-lowering, lipid-lowering and blood-glucose lowering medicines, and SGLT2 inhibitors (dapagliflozin), to slow CKD progression and reduce CV risk.
When the Australian Medicines Handbook app displays Search or Search for ... online, click to go to the AMH Online search for the current drug or brand. The AMH tile displays the drug generic name for the drug selected during dispensing or when editing a script. Click the tile to display medicines-related information within AMH Online.
Complementary medicines and Toxins are often part of the wider Drug Information picture, these reliable resources help you understand how they interact with other medicines as well as their physiologicals effects.
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