Pharmacy knowledge base
Health guides & medicine information
Plain-English explainers from our editorial team — what the medicines do, how the strengths differ, and how to use them safely.
Showing 205–216 of 287 guides
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Recreational Drugs and Erectile Dysfunction
Summary: Recreational drugs usually undermine sex rather than improve it. Heavy drinking makes erections harder, stimulants and regular cannabis use are linked to sexual problems, and opioids can lower testosterone. Mixing ED medicines with poppers is dangerous, because both lower blood pressure. Cutting back helps, and confidential support services can help you stop.
Smoking Cessation and Sexual Recovery
Summary: Smoking damages the blood vessels that erections depend on, so smokers develop erectile dysfunction more often and earlier. After quitting, circulation and blood-vessel function improve over time, and many men notice better erections within months, especially younger men and lighter smokers. Stop-smoking services, nicotine replacement and prescribed medicines all improve your chances of quitting.
Menopause and HRT: A Practical Overview
Summary: Menopause is when periods stop permanently, confirmed after twelve months without one, usually in a woman's late forties or early fifties. Falling oestrogen can cause hot flushes, night sweats, poor sleep, low mood, brain fog and vaginal dryness. Hormone replacement therapy replaces some of these hormones and is often the most effective treatment for bothersome symptoms.
Conjugated Oestrogens: A Patient's Guide
Summary: Conjugated oestrogens are a mixture of oestrogens used in hormone replacement therapy for hot flushes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. They also help protect bone in some women. Women who still have a womb also need a progestogen to protect its lining. They are prescription medicines, so a doctor chooses the form and reviews treatment regularly.
Vaginal Dryness: Causes, Comfort and Treatment Options
Summary: Vaginal dryness is common and usually treatable. It is mostly caused by falling oestrogen during menopause, breastfeeding or some medical treatments, and can cause itching, soreness, painful sex and urinary symptoms. Water-based lubricants and vaginal moisturisers help many women; if they don't, a doctor can prescribe low-dose vaginal oestrogen.
HRT Benefits and Risks: An Honest Balance
Summary: HRT is often the most effective treatment for hot flushes, night sweats and vaginal dryness, and it helps protect bone strength after menopause. Its risks, including blood clots, stroke and some cancers, depend on your age, how close you are to menopause, the type of HRT and your medical history, so the balance is individual and needs regular review.
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Gabapentin: What It Is and How It Is Used
Summary: Gabapentin is a prescription medicine for nerve pain, such as pain after shingles or from diabetic nerve damage, and for some types of epilepsy. It is not a general painkiller. It is started low and increased gradually, commonly causes drowsiness and dizziness, can be misused, and must not be stopped suddenly without medical advice.
Lower Back Pain: Understanding and Managing It
Summary: Most lower back pain is non-specific, coming from muscles, ligaments and joints rather than serious disease, and settles within a few weeks. Staying as active as you can, gentle stretching, walking and heat help more than bed rest. Get urgent help, calling 112 if needed, for numbness around the genitals, loss of bladder or bowel control, or leg weakness.
Tension Headaches: Causes, Relief and Prevention
Summary: Tension headaches are the most common headache, felt as a dull, pressing band around the head without the nausea or light sensitivity of migraine. Stress, posture, poor sleep, dehydration, skipped meals, eye strain and caffeine are typical triggers. Water, screen breaks, stretching and occasional over-the-counter pain relief help; frequent painkiller use can cause more headaches.
Understanding Drug Interactions
Summary: A drug interaction is when another medicine, food, drink, alcohol, supplement or herbal remedy changes how a medicine works. It can make it weaker or increase side effects. Common examples include medicines whose drowsiness adds together and alcohol increasing sedation. Keeping a full list of everything you take and showing it to your pharmacist is the simplest protection.
Tonsillitis Explained: Causes, Symptoms and When Antibiotics Help
Summary: Tonsillitis is inflammation of the tonsils, most often caused by viruses, and usually clears within a week with rest, fluids and pain relief. A bacterial (strep) cause is more likely with high fever and no cough, pus on the tonsils, swollen neck glands and a sudden severe sore throat. A doctor decides whether antibiotics are needed.
Ear Infections: Types, Symptoms and Treatment Options
Summary: Most ear infections are middle-ear infections after a cold, especially in children, or outer-ear 'swimmer's ear'. Many middle-ear infections are viral or clear on their own, so doctors often advise pain relief and waiting a couple of days before antibiotics. See a doctor for discharge, high fever, severe pain, or symptoms that don't improve.