Pharmacy
A pharmacy is a shop where therapeutic drugs are sold. Sometimes a pharmacy is also called a drug store or chemist and druggist store. The people working in a pharmacy are called pharmacists, druggist or chemists (British English). These people can recognise simple diseases and dispense drugs for some of them.
Certain drugs are special, because they can be addictive, or they change the way other drugs act, or they need to be taken in a special way. These drugs cannot simply be bought at a pharmacy. A prescription is necessary to get them. Medical doctors give out prescriptions, which can then be used to get the drug.
Many pharmacies do not sell drugs only. They also sell beauty products and hygiene-related products, like tampons for women and contraceptives.
The number of pharmacies in England has been falling. There were 11,500 active pharmacies in 2022— the lowest total since 2015/2016. The number of prescription items given out in 2021/2022 was 1.1 billion, 2.7% more than 2020/2021.[1]
Pharmacology is a branch of chemistry that studies the molecular structure of drugs to find better drugs.
Pharmacy Media
- PharmacistsMortar
The Green Pharmacy Cross (sometimes overlaid with Bowl of Hygieia), is widely used in Europe and India[citation needed] on pharmacy signs.
A medication is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease.
The Apothecary or The Chemist by Gabriël Metsu (c. 1651–67)
Pharmacy, Tacuinum sanitatis casanatensis (14th century)
A pharmacy worker distributing drugs to an old woman at a local clinic.
Physician and Pharmacist, illustration from Medicinarius (1505) by Hieronymus Brunschwig
Dioscorides, De Materia Medica, Byzantium, 15th century
Löwen-Apotheke in Trier, operating continuously from at least 1241
Related pages
References
- ↑ Quinn, Helen. "Community pharmacies at lowest number for seven years, NHS figures show". The Pharmaceutical Journal. Retrieved 2023-02-06.