Author: Holly McCain
Holly McCain, PharmD is a long-term care pharmacist licensed in multiple states, specializing in skilled nursing, assisted living, ICF/IDD, and medical-at-home services. She has over six years of pharmacy management experience, leading regulatory inspections, supervising multidisciplinary teams, and overseeing sterile IV compounding and pharmacy automation. Her expertise spans Medicare and Medicaid compliance, medication safety, and operational alignment in senior care settings. Holly is an active member of ASCP, AMCP, ASHP, and the Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition.
Published Articles
General Illness Information Medical Term: Atrophic vaginitis Common Name: Vaginal dryness Description: Vaginal dryness, or atrophic vaginitis, is an irritation caused by thinning of the walls and wrinkling of the vaginal tissues, and a decrease in the amount of natural lubricant released from them. Causes: hormonal imbalance, which can develop against the background of approaching menstruation, pregnancy or the postpartum period, reception of incorrectly selected hormonal contraceptives; diseases of the…
General Illness Information: Medical Term: Male pattern alopecia, hair loss Common Name: Male pattern baldness Description: Hair loss is a process of abnormal hair loss, leading to the formation of areas with bald patches. Causes: There is no single cause of baldness in men. A variety of conditions and pathologies, as well as their combinations can lead to hair loss: Genetic predisposition. If your father, grandfather and great-grandfather began to…
General Illness Information Medical Term: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Common Name: Papillomas Description: Human papillomavirus is a family of viruses that cause warts, papillomas, dysplasia or cervical and genital cancer. In adults, certain types of virus cause development of anogenital warts, or genital warts. The virus penetrates the skin or mucosa and is met by various cells of human immune system. In most cases, immune cells destroy the virus. But if immune…
General Illness Information Medical Term: Herpes simplex Common Name: Cold sores Description: The so-called cold sores on lips, and in the language of medicine – «labial form of herpes simplex», or herpes simplex, in latent form is present in about 80% of the world’s population. But sometimes, when immunity of a person goes down – due to hypothermia, virus manifests itself as one or two plaques on the perimeter of…
General Illness Information Description: Growth hormone deficiency is a condition in which the body does not produce enough growth hormone. Other names for growth hormone deficiency are dwarfism and pituitary nanism. Somatotropin (STH, somatotropic hormone, somatropin, growth hormone) is one of the hormones of adenohypophysis. This hormone refers to polypeptide hormones, which also includes prolactin and placental lactogen. When pituitary gland does not produce enough growth hormone, a person’s growth…
General Illness Information Medical Term: Erectile dysfunction Common Name: Impotence, Male sexual dysfunction Description: Erectile dysfunction is inability to achieve and maintain erection sufficient to perform sexual intercourse, one of the most common sexual disorders in men. There distinguish primary and secondary erectile dysfunction. Primary (congenital) erectile dysfunction is characterized by the fact that a man has never been able to perform sexual intercourse in his life. This is extremely…
General Illness Information Medical Term: CARDIOMYOPATHY Common Name: Not specified Description: A structural or functional abnormality of the muscle of the heart, causing weakening of the heart muscle. Results in inability of heart to pump blood efficiently. There are 3 types of cardiomyopathy and are classified as dilated, hypertrophic or restrictive. Causes: Many known diseases can cause cardiomyopathy, or it may have no identifiable cause. There are different causes for…
General Illness Information Common Name: Diabetes Insipidus Medical Term: Description: A rare disorder, resulting in excessive thirst and excessive passage of very dilute urine, due to a hormone deficiency in the pituitary gland, which is situated at the base of the brain. Diabetes Insipidus results from a decreased production of antidiuretic hormone ( vasopressin) , the hormone that normally prevents the kidney from producing too much urine. Antidiuretic hormone is…
General Illness Information Common Name: CHICKENPOX Medical Term: Varicella Description: Chickenpox is a very contagious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus. It presents with a very characteristic itchy rash, consisting of clusters of small raised or flat spots, fluid filled blisters, and crusting. It can affect all ages, but most common in children. Causes: Chickenpox can be caused through an infection with the herpes zoster virus. It is spread from…
General Illness Information Medical Term: Not specified Common Name: Nausea and vomiting Description: Nausea is a painful sensation in the stomach and throat, which can be accompanied by weakness, increased salivation, sweating and often precedes vomiting. Vomiting is a sharp involuntary emptying of the stomach. Nausea and vomiting are symptoms of many diseases and conditions, from pregnancy to such serious pathologies as brain tumors, epilepsy and myocardial infarction. Conditions that…
