1. Jules is 21 years old, recently diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, is being discharged in the next few hours and has been given oral Prednisolone to take home. How do you explain to Jules how Prednisolone works in the body (pharmacodynamics) when she is experiencing a bout of acute pain. Jules asks if it is ok to take Ibuprofen with Prednisolone … is it? Please provide rationale to support your answer

2. Your patient is a 10-month-old child Poppy who has eczema in the cubital fossa of their knees and elbows; they also have infected nappy rash caused by Candida albicans. Poppy’s parents have been applying a prescribed topical eczema medication (Betamethasone dipropionate 0.05%)  to the nappy rash hoping it will work the same way as it did on the eczema.

Explain how the mechanism of action of this medication has led to an infected nappy rash.