23rd October 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
The UKPDS 33 demonstrated that intensive glucose control had significant microvascular benefits over a 10-year period in patients with newly (< 6 years) diagnosed type 2 diabetes (1). Overall, there was a trend towards macrovascular benefits during that period but did not reach statistical significance. The participants were followed up for another 10 years after the study was published in 1997.…
NIA is now in Ingleburn. Both Ingleburn and Glenquarie sites offer full radiological services: General X-Ray, OPG/Cephalogram, DEXA (Bone Density Scan), Ultra-low dose CT, CT Dental, Ultrasound, 3D Mammogram (Breast Tomosynthesis), Interventional Procedures, Pain Management Injections. The staff are multilingual and fluent in Arabic, Croatian, Italian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Punjabi, Hindi, Persian and French. They also have female sonographers/radiographers on site.…
13th October 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
Obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), fatty liver disease, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are complex and very inter-related cardio-metabolic conditions. Most of these conditions have lipids derangements as a major contributor to complications. While the link between lipids, in particular LDL-C, and CVD is linear and robust, there is still residual risks after aggressive treatment with lipid lowering agents.…
13th October 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
Patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are not only more likely to progress towards renal failure requiring dialysis or renal transplant, but also have a greater lifetime risk of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality (1). This is not surprising though, as both the kidneys and the heart share the same pathophysiology.…
28th September 2022, Spectrum Medical Imaging
Injections around joints, tendons and bursa can be tricky. Unless you are trained to know where to insert the needle, it is all a hit and miss. If the patient doesn’t respond to the injection, you really don’t know whether it didn’t work or because it was not in the right spot. That’s when image guided injections come handy.…
25th September 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
We looked at the Australian guidelines on management of heart failure (HF) recently and in particular, how it impacts upon the management of these patients in primary care. The guidelines recommended the four pillars of management but also reinforced the categories of HF. Did you know that the numbers that define the different categories of HF is somewhat arbitrary?…
14th September 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) will affect up to 1 in 3 of our patients with diabetes. It is a sad statistic but it’s even more scary in women. In fact, DR is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in women of reproductive age. Much of the risk can be minimised or prevented in primary care.…
13rd September 2022, NIA Diagnostic Imaging
Mammography remains the gold standard imaging technique in early-stage breast cancer diagnosis. It forms part of the triple test approach to the investigation of new breast symptoms. (Cancer Australia 2021). In the past, there used to be limitations with conventional mammography’s sensitivity and specificity in detecting abnormalities in young female breasts due to the patients’ mostly dense breast tissues.…
9th September 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
While aspirin does provide a modest benefit in reducing nonfatal MI and nonfatal stroke events, low dose aspirin has little or no effect on cardiovascular disease mortality or all-cause mortality in patients who have not had cardiovascular disease (1). In 2016, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concluded that the beneficial effect of aspirin for the primary prevention of CVD was modest and occurred at doses of 100 mg or less per day (2).…
30th August 2022, Spectrum Medical Imaging
Headaches in the paediatric population is not that uncommon. To work out the cause is not always straight forward. There can be many causes for the headaches but sometimes we have to resort to more detailed investigations. We usually try to avoid radiation from a brain CT scan in the young growing brain. This is where an MRI can be useful.…
29th August 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
By now, you would be very familiar with the additional cardiorenal benefits when you use an SGLT2 inhibitor (SGLT2i) in the management of hyperglycaemia in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). You would also know that the benefits are enjoyed by patients whether they have diabetes or not. DAPA-CKD published in September 2020 during the pandemic.…
28th August 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
We know that low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). We also know that reducing LDL-C levels can significantly reduce those risks irrespective of whether they have established cardiovascular disease or not (1). That means reducing LDL-C works in secondary as well as primary prevention. However, even when LDL-C is well-controlled in statin-treated ASCVD patients, there is still a residual risk of cardiovascular disease.…