24th December 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
Obesity is often the core underlying pathology leading to many degenerative and inflammatory diseases. Unfortunately, there is no easy fix to treat obesity. Over the last 12 months we have explored a number of novel molecules which have proven efficacious in reducing fat mass in patients with obesity with or without diabetes. We last looked at the up and coming tirzepatide.…
12th December 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
We touched on the subject of osteosarcopenia on a number of occasions over the years. These are people who have weak bones and have lost muscles. These are often older patients that have become weak for various reasons. Aging reduces the quality and strength of bones and muscles and increases body fat, which lead to the simultaneous occurrence of sarcopenia, osteopenia, and adiposity.…
11th Dec 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
By now, most of you would be familiar with the significant cardiovascular benefits with all the SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i). This is particularly stark in the reduction in hospitalisation for heart failure (Hhf). Of course, patients with heart failure is not a homogeneous group. There is heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and heart failure with reduced ejection (HFrEF).…
11th December 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
Cataract is a leading cause of blindness worldwide, affecting more than 35 million people globally and causing blindness in approximately 20 million. Visual impairment is an important dementia risk. Addressing sensory loss from visual impairment that affects older adults may be a potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia in late life (1,2) Because sensory impairments and dementia are both strongly associated with aging the link between sensory impairment and dementia may have important implications for individual and global public health, particularly if interventions to improve sensory function reduce dementia risk (3).…
29th November 2021, Spectrum Medical Imaging
If you are like me, you will be confused as which joints or joint can be injected for which clinical condition. Then you need to know whether they are ultrasound guided procedures or CT scan guided procedures. There just a myriad of musculoskeletal conditions that can improve with corticosteroid injections. Spectrum Medical Imaging has assembled a team of subspecialist interventional and musculoskeletal expert radiologists to assist us in managing our patients with these conditions.…
29th November 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
If you are over 50 years old, there is no Medicare rebate for an MRI of the knee. They won’t do a “clean out” arthroscopy for symptom relief even if you have significant pain requiring opioids because the symptom relief is only temporary and you will end up needing a total knee replacement anyway.…
29th November 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
One of our biggest fears is missing an atrial fibrillation (AF) and patient is discharged from hospital following their first embolic stroke. Almost all the automatic sphygmomanometers do not check for cardiac rhythm and I make it a point to put a finger on the pulse each time to make sure patients are in sinus rhythm.…
13th November 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
The authority to prescribe a PCSK9 inhibitors for patients with resistant hyperlipidaemia under the PBS continues to be pretty complicated. We tried to simplified those numerous criteria back in December 2020 here when the criteria were “loosened” somewhat. This has facilitated my prescription of this important drug in those patients who have really, really high cardiovascular risk.…
13th November 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
The TGA is examining data from Pfizer on the BNT162b2 vaccination in children between 5-11 years old as I write this article. The US FDA have already approved the vaccine for use in children of those age groups and the US CDC has recommended that children 5-11 years receive the vaccine.…
13th November 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
The success of mass vaccination is demonstrated by the dramatic reduction in case numbers and deaths from Covid-19 infections since the introduction of the covid-19 vaccines worldwide. Countries such as UK, USA, Israel and Singapore started and completed their campaign very early in 2021. Their success has been challenged by the increasing breakthrough in those countries since June 2021.…
29th October 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
Traditionally, we think of diabetes as either type 1 or type 2. That’s mainly because type 1 diabetes (T1D) was discovered first and type 2 diabetes (T2D) came later. Everything that was not T1D was T2D. T1D is an auto immune disease characterised by the death of the beta cells leading to insulin deficiency while T2D is a disease of both insulin resistance and insulin deficiency.…
25th October 2021, Spectrum Medical Imaging
One of the very few beneficial things over the lockdown period is the easier availability of radiological services. Most radiological practices have reported reduction in throughput during the recent outbreaks. As we emerge from the lockdown, referrals for medical imaging are increasing and with the increase, an increasing wait time for services is happening.…