27th March 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
It all started when the Austrian regulatory authority suspended the use of a batch of AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine on March 9th after a patient was diagnosed with multiple thrombosis and died 10 days after vaccination, and another was hospitalised with pulmonary embolism after being vaccinated. At least 16 other countries follow suit and suspended the use of AZ vaccine.…
13th March 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
Medical treatment options for type 2 diabetes (T2D) have increased over the last decade and enhance the possibility of individualised treatment strategies where insulin is still one of them. In spite of the advancements in treatment options, less than one-third of the population with diabetes achieve their glycaemic target. What if I tell you that there is a new treatment option available that has been shown to significantly reduce HbA1c, hypoglycaemia, hospitalisation, complications and diabetic medications?…
12th March 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
I don’t about you but I seem to be bombarded by emails championing the wonderful things that cannabis oil can do. I even had a pharmaceutical rep swinging by to ask why I wasn’t prescribing cannabis oil for my patients. I even have a specialist (of sorts) that recommended that my patient come and discuss cannabis oil for his condition with me.…
!2th March 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
A substantial number of myocardial infarctions (MIs) are asymptomatic (silent MI (SMI)) or associated with minor and atypical symptoms and are found accidentally during routine electrocardiogram (ECG) examinations that reveal the existence of abnormal Q waves. The risk factors for occurrence of SMI are increasing age, hypertension, existing coronary artery disease and diabetes.…
27th February 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
Even though there should be no panic in the roll out, as more and more is being flashed across our TV screen, patients may start queuing up at the practice agitating to be first to be vaccinated. We all still have our normal patients to look after everyday and we need some pre-planning to avoid being snowed under and causing stress to GPs and their staff.…
27th February 2021, Spectrum Radiology
We last reviewed Morton’s Neuroma here back in 2018. It is always refreshing to look a real case from the radiologist’s point of view. It does remind us to keep a look out for this relatively common condition which can be debilitating. The term neuroma is a misnomer because the lesion is not a neoplastic lesion such as a schwannoma or neurofibroma.…
26th February 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
Back in medical school, we were taught that we have B-cells and T-cells. B-cells are responsible for humoral immunity and T-cells are responsible for cell-mediated immunity. T-cells could be killer cells or helper cells although we also have regulatory T-cells which tells the naïve T-cells how to behave. Of course, over the last 2-3 decades, we know more about what makes the regulatory T-cells decide what to tell these naïve cells.…
13th February 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
As often occurs with new medications and vaccines, pregnant individuals were excluded from the clinical trials for these vaccines. As the vaccine roll out begins, women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant will want to discuss the safety of the vaccines with their GP. We better be up to date with the relevant issues so that we can have a meaningful discussion with our patient.…
13th February 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
Aspirin as a chemoprotective agent against colorectal cancer (CRC) has gone through quite exhaustive reviews over the last 20 years. After initially recommended against using aspirin for CRC prevention in 2007, the US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) in 2015 recommended initiating low-dose aspirin use for the primary prevention of CVD and CRC in “adults aged 50 to 59 years who have a >10% 10-year CVD risk, are not at increased risk for bleeding, have a life expectancy of at least 10 years and are willing to take low-dose aspirin daily for at least 10 years” (1).…
11th February 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
We all have come across this awful scenario. Patient was admitted to hospital with a TIA or a stroke due to significant carotid stenosis. As good caring GPs, we looked back and wonder whether we should have known about the stenosis. After all, these patients often have other hallmarks of atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease or peripheral arterial disease and the usual cardiovascular risk factors and we should have suspected carotid stenosis.…
2nd February 2021, Dr Chee L Khoo
Since my last post on the expression of interest (EOI) in participating in the Phase 1B covid-19 vaccine roll out, there have some changes and clarification to the silly announcements that may make it more acceptable to submit the EOI:
The National Booking System (NBS) has not been created yet and is unlikely to be ready in time for the launch of Phase 1B (if at all).…
29th January 2021, Spectrum Interventional Radiology
Benign Prostate Hypertrophy (BPH) is a prevalent condition in males that results in Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS). BPH is present in 50% of males at 50yrs of age and increases to 90% of males at 90 years of age. Apart from trans-urethral resection of prostate (TURP) and dutasteride/tamsulosine, there is another longstanding and tested option.…