all things to do with diabetes obesity and metabolism
28th June 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo
In type 1 diabetes (T1D), the β-cell die rapidly from a massive immunological assault and practically all the β-cells are quickly lost and hence, there is an absolute deficiency of insulin secretion. Using auto-antibody screening, we can define T1D. Do you realise that we don’t actually have a definition for type 2 diabetes (T2D).…
12th June 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo
Whenever there are multiple brands of the same class of drugs on the market, one always wonder whether the new kid on the block is a “johnny-come-lately” trying to break into an already crowded market with yet another drug or it’s really a new kid with much better credentials. We already have 4 GLP-1 agonists in Australia and now a fifth one will be out real soon.…
24th May 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo
In primary care, we are frequently preventing disease or at least we try to. Apart from lifestyle measures, we prescribe statins, anti-hypertensive, aspirin and beta-blockers to reduce cardiovascular events. What about arthritis? In patients who do not have arthritis (yet) but are at high risk of degenerative osteoarthritis, is there something we can do to reduce the patients’ risk of progressing to full blown arthritis?…
13th May 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo
Covid-19 have exposed the numerous risks patients with type 2 diabetes (t2D) face when the two pandemics meet head on. We have seen that patients with diabetes are over-represented in patients hospitalised with Covid-19 in Wuhan. Patients with diabetes are also affected more severely if they contracted Covid-19 especially if glycaemic control is suboptimal.…
11th April 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo
You are probably overwhelmed by the whole Covid-19 saga. Just because we are dealing with Covid-19 “everywhere”, doesn’t mean existing chronic diseases can take a breather. Patients with chronic illness especially diabetes and hypertension are affected by the current Covid-19 chaos in more ways then one. GPs play a vital role in managing these patients during this difficult and challenging time especially when there is much emphasis on telehealth.…
14th March 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo
It’s more than 100 years since insulin was first use for patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D). It’s been many decades now since we discovered that autoantibodies pre-dates the development of hyperglycaemia and theoretically, we should be able stop destruction of the beta cells before the onset of hyperglycaemia and “prevent” T1D. Unfortunately, strategies from preclinical and clinical studies thus fat, have not met their primary end points.…
14th March 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo
Despite significant reduction in cardiovascular events over the last 20 years in the general population, patients with diabetes still has 1.5-2 times the risk of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular mortality compared with the general population. It was pretty exciting when two classes of the new anti-diabetic medications have been shown in a number of landmark trials to reduce composite cardiovascular events patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and previous cardiovascular disease or patients with T2D with multiple cardiovascular risks.…
Lantus® or Insulin glargine U100 is a vital tool in a significant number of our patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. It is the only once a day basal insulin available in Australia until recently. From the 1st July, it will no longer be available on the PBS. It’s going to be chaotic unless you are prepared for D-day.…
The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) demonstrated that intensive glucose lowering in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) reduce the risk of long term diabetes complications (1). Similar results were demonstrated in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS). But intensive glucose control involves finger pricks at least 4-8 times a day and is not sustainable in the medium to long term in most patients.…
By now, you have heard that the continuous glucose monitoring “button” (Freestyle Libre) has finally been put on the NDSS. It was in the news and current affairs a few weeks ago with an interview of some politician to get their 5 minute of fame. You may even have a few patients come in asking for details. Of course, when you delve into the announcement a bit, you realise that it was a re hatching of some old news.…
29th January 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo
If you have someone in the family with type 2 diabetes (T2D), then your risk of developing diabetes significantly increases. How much is “significant” though? Is it 2 times, 3 times or is it 10 times? Does it matter how many members in the family have diabetes? Is paternal diabetes important too? Do we know the numbers?…
29th January 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo
The major difference between the 2018 American Diabetes Association/ European Association for the Study of Diabetes (ADA/EASD) consensus guidelines compared to previous guidelines were that they were less glucose centric in determining which agent to use after metformin. We used to use the most potent agent to get the sugars to target but increasingly, we are now looking at what other benefits the next agent has in addition to lowering glucose.…