Time to get together as GPs

26th June 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

Tell me, what time did you get home last night? When did you last work a Saturday or a Sunday? When did you last truly spend time with the whole family? I bet you still fly economy class when you last went overseas. I am not telling you anything you don’t already know. Our rebates have not gone up for > 20 years.…

Fenofibrate and retinopathy – when should we use it?

13th June 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

retinopathy

Fenofibrate is a commonly-used lipid lowering agent. In particular, it is recommended for patients with high triglycerides. Two previous studies have demonstrated that fenofibrate reduces the progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients who already have DR. Despite the benefits of fenofibrate, we don’t see recommendations for its use featured prominently in guidelines.…

NAFLD – the many treatment options in the pipeline

12th June 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

NAFLD

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver condition in the western world. A significant proportion of these patients developed inflammation and progressed to non-alcoholic steato-hepatitis (NASH). Further and persistent inflammation can lead to cirrhosis and ultimately, to liver failure or liver cancer. Management till recently is primarily targeted towards lifestyle measures to reduce liver fat.…

Diabetic retinopathy in pregnancy – real bad news!

11th June 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

Diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) will affect at least 1 in 3 of our patients with diabetes. Did you know that DR is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in women of reproductive age? Further, the progression continues up to 12 months postpartum. Type 1 diabetes is on the increase and young type 2 diabetes is definitely on the rise.…

Personalised breast cancer risk assessment is here

31st May 2022, Spectrum Medical Imaging

We know that different women have different breast types. Some breasts are more dense than others. Some breasts have more adipose tissues than others. Obviously, with age, those features will change. Thus, the ideal imaging techniques will be different and will depend on the breast type, the age and the underlying risk of the woman, amongst many other things.…

Fibromyalgia – which drug for which symptom?

23rd May 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

Fibromyalgia?

We all know that the term fibromyalgia is a wishy-washy term used to cover something rather imprecise. Don’t get me wrong. I am not doubting the syndrome but just the name used to refer to the constellation of symptoms of widespread chronic pain, easy physical exhaustion, cognitive difficulties, depressed mood, sleep problems and digestive problems.…

CV disease and inflammation – where do the cells come from?

22nd May 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

The close association of inflammation and cardiovascular disease is well known for some time. Inflammation is an essential mediator of all stages of atherosclerosis, from initiation to progression and the development of thrombotic complications (1,2). Circulating immune cells play a critical role in the build-up of atherosclerotic plaques by adhering to activated endothelium and infiltrating the arterial wall to become lesional cells (3).…

PPIs and diabetes – is there a link?

PPIs

13th May 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

Another month, another commonly used class of drugs are implicated in either aggravating glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) or actually, increase the risk of developing T2D. This month, we a report suggesting the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), as a class of agent, is associated with increased risk of developing T2D.…

Dasiglucagon – finally here?

12th May 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

severe hypoglycaemia

It’s been more than 4 years since we herald the arrival of the stable formulation of the new glucagon, dasiglucagon in a ready-to-use delivery device for the management of hypoglycaemia. If you think about how much time is wasted in the emergency treatment of hypoglycaemia. The existing glucagon emergency kits we currently have need reconstitution before administration.…

Acute Achilles tendon rupture – is non-surgical treatment just as good?

11th May 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

I was fortunate to have received ample orthopaedic experience in my training days. I was all destined to be an orthopaedic surgeon but changed my mind. I have seen a few complete Achilles tendon rupture and assisted in many successful surgical repair. Conceptually, you can’t imagine how anyone can plantar flex again if the tendon ends are not reattached surgically.…

Nuchal translucency or Non-invasive prenatal screening

30th April 2022, Spectrum Medical Imaging

Women who are in their first trimester of pregnancy have two options for screening for structural abnormalities and chromosomal abnormalities such as Down’s, Edwards or Patau syndrome. While it not necessary to perform both, we need to know which test exclude what abnormalities. Spectrum offers both and we need to understand both tests for that we can discuss them with our patients.…

Type 2 diabetes and cancers – what and why?

24th April 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

There have many observational studies that have shown increased risks of a variety of cancers in patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes independent of body mass index (BMI). Cancer is also the second most common cause of death in patients with diabetes. Up to 18% of patients with cancers have diabetes.…