Do you know this giant lurking in SWS?

27th August 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo

I first met him in December 2014 just before he started work at Western Sydney University in 2015. For someone who has just arrived in south west Sydney, I was most impressed to see how well he grasped the problems we have with the quality of care in patients with diabetes in our area.…

Acne – are dietary factors relevant?

25th August 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo

diet and acne

Moderately severe to severe acne can have significant psychological harm associated with low self-esteem, poor perception of one’s body, social isolation, and depressive symptoms. Patients often believe that consumption of various food contribute to their acne development and severity. Although chocolate, fatty foods, and milk are frequently thought to be responsible is there any evidence on the role of nutrition in acne?…

Ultrasound at Spectrum – reduced waiting time

Spectrum Medical Imaging, 23rd August 2020

Spectrum Medical Imaging Liverpool is proud to announce the opening of 2 additional ultrasound rooms in our practice at 171 Bigge Street. This increased capacity will reduce waiting times for elective scans.

Spectrum is pleased to announce the installation of the latest Voluson™ ultrasound machine. The Voluson™ is a dedicated Obstetrics & Gynaecology machine which aids in problem solving complex cases using ground-breaking technology including unique foetal heart tools and using specialised ultrasound probes.…

Anti-depressants in pregnancy – which agent is less bad?

14th August 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo

Most women would prefer not to take any medications during the pregnancy for fear of any potential teratogenic effects on the foetus. However, for some women, the use of anti-depressants is necessary. Managing these mental disorders during pregnancy and the post-partum period can be challenging (1-2) but effective management can maintain maternal and infant health (3), improve maternal prenatal health care practices (4) and improve maternal-infant attachment (5).…

Refining cardiovascular risk stratification – can troponin help?

13th August 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo

We all know the usefulness of highly sensitive troponin (hsTn) in diagnosing acute myocardial infarction in daily practice. hsTn has also been demonstrated to be strongly associated with recurrent events in patients with stable atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) (1-7). However, hsTn is not routinely used in clinical practice in this population of patients.…

New RACGP Diabetes Management Guidelines – what’s new?

8th August 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo

Keeping up-to-date?

Two years is an awfully long time in diabetes management updates. Well, that’s exactly how long it has been since the last RACGP diabetes management guidelines was last updated. There have been a deluge of data pouring in to help guide us in our management of patients with type 2 diabetes. The “handbook” is actually looking more like an encyclopaedia now with 198 pages of information.…

The Revolution Apex™ CT Scanner – best image quality for EVERY patient

27th July 2020, Spectrum Radiology

one beat cardiac scan

General Electric (GE) set the standard for low-dose imaging back in 2008 with an iterative reconstruction technology capable of lowering dose by 50 percent. While that benchmark continues to change, GE introduced Deep Learning Image Reconstruction, a system which uses artificial intelligence to combine the low dose of iterative reconstruction with a “classic-looking” image texture of filtered back projection.…

Deleting ECG item numbers in primary care – whose idea was it?

27th July 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo

GP: the brains behind ECGs

Just pause and think for just one minute. Over the last 12 months, how many atrial fibrillations have you picked up incidentally on ECG? How many silent old acute myocardial infarct have you seen on ECG in a patient with diabetes? How many ST and T wave changes have you seen on ECG which suggest ischaemia which requires further investigations?…

Medical Nutritional Therapy – why are you not prescribing it?

26th July 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo

Whenever we think about management of hyperglycaemia in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), we usually think about the most efficacious hypoglycaemic agent we can find (and on the PBS). If you look carefully at most management guidelines, lifestyle measures appears at the very top of the algorithm, side by side metformin. Sadly, it is often not the most prominent and usually, dismissed as an important part of the treatment algorithm.…

Goose foot – how many “toes” does the goose foot have?

20th July 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo

Figure 1

This is not a riddle. I often ask my medical students and patients this question and they all look at me strangely. How does this relate to medical science? Of course, we are talking about pes anserinus (PA). For those of you who remember your anatomy, PA relates to the 3 tendons that are attached to the medial aspect of the knee.…

GLP-1 agonists – now we have 5

12th July 2020, Dr Chee L Khoo

One month ago, we discussed Ozempic®(semaglutide) as the new GLP-1 agonist kid on the block in the treatment of hyperglycaemia in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). We foreshadowed that it will be coming real soon. Well, sooner than I thought. Ozempic® went on the PBS on the 1st July. What we didn’t know was what the restrictions will be when prescribing for patients with T2D.…