11th October 2023, Dr Chee L Khoo
Aspirin is commonly used as an anti-platelet agent for the prevention of acute coronary syndromes and cerebrovascular accidents. Its role in secondary prevention is well established but its role in primary prevention remains very complicated and very debatable. There is no question that aspirin is definitely beneficial in reducing events especially in patients at high risk of cardiovascular events.…
26th July 2023, Dr Chee L Khoo
It is coming up to 10 years now when we, as GPs, were suddenly not allowed to prescribe TRT for our patients with low serum testosterone levels. The rationale cited at the time was that testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) was potentially harmful because we were told that TRT is associated with increased cardiovascular risk in men with hypogonadism.…
25th March 2023, Dr Chee L Khoo
It’s not really an article you want to read at the eve of a major event. I am off to Paris this week for my second overseas marathon. My cardiologist thinks I am medically crazy to do a marathon at all. So far, I have kept up my side of the bargain by keeping my heart rate to the recommended maximal heart rate during my training (and mostly during the events).…
13th August 2019, Dr Chee L Khoo
Although persons 75 years or older account for 6% of the population, they account for more than 65%of all deaths due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) (1). We know from numerous trials that intensive treatment to reduce lipid levels reduces CV events in patients after they have an ACS (2). What about elderly patients (>75 years old)?…
8th June 2019, Dr Chee L Khoo
The majority of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are diagnosed and managed in primary in the early years. We know from the UKPDS that early tight glycaemic control have enduring legacy effects on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We also know from the DiRECT trials that significant weight loss when the diabetes duration is short can lead to diabetes remission (1,2).…
15th September, 2018, Dr Chee L Khoo
There is definitely a role for aspirin in preventing cardiovascular (CV) events in patients who already had a CV event (secondary prevention). There is always a risk of gastrointestinal and intracranial bleeding. Because the risk of another event after the first is often significantly higher, when one works out the risk benefit ratio, the benefits of aspirin use usually wins.…
July 15, 2018, Dr Chee L Khoo
I must declare my personal interest in this discussion. I have been taking omega-3 fish oil supplements for years to reduce my triglycerides. I am also on a statin for my hypercholesterolaemia and the fish oil is to treat the residual hypertriglyceridaemia. A recent study confirm the efficacy of this approach1. However, does the addition of fish oil and reduction of triglycerides translate to improvement in cardiovascular (CV) outcomes?…