Weight gain with anti-depressants – is it real?

June 15, 2018, Dr Chee L Khoo

In primary care, we have to battle with the increasing incidence of obesity amongst our patients. We also have to battle with the patients with depression where anti-depressants are increasingly being prescribed. Obesity is associated with depression, which is particularly common in patients with severe obesity. Antidepressant treatment may also add on to our patients’ weight.…

SGLT2 inhibitor/DPP4 inhibitor combo under PBS – sorting out the confusion

May 1, 2018 Dr Chee L Khoo

When I wrote the article last fortnight about new SLT2 inhibitor/DPP4 inhibitor combo now on the PBS, the situation was still very confused. Since that article, more information has  come to light. Yes, we are allowed to use both DPP4 inhibitors (DPP4i) and SLGT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) together when patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) if the HbA1c is >7.0%.…

Metformin in pregnancy – where are we now?

April 2018, Dr Chee L Khoo

Another day, another study published on the good or bad about metformin use in pregnancy. There is a lot of confusion and unknowns about the benefit or safety of metformin to the mother-to-be or to the long-term outcome of the baby. When there is a lot of conflicting data coming our way, we need to sit back and look at the overall picture of hyperglycaemia in pregnancy and its management before we can make sense of these studies.…

Complementary vs Conventional Medicine – it doesn’t have to be like that!

April 2018, Dr Chee L Khoo

The term complementary medicine refers to a group of diagnostic and therapeutic disciplines that exist largely outside the institutions where conventional health care is provided and taught. The wide range of disciplines classified as complementary medicine makes it difficult to find defining criteria that are common to all.

In Germany, a significant proportion of doctors have additional qualifications in chiropractic, homeopathy and naturopathy.…

Statins and Muscles – worse than we think

March 15, 2018,  Dr Chee L Khoo

“Doc, my muscles feels tired every time I try to exercise”. Are these patients just unfit or is it the statin or is that just another excuse? Between 7-29% of patients on statins report muscle complaints (depending on who reports them). Often these symptoms are exacerbated with physical activity and exercises. Muscle soreness, muscle pains and muscle tenderness are probably relatively easier to quantify in patients but non-specific muscle fatigue are much harder to pin down.…

Metformin during pregnancy – Goldilocks principle strikes again!

March 15, 2018 Dr Chee L Khoo

Hyperglycaemia during pregnancy has significant metabolic consequences for the mother, the pregnancy as well as for the offspring’s future health. It is tempting to assume that keeping the glucose lower during pregnancy must be beneficial for both parties. Metformin has been used in women with PCOS, GDM and obesity during pregnancy in an attempt to improve pregnancy and foetal outcomes but this practice is not based on solid scientific evidence.…

VLCD may cause initial reduction in cardiac function

March 2018, Dr Chee L Khoo

Several meta-analyses of randomised clinical trials showed that ketogenic diets induce a long-term significant improvement in body weight, diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol, when compared to low fat diets. However, rapid weight loss may cause a transient rise in plasma triglycerides which can contribute to impairment in cardiac function in the short term.

The heart has a very high energy demand, which is met almost entirely by the mitochondrial oxidation of fatty acids and carbohydrates.…

Glucocorticoid injection for spinal stenosis – who might benefit?

March 2018, Dr Chee L Khoo

Sometimes conclusions from a landmark scientific trial may be different from what we see in our own practice. The LESS trial (2014) found that epidural injection of glucocorticoids plus lignocaine offered minimal or no short-term (6 weeks) benefit as compared with epidural injection of lignocaine alone in the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Yet, we all have some patients that have responded well to spinal injections.…

D-dimer – how to use it correctly in general practice

March 2018, Dr Chee L Khoo

We all know a bit about d-dimer. We all know that it can be a useful marker for the diagnosis of venous thromboembolism (VTE). It can be used to guide the optimal duration of anti-coagulation in VTE. It is also useful in assessing the risk of recurrence in patients who already had a VTE event especially in patients with cancer.…

How to get lounge access when flying economy

March 2018, Dr Chee L Khoo

If you earn more than $76,000 per annum and you would like lounge access when flying economy overseas on the cheap, read on. I don’t know about you but I can only afford economy class when flying overseas. I can’t really justify spending 4 times the economy fare to be pampered. Really, I just need lounge access.…