13th July 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
Have you noticed we don’t hear about congestive cardiac failure (CCF) anymore? Its’ just plain heart failure (HF) now. It makes sense because not all heart failures are congestive in nature. Of course, you are aware of the new terms – heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).…
26th June 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
I was recently tasked with preparing a lecture on the current guidelines for lipid management in patients with diabetes. I thought it was quite straight forward. We have known for some years now that the targets are tighter than patients without diabetes. Thus, it can’t be that hard. As I looked into national and international guidelines, they started to get more and more complicated.…
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.…
13th June 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
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.…
12th June 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
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.…
11th June 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
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.…
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.…
23rd May 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
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.…
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).…
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.…
12th May 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo
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.…
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.…