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.…

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.…

GLP1-RAs and gallbladder diseases – is there a connection?

biliary system

12th April 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

It’s almost close to a wonder drug. It is widely used in type 2 diabetes (T2D) for management of hyperglycaemia when the HbA1c is >7.0%. For that indication, it is pretty potent and in clinical trials, can reduce the HbA1c by 1-1.5%. It also assists in weight reduction and thence, reduce the core problem of insulin resistance in these patients.…

Perioperative antibiotics – is less actually more?

12th April 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

Antibiotic cover?

We continue to see “routine” antibiotic cover for many surgical procedures. It is not uncommon to see antibiotic prophylaxis used in major surgery like open heart surgery, joint replacement surgery and bowel surgery but the list extends to sinus surgery, routine orthopaedic surgery and not that uncommonly, plastic reconstructive surgery. This is despite international guidelines stating that for clean and clean-contaminated procedures (explicitly including any prosthetic joint arthroplasty with or without a drain, additional prophylactic antimicrobial doses should not be administered after the surgical incision is closed in the operating room.…

Cardiovascular risk predictors – are they any good?

8th April 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

CV Risk Calculator

CVD is the major cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). There are many hundreds of cardiovascular risk prediction tools around. Well, whenever you have many versions of a particular tool, it usually tells us that none of them are particularly good in what they are meant to do – that is to predict the risk of a cardiovascular event.…

Combining antidepressants – are two agents better than one?

Depressed

15th March 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

We are seeing increasing number of patients with depression. This is particularly the case over the last 2 years of the pandemic. Many of our patients were scared in the first year before the vaccines became available and confused in the second year with all sorts of news (good and bad) about the vaccines and their potential side effects.…

SGLT2i/GLP-1RA combo – is two better than one?

22nd March 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

Combo

If you don’t already know that SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) have significant cardiovascular (and renal) benefits over and above its glucose lowering action, you better catch up with our many, many past issues at GPVoice. You should also be as familiar with the similar benefits of the GLP1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA), especially the newer weekly injectables.…

Statins in T2D – friend or foe?

12th March 2022, Dr Chee L Khoo

Nox family
friend or foe?

When you look at the management of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), almost all the patients are on a statin for both primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular complications. I suspect that those that are not already on a statin should be on as some doctors are not aware of the tightened lipid targets in the management of patients with T2D.…