High salt intake is said to independently contribute to high blood pressure and ultimately, increase cardiovascular disease (CVD). There are also many other diseases that are similarly associated with high salt intake. How robust is the evidence though? As we ponder about the associations, we may or may not push the message of salt reduction as strongly as we should.…
25th July 2024, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
The current gold standard for screening for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) for women with no risk factors for hyperglycaemia is an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) at 24-28 weeks’ gestation. Women with risk factors are recommended to have an OGTT in the first trimester. Unfortunately, many women are nauseous during the first trimester and performing an OGTT during that time can be very unpalatable.…
21st July 2024, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
I know this what we were all led to believe – high salt intake independently contributes to high blood pressure and ultimately, increases cardiovascular disease (CVD). Further, reducing salt intake will reduce blood pressure and thence, cardiovascular disease. We may sometimes wonder how strong the evidence for both statements is. As we ponder about the associations, we may or may not push the message of salt reduction as strongly as we should.…
20th July 2024, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is not just a disease of obstructed airways. In a significant proportion of COPD sufferers, there is an inflammatory component to the disease. This not only affects the aetiology of the disease and its exacerbations but also its management. We are used to using all sorts of bronchodilators to keep the obstructed airways opened and inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) to tackle the inflammatory component.…
13th July 2024, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
Iron deficiency can occur in a number of scenarios. It can arise from blood loss (gastrointestinal, gynaecological), inadequate dietary sources or limited absorption in inflammatory conditions (e.g CKD, heart failure or diabetes). Oral iron supplements not only can have annoying GI side effects but absorption is poor under the best of conditions.…
30th June 2024, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
We are all aware of the exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) especially when they are discharged from hospital back to primary care. We tend to forget that each time a patient with COPD have flare up or chest infection, that represent an exacerbation of COPD. Now, you may think it’s just a matter of semantics and coding but it’s more than that.…
10th June 2024, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
There will always be a certain degree of fat free mass (i.e. muscle) loss with any weight loss. While the makers of the GLP1/GIP agonists will tell you that overall, there is more fat loss than muscle loss, it is still a concern for the long term health of patients who lose muscles which may not be restored.…
31st May 2024, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
It’s coming to almost 10 years now when suddenly, we were not able to prescribe testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) to men with hypogonadism or low testosterone levels under the PBS. This came on the back of a decision by the US FDA in March 2015 to restrict the prescription of TRT (1).…
31st May 2024, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
Renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitors and SGLT2 inhibitors have been the cornerstone treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) for many years now. They have been shown to protect kidneys and at the same time reduce adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Finerenone was recently shown to do the same. These three agents are now the guideline-directed three pillars in the treatment of CKD.…
12th May 2024, NIA Diagnostic Imaging
Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) stands out as one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal disorders manifesting in neonates and infants (Charlton et al., 2017). Owing to the dynamic potential for hip remodelling, hip dysplasia at birth may either resolve spontaneously or progress as the child grows (Loh & Wollett, 2021). DDH encompasses a spectrum of hip conditions, including abnormal acetabular development and hip dislocation causing disruption to the typical alignment of the femoral head and acetabulum as a stable ball-and-socket joint (Landes, 2011).…
12th May 2024, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
We are used to using colchicine for acute treatment of gout but colchicine has also proven itself a key pharmacotherapy in the treatment of cardiovascular conditions such as pericardial disease (1), post-operative atrial fibrillation (2) and coronary artery disease (3). Colchicine disrupts the inflammatory response in acute gout but the inflammatory pathways that colchicine acts on are also found in other inflammatory diseases including coronary artery disease.…
11th May 2024, A/Prof Chee L Khoo
I recall reading somewhere that increasing fish intake during pregnancy results in leaner offsprings. It all makes sense as we know that ω-3 fatty acid (ω-3 FA) is beneficial for adults (also read somewhere). It must be good for babies then. Is there data on those claims? Well, sort of. We shall look into them.…