Developing Healthcare Equipment for Emerging Markets – MM1608
Healthcare technologies have a vital role to play in tackling new sustainable development goals, as appropriate investment in the latest medical equipment can improve diagnosis and clinical outcomes as well as improve efficiency, if doctors are fully trained to make the most of them.
Modern Medicine – August 2016
Your July copy of Modern Medicine is up and running and looking grand!
With the worst of winter behind us, we look to the future with a piece on the future of robotic surgery in SA.
Additionally, we cover a both diabetes and acne in young adults, focusing on the impact of the treatments of these common ailments.
We encourage all of our readers to complete the CPD questionnaire for this edition, this can be done on the answer-form included in the magazine, or on our website CPD system.
Modern Medicine, the journal that’s with you wherever you go.
A GP’s Guide to Treating Acne – MM1607
Acne needs to be considered as a diagnosis in both children and adults, as well as the common acne in adolescents. Treatment needs to be individualised according to the clinical presentation and psychological needs of the patient. Due to global concern about increasing antibiotic resistance of bacteria, antibiotics should not be prescribed as monotherapy for patients with acne. Patients have to be reviewed every three to six months so acne management can be assessed and medication changed if ineffective. Many patients worry about acne scarring. Early effective management can lessen the risk of permanent scarring.
Modern Medicine – July 2016
Barrett’s Oesophagus Does it Matter? – MM1607
Barrett’s oesophagus is a premalignant condition characterised by the replacement of normal stratified squamous epithelium of the oesophagus with metaplastic columnar epithelium. It can predispose patients to oesophageal adenocarcinoma, in whom the frequency has increased sevenfold in the past four decades. Most patients with heartburn do not have Barrett’s oesophagus.
Although Barrett’s oesophagus is a premalignant condition, the risk of progression to malignancy is low and surveillance intervals should be guided by the presence and degree of dysplasia. There is currently insufficient evidence to support routine medical or surgical intervention for regression or prevention of progression of disease.
Modern Medicine – July 2016
TIAs and Stroke Prevention | Rapid Assessment, Urgent Treatment – MM1607
A transient ischaemic attack (TIA) is a transient neurovascular event that resolves within 24 hours without acute infarction on MRI. Urgent investigations for TIA or stroke should include: imaging of the brain; imaging of the carotid and vertebral arteries; 12-channel ECG and Holter monitoring; transthoracic echocardiography; blood pressure, fasting lipids and glucose measurements. The American Heart Association (AHA)/American Stroke Association (ASA) have updated their guidelines on primary and secondary stroke prevention, focusing on lifestyle changes and management of hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and diabetes. The targets for primary prevention are less strict than for secondary prevention but the same principles for treatment and lifestyle changes apply.
Modern Medicine – July 2016
Robotic Surgery’s Future in SA – MM1607
Robotic surgery, or robot-assisted surgery, allows doctors to perform many types of complex procedures with more precision, flexibility and control than is possible with conventional techniques. Robotic surgery is usually associated with minimally invasive surgery, allowing surgeons to perform delicate and complex procedures that may be difficult or impossible with other methods.
Modern Medicine – July 2016
Investigating New Diabetes in Young Adults – MM1607
Distinguishing type 1 and type 2 diabetes in young adults is becoming difficult given the increase in obesity in this age group and deviation of cases from recognised phenotypes. Patients presenting with hyperglycaemia and ketosis should be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and regarded as insulin deficient. Further management should be supervised by an endocrinologist. The presence of autoantibodies confirms the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. The absence of autoantibodies does not exclude the diagnosis as up to 5% of patients with type 1 diabetes may be negative for autoantibodies. There is an increasing overlap between type 1 and type 2 diabetes despite their differing aetiologies.
Modern Medicine – July 2016
The Antibiotic Resistance Time Bomb is Ticking – MM1607
Antibiotic resistance is threatening modern medicine, with overuse and misuse of antibiotics driving resistance to such an extent that the world has entered the post-antibiotic era, where some multidrug- and pandrug-resistant bacterial infections are no longer treatable. If not addressed, 10m people will die annually of drug-resistant infections by 2050 with added interference to other common medical procedures that rely on antibiotics for their success.
Modern Medicine – July 2016
SA Breakthrough for Breast Cancer Diagnosis – MM1607
One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer, making it the number one killer of women aged between 40 and 55. Each year 2.5m new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed worldwide, with more than 40% of these women dying from the disease.
Modern Medicine – July 2016
The June edition of Modern Medicine is available and ready for you to read.
We continue our selection of locally written pieces, with an Ethics article on the sports medicine, and a piece on pain.
Beyond those, we have a number of great articles, including a particularly good one on practical anticoagulant treatments.
Be sure to click through the CPD logo on the top right of the screen and to complete some of our CPD questionnaires for the month too.
Modern Medicine, the journal that’s with you wherever you go.
