Articles

Read the latest articles relevant to your clinical practice, including exclusive insights from Healthed surveys and polls.

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Dr Linda Calabresi

One of the most common treatments for restless legs syndrome can, in about a third of cases, wind up making the symptoms worse, warns respiratory and sleep physician Professor Brendon Yee from Sydney.

Dr Aajuli Shukla

Anyone who has ever been a parent, recognises the impact sleep deprivation and sleep disturbance has had on their quality of functioning and/or on that of their children.

Felicity Nelson

How likely is it that a patient will recover their urinary control and erectile function after prostatectomy?

Dr Linda Calabresi

Although much less common since the advent of disposable nappies, nappy rash remains a cause of much pain and angst for both babies and their parents.

Dr Fiona Chan

This article about myasthenia gravis highlights the central role GPs have in the diagnosis and ongoing management of patients with this rare condition. This is part three of a three-part article.

Dr Fiona Chan

This article about myasthenia gravis highlights the central role GPs have in the diagnosis and ongoing management of patients with this rare condition. This is part two of a three-part article.

Dr Fiona Chan

This article about myasthenia gravis highlights the central role GPs have in the diagnosis and ongoing management of patients with this rare condition. This is part one of a three-part article.

Prof Bruce Campbell

Never before has it been so important to educate our patients about the importance of calling triple zero promptly if they have symptoms that could be a stroke as this will result in far better outcomes.

Prof Bruce Campbell

Never before has it been so important to educate our patients about the importance of calling triple zero promptly if they have symptoms that could be a stroke as this will result in far better outcomes.

Dr Linda Calabresi

For most patients in Australia, obesity surgery is an expensive exercise. The surgery alone is likely to see you out of pocket to the tune of several thousand at least. And then there’s the time off work, specialist appointments, follow-up etc etc. So you can understand patients being hesitant about the prospect. And then there’s the worry about effectiveness. Will it work? And if so for how long? Well, new research, published in The New England Journal of Medicine goes a long way to alleviating those fears. The prospective US study, showed that not only did more than 400 severely obese patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery lose a significant amount of weight but that weight loss and the health benefits obtained because of it, were sustained 12 years later. Two years after undergoing the Roux-en-Y surgery, these patients had lost an average of 45kg. Over the following decade there was some weight gain, but at the end of the 12 years the average weight loss from baseline was still a massive 35kg. The impressiveness of this statistic is put into perspective by researchers who compared this cohort with a similar number of severely obese people who had sought but did not undergo gastric bypass. Over the duration of the study this group lost an average of only 2.9kg. And another group, also obese patients who had not sought surgery lost no weight at all on average over this time period. What is even more significant is the difference in morbidity associated with the surgery. The researchers found that of the patients who had type 2 diabetes at baseline, 75% no longer had the disease at two years. And despite the progressive nature of type 2 diabetes, 51% were still diabetes-free at 12 years. In addition, the surgery group had higher remission rates and lower incidence rates of hypertension and lipid disorders. “This study showed long-term durability of weight loss and effective remission and prevention of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass,” the study authors concluded. Even though this surgery is done less commonly in Australia than laparoscopic procedures, the reality is that bariatric surgery, for the most part represents enormous value for severely obese patients. The dramatic results and the significant health benefits will no doubt increase pressure on the government and private health insurers to improve access to what could well be described as life-changing surgery. Ref: NEJM 2017; 377: 1143-1155. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1700459