Articles related to Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism

Our understanding of lipid pathology is shifting from what might be called the “LDL hypothesis” to the “atherogenic lipoprotein hypothesis.” LDL is just a surrogate of the actual process of lipoprotein interaction with the arterial wall. This shift in understanding is driving a host of budding therapies with novel approaches to targeting key atherogenesis players like lipoprotein(a) and triglycerides.

Research shows that the “old” 2015 recommendation would only identify about half of Americans with prediabetes and undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. Based on this data, the US Preventive Services Task Force has lowered the recommended screening age from 40 to 35 years in asymptomatic, nonpregnant adults who are overweight or obese.

Can you differentiate between bradykinin-mediated angioedema and the more common histamine-mediated angioedema? How significant is a delayed diagnosis? Do you favor on-demand or preventative therapy? What is the recommended therapy? Access to specialist care and effective treatment in the past 10 years has improved the quality of life and reduced the mortality rate in patients with hereditary angioedema. This wide-ranging report from the British Journal of Hospital Medicine covers emerging treatments and outlines where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going in hereditary angioedema (HAE) care.

MDCalc.com offers this helpful tool, which calculates creatinine clearance (CrCl) according to the Cockcroft-Gault equation. The tool also allows height input, which analyzes BMI and provides a modified estimate and range.

Often undiagnosed due to its unspecific symptoms, hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a tricky condition that causes many patients unnecessary suffering with unnecessary surgeries and invasive diagnostic/therapeutic interventions. Read on to educate yourself on some of the alarming numbers on the orphan disease.   

After diagnosis during a partial mastectomy, this patient’s estimated blood loss was 58 mL, causing anemia and requiring a red blood cell transfusion along with ventriculoperitoneal drain placement. With a substantive bleeding history before the diagnosis, what would you do next with this patient? Work her up for von Willebrand disease? Do a complete blood count test to look at platelet count, a peripheral smear to look at the morphology of the platelets, and a coagulation profile? Offer genetic testing for fibrinogen disorders? What would your next steps be? Read the full case presentation and expert opinion to see how your peers responded.