Pearls

This hot topic just got even hotter, with lots of media coverage this week highlighting concerns about the risks of higher-dose oestrogen sometimes prescribed off licence. This just might have triggered a few phone calls and e-consults!

Our focused GP Trainee Essentials topic this month is hormone replacement therapy. It’s a subject that often requires demystifying because the terminology and management can be challenging. We're here to help!

Named after an octopus trap and sometimes called broken heart syndrome, Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is being diagnosed more frequently. In fact, 2% of people initially labelled as having acute coronary syndrome will end up with the diagnosis.

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome is the most common paediatric glomerular disease. Despite this, we won’t see it very often, but a quick reminder might help us spot it!

Building on last year’s successful GP trainee Pearls programme, we are back with another season of Red Whale resources to support the next generation of GP trainees, along with their supervisors.  

Alopecia is one of many distressing conditions that patients may have to pluck up the courage to ask about. Having a framework to help us approach topics such as this can be really helpful.

The choice of HRT regimens can feel baffling, but for all women who still have uterus, unopposed oestrogen can increase the risk of endometrial cancer, so it must be balanced with an adequate dose of progestogen.

On 15 April 2024, big changes were announced in the process for death certification, and these will come into play across all of England and Wales on 9 September 2024.

A message on the triage list: Going hiking in Slovenia in September… any vaccinations needed? Did you know that tick-borne encephalitis vaccination might be recommended in this situation?

To celebrate a new cohort of trainees joining Team GP, we want to share one of our most coveted GEMS (Guidelines and Evidence Made Simple): how to approach all types of anaemia in primary care.

Yes… it is! And you may not have heard of it/come across it since university. But, every now and then, it is good to brush up on topics like this. Then, if we do come across a case, the neurones fire and the lightbulb goes on.

School’s out for summer; more swimming, both home and overseas, may take place; and we may well see more calls about painful/itchy/discharging ears. Otitis externa may be one explanation!

OK, it’s not glamorous. But worms/helminth infections was one of the most common unreturned searches on the Red Whale Knowledge site… so, we wrote you an article to support you in consultation!

Untreated, 50% of men and 30% of women with familial hypercholesterolemia will have had a myocardial infarction by the age of 60y, so we can make a big difference here.

The sun is out. Wimbledon is on. It’s the perfect time of year to be more active. There are many benefits to physical training, but also some things we should be aware of – would you spot REDs?