Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which abnormal proteins known as amyloid fibrils build up in various tissues including the kidney, heart, liver, skin, and nervous system resulting in a variety of clinical sequelae including organ dysfunction and death. There are over 23 unrelated proteins known to form amyloid fibrils, many of which are aggregates of misfolded proteins that are neither biodegradable nor can be recycled by our bodies. 

The use of faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) to treat severe C. Difficile enterocolitis was visited in episode 14 of Everyday Medicine with Dr Darcy Holt as our guest. If you haven’t had an opportunity to listen to that conversation, please do and hopefully it will pique your interest. In this episode we invite a guest involved in active research at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital to discuss FMT in IBD broadly then more specifically as it applies to her current research project evaluating its efficacy in Crohn’s disease.

Emotional intelligence (EI) also known as EQ, is the ability to perceive, understand and manage emotions in positive ways to communicate effectively, empathise with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict as well as to relieve stress. Emotional intelligence helps build stronger relationships, achieve personal career goals, and interact more positively at work. It gives us an ability to join intelligence, empathy, and emotions to enhance thought and understanding of interpersonal dynamics, guiding our thinking and behaviour. For as in Shakespeare’s Hamlet - 'there is nothing either good nor bad but thinking makes it so'.

Helicobacter pylori is a gram-negative curved bacillus that may colonise the gastric and proximal duodenal mucosa. Its significance was first described by Barry Marshall and Robin Warren in 1982 both of whom were awarded the Nobel prize in 2005 after the Nobel community described the discovery as the most impacting in medical sciences. Most medical practitioners are aware of the pathophysiological consequences of Helicobacter which is responsible for gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcer disease, and may be associated with gastric adenocarcinoma as well as mucosa associated lymphoid tissue hyperplasia (MALT lymphoma). Its eradication has largely hinged on standard triple therapy including a PPI combined with amoxicillin and clarithromycin taken together for 1 week in Australia; unfortunately this regimen has a 10-15% failure rate.

In this episode I interview experienced gastroenterologist Dr Puneet Mahindra on the common clinical problem of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. Puneet details - · Risk factors · Complications · Approaches to management He provides personal tips drawn from experience and the literature outlining an approach that should be helpful to everyone practicing clinical medicine.

In this episode I have a conversation with hepatologist and gastroenterologist Dr Ferry Rusli in a four-part series on liver disease where we explore chronic hepatitis C, its population reservoirs in Australia and approaches to treatment. In particular, Ferry points out - · The need to increase our effectiveness at treating hepatitis C in at risk populations.

In this episode I talk with experienced gastroenterologist and hepatologist Dr Ferry Rusli on the subject of hepatitis B in a four-part series on liver disease. Ferry discusses - · the prevalence of hepatitis B in the Asia Pacific region · the long-term complications and consequences of hepatitis B · treatment options including pharmacological therapies which are currently falling short of the national target for patients receiving treatment.

In this episode I am joined by Dr Ferry Rusli, an experienced gastroenterologist and hepatologist to discuss non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in a four-part series on hepatology. Ferry discusses the relevance of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to the metabolic syndrome and some key management points, in particular focussing on controlling body mass index. There is much to learn from this conversation with Ferry, I hope you enjoy the conversation.

In this episode I interview gastroenterologist and hepatologist Dr Ferry Rusli in the first of a four-part series on liver disease. Ferry discusses his approach to a patient presenting with abnormal liver function tests and navigates us through - · Obstructive liver patterns · Hepatitic patterns Ferry will address in broad terms common aetiologies such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, chronic hepatitides, acute viral infections, biliary obstruction, malignancy and the possibility of drug side-effects.