This Medical Life

Throughout history, humanity has been captivated by heroes overcoming immense challenges—from ancient legends to modern Marvel icons.

In this episode, Dr Travis Brown and Steve Davis are honoured to have Janine Watson, a Paralympian athlete who reached out to us after our episodes on Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) (Episode 53 and Episode 54) opened her eyes to the unrecognised trauma her brain and body have endured.

This is the story of Janine Watson’s journey from MS diagnosis to history making Paralympian. And how listening to a particular episode of This Medical Life changed her future.

Our special guest:

Paralympian, Janine Watson.

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In this episode, Steve Davis and Dr. Travis Brown reflect on the journey through Series 5 of This Medical Life.

From discussing the impact of episodes on medical professionals to revisiting significant stories and breakthroughs, this episode provides a retrospective on the memorable moments and invaluable lessons learned.

Whether it's the exploration of vitamin B6's role in patient care or the unexpected feedback from a Paralympian, this recap offers you a chance to catch up on episodes you might have missed and gain deeper insights into the world of medicine.

Our special guest:

We do include an excerpt of Dr Adam Cifu from the podcast, Econtalk, What's Happening Inside Your Doctor's Head And Heart.

This Medical Life podcast is available on all podcasting services and Spotify.

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Thyroid lumps have always been with us. Often referred to as goitres (interpreted from Latin to mean neck swelling), numerous ancient medical sources mention these and how to manage them.

However, it has only been with modern medicine and investigations that we can distinguish between benign and malignant lesions. In this episode, we examine the investigations, diagnosis, management and prognosis of thyroid lumps.

This is the story of Thyroid lumps (Part 2)

Part 1 focuses on cytology and surgery for thyroid.
Part 2 focuses on anatomical pathology and molecular/genetics.

Our special guests:

Professor Yuri Nikiforov is the Director of the Division of Molecular Anatomic Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Co-developer of the test we discuss in this episode, ThyroSeq.

Dr Tiffany Symes is a histopathologist and deputy director of Anatomical Pathology at Melbourne Pathology. She is also featured in part one.

Dr Rachael Chambers is a histopathologist at Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology, Brisbane.

This Medical Life podcast is available on all podcasting services and Spotify.

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Thyroid lumps have always been with us. Often referred to as goitres (interpreted from Latin to mean neck swelling), numerous ancient medical sources mention these and how to manage them.

However, it has only been with modern medicine and investigations that we can distinguish between benign and malignant lesions. In this episode, we examine the investigations, diagnosis, management and prognosis of thyroid lumps.

This is part one of the story of Thyroid lumps.

Our special guest:

Dr Tiffany Symes is a histopathologist and deputy director of Anatomical Pathology at Melbourne Pathology.

Associate Professor James Lee is a leading endocrine surgeon in Australia, co-editor of the Endocrine Surgery section of the ANZ Journal of Surgery and deputy co-chair of the Endocrine Surgery Section of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

This Medical Life podcast is available on all podcasting services and Spotify.

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A common myth about epilepsy is that women who suffer from this condition should avoid getting pregnant. This is simply not true. It can be safely managed for both the mother-to-be and future child. Epilepsy is not a contraindication for pregnancy.

Certainly there are additional precautions and steps that should be taken when a woman who has epilepsy is considering starting a family and it requires a multidisciplinary approach.

This is the story of pregnancy and epilepsy.

Our special guests include:

Daisy Beyer who lives in Melbourne with her husband and son expecting their second child in August of this year. Daisy is a registered psychiatric nurse and lives with generalised epilepsy.

Dr Amber Moore is an obstetrician and gynaecologist working in Melbourne, Federal Councillor for the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, and deputy chair of the Continuing Professional Education Committee.

Professor Mark Cook is a consultant neurologist, Director of Neurology and Chair of Medicine at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne. He was awarded an Officer in the Order of Australia for distinguished service to neurological medicine and treatment research for epilepsy.

Anna Heldorf lives in Melbourne with her partner and is a public servant. Anna was diagnosed with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and had her first baby in April this year.

Our gratitude goes to Dr Amber Moore for her assistance in helping get this episode together.

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Tonsillectomies are one of the most common operations both today and historically, however, it has always been mired in controversy. In ancient times, this was touted as being either life-saving or completely unnecessary and continued to be a polarising topic into the twentieth century.

An evidence based approach has helped to provide guidelines such as the Paradise criteria. However, there is always nuance and particular patient circumstances that play a role in deciding if surgical management is appropriate. We talk to one of Australia’s foremost experts to help us navigate this topic.

This is the story of Tonsillectomies.

Our special guest:

Dr Eric Levi is a triple-Fellowship trained Specialist Otolaryngologist (Ear Nose & Throat), Head & Neck Surgeon based in Melbourne, Australia. He has completed Fellowships in Head & Neck Surgery, Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and Paediatric Otolaryngology.

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Over two-thirds of the world’s population lose the ability to metabolise during their lifetime (the majority during childhood). We know today that lactose intolerance, or lactase persistence, has a strong genetic predisposition. Almost 100% of Asians, 70% of African-Americans, East Indians, US Hispanics and approximately 50% of Spanish and French have very low levels of lactase in adulthood (what we would call lactose intolerant). Alternatively, the majority of Caucasians can tolerate lactose into adulthood.

Testing for lactose intolerance/lactase persistence can be done either via chemical or genetic testing. Each has their advantages and disadvantages but is important for any doctor or patient to know about.

This is the story of Lactose intolerance.

Our special guests:

Dr Michael Page is a Chemical Pathologist and Chief Executive Officer at Clinipath in Western Australia.

Dr Melanie Galea is a Genetic Pathology specialist and Director of genetics at Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology in Sydney.

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Pelvic pain is a difficult and challenging medical condition for both patients and doctors. It can be debilitating for women that can begin as a teenager or a young adult and progress for years impacting every facet of their lives.

Similiarly, pelvic pain can be challenging for symptom to assess and manage for doctors as there are a multitude of causes that range from simple and straight forward to complex and chronic diseases such as endometriosis.

In this episode we discuss pelvic pain and endometriosis with two guests who are leaders in diagnosis, treatment and management.

Travis also references a previous episode that touched on this issue: The Tragedy Of The Wandering Womb.

Also, Associate Professor Susan Evans, promised to share a link to this paper (click to download): An Embodied Predictive Processing Theory of Pain Experience (NEI Ensemble Paper).

This is the story of pelvic pain and endometriosis

Our special guests:

Dr Alecia Macrow who is a General Practitioner, owner of Thrive Family Practice, and one of 22 clinics around Australia that received government funding to assist patients with pelvic pain and endometriosis.

Associate Professor Susan Evans who is a Gynaecologist, Surgeon and Pain management physician in Adelaide. Associate Professor Evans is Executive Chair of the Pelvic Pain Foundation of Australia and CEO of Alyra Biotech which is a biopharmaceutical company developing intrauterine products for pain relief.

This Medical Life podcast is available on all podcasting services and Spotify.

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Vitamin B6 is a common additive in supplements, energy drinks and breakfast cereals. In rare circumstances though, it can reach levels toxic levels and cause neurological symptoms the mimic neurodegenerative disease.

This year newsGP reported a case where a GP took magnesium supplements for muscle cramps and over the course of a few years resulted in vitamin B6 toxicity that caused peripheral neuropathy and difficulty walking.

Fortunately, vitamin B6 toxicity is rare but it is an important condition for doctors to be aware of particularly in the setting of patients presenting with peripheral neuropathy.

This is the story of vitamin B6.

Our special guest:

Our special guest is Dr David Kanowski who is a senior chemical pathologist at Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology.

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Scleroderma is a disease characterised by the hardening and tightening of the skin and connective tissues. The first medical description can be traced back to the 1750s.

Our understanding has evolved over the centuries but the pathogenesis remains largely unknown. The disease as several forms including diffuse and localised. Symptoms include skin discoloration and tightness to more severe complications like organ dysfunction.

Fortunately we have several different treatment options available for patients that can assist them in managing this disease.

This is the story of Scleroderma.

Our special guest:

Our special guest is Dr. Daman Langguth, a renowned clinical and laboratory immunologist with deep expertise in autoimmune diseases. Dr. Langguth discusses the importance of recognising scleroderma’s symptoms, the critical nature of early diagnosis, and the latest advancements in treatment.

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