Clinical medicine (London, England)
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Diabetes comes in many shapes and forms. It is important for the general physician to recognise when clinical characteristics, response to treatment and associated features suggest an alternative variety of diabetes, over and above the traditional type 1 and type 2 forms which are far more common. Key to these suspicions are taking a clear history of the development of the diabetes and being aware of the family history.
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The purpose of modern radiotherapy is to deliver a precise high dose of radiation which will result in reproductive death of the cells. Radiation should transverse within the tumour volume whilst minimising damage to surrounding normal tissue. Overall 40% of cancers which are cured will have received radiotherapy. ⋯ Brachytherapy enables very high radiation doses to be delivered by the direct passage of a radiation source through or within the tumour volume and similar results can be achieved using rotational stereotactic X-ray beam techniques. Protons have the characteristics of particle beams which deposit their energy in a finite fixed peak at depth in tissue with no dose beyond this point - the Bragg peak. This has advantages in certain sites such as the spine adjacent to the spinal cord and particularly in children when the overall volume of tissue receiving radiation can be minimised.
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An 85-year-old man presented to hospital as an emergency having difficulties with swallowing and speech. In the emergency department, he was assessed as having acute onset dysphagia and dysarthria in keeping with an acute stroke. ⋯ Myasthenia gravis is an uncommon disorder but it is more common in the elderly. This case provides key learning points, particularly highlighting the value of prompt, accurate clinical assessment and the importance of adhering to the clinical diagnostic formulation.
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Exercise-induced anaphylaxis (EIA) and its subtype food-dependent (FD)-EIA are uncommon and easily missed forms of physical allergy. The latter is triggered by exercise following the ingestion of specific food products. Treatment is identical to that for IgE-mediated allergic reactions. ⋯ Upon admission to hospital, she was found to be hypotensive and required fluid resuscitation, systemic corticosteroids and adrenaline. She made a full and uneventful recovery. On the basis of the clinical story and specific allergy markers, her presentation was attributed to FD-EIA.
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Giant cell arteritis is a common cause of headache in patients aged more than 50 years. It is an easy diagnosis to make if classical features, ie temporal headache, jaw claudication, visual symptoms, systemic symptoms of fever or weight loss with high erythrocyte sedimentation rate and anemia, are present. ⋯ A high index of suspicion is needed in atypical presentations such as stroke. Once a diagnosis is suspected it is imperative to start high dose steroids to prevent visual and neurological complications.