Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · Apr 2020
U-shaped association of vigorous physical activity with risk of metabolic syndrome in men with low lean mass, and no interaction of physical activity and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D with metabolic syndrome risk.
There is uncertainty over how lean mass, physical activity (PA) and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D) status interact on metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk in adults. ⋯ Men and women with high lean mass have low risk of MetS regardless of PA. Low lean mass identifies men who may benefit most from increasing PA, with an optimal level associated with lowest risk. 25-OH-D and PA do not interact on MetS risk.
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Internal medicine journal · Apr 2020
Gender equity within medical specialties of Australia and New Zealand: cardiology's outlier status.
Gender disparity remains a prominent medical workforce issue, extending beyond surgical specialties with low proportions of female doctors. ⋯ Cardiology is the only physician specialty with <20% female consultants, and this disparity is reflected throughout every stage of the cardiology training programme. Increased awareness and proactive strategies are needed to improve gender disparity within this underrepresented medical specialty.
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Internal medicine journal · Apr 2020
Pleurisy and pulmonary embolism: physician sees through patient eyes.
As a respiratory physician personally affected by pulmonary thromboembolism, I bring a unique perspective to managing this condition. It has made me realise that sometimes we do not see in detail the ways our colleagues practise, even working alongside them, although general management principles are the same. While banned from work, but permitted 'as much paperwork as I like' (the sole compromise that would ensure this patient's adherence), I sought to learn from my time as patient, hoping that other clinicians might gain from my experience in both roles. When it came to deciding which insights would be most useful to impart for the benefit of our patients, the leading concepts were not novel but important to emphasise in our current medical world, which prioritises both efficiency and quality of patient care.
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Internal medicine journal · Apr 2020
Historical ArticleCook's Endeavour, ship of discovery or ship of distemper: an assessment after 250 years.
The 250-year anniversary of Cook's landfall at Botany Bay on 28 April 1770, approximately half way through a global circumnavigation, was an extraordinary maritime undertaking. An enterprise of astronomy, cartography, cultural-botanical documentation and revelation achieved without a death from infectious disease and only 10 mild cases of scurvy in a ship's company of 95 men. The subsequent homeward journey was far less endurable, marked by shipwreck, unforeseen prolonged delays and fatal epidemics of flux and malaria. Mild scurvy within a handful of souls in a crew experimenting with several putative antiscorbutics, yet at voyage's end the precise treatment of scurvy remained enigmatic.