Pearls

For this week’s Pearl, the last of 2024, we wanted to share an article from our Lifestyle Medicine course. It offers a roadmap to wellbeing that we can use to support ourselves, family members and patients as we embark on 2025.

In 2021, the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) and UKHSA published a joint position statement against using antibiotics for STIs other than HIV. But what is our role in primary care if a patient approaches us for advice?

As we sift through the winter URTIs and coughs, one diagnosis we should consider is pertussis or whooping cough – the subject of this week’s Pearl.

There is also chronic cough in children to consider (cough that lasts more that 8 weeks), so we’ve provided a bonus resource this month!

In our waiting rooms, how can we best manage the increase in acute coughing in children that we see at this time of year? Here’s a great article that covers assessment, as well as discussing the important role of antibiotics!

This emotive subject has been in the news and social media over the past few weeks, and there will have been many requests for PSA testing.

Last week saw World Diabetes Day, and we wanted to support this by sharing some Red Whale diabetes content.

End-of-life care can be one of the most rewarding parts of our jobs. It can also be one of the most stressful. In this week’s Pearl, we consider the important issue of bleeding and haemorrhage in advanced cancer.

Could it be chronic urticaria? This is one of those conditions where a good photo at the time of the attack can make the diagnosis easier. How confident are you in spotting and managing it?

It’s November, the weather is starting to get colder and we’ve got the heaters coming on in the Red Whale studio! Applied Knowledge Test (AKT) discussions up and down the country are heating up too, so this month's trainee Pearl is all about the AKT.

In this week’s Pearl, we unpack the growing understanding of the importance of the gut microbiome, why it matters and future practical applications.

Ovarian cancer is difficult to diagnose at an early stage, and we do not have an effective screening programme. Reducing the risk of ovarian cancer death with risk-reduction surgery is an alternative for some at higher genetic risk of the disease, and is now recommended by NICE... so how?

In August 2024, the World Health Organization declared mpox a “public health emergency of international concern”. Our authors promptly set to work updating our original article from 2022.

Did you know... over the past year, there have been significant changes in the UK vaccination schedule? It’s a fast-changing area! If you want to refresh and update your knowledge, click here to read more

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.