Australian Family Physician April 2006 - GI Malignancies
Vol 35, (4) 177 - 258
The theme for the April issue of AFP is GI
malignancies. This month's articles include bowel cancer screening in
Australia, bowel cancer - guide for the GP, diagnosis of upper
gastrointestinal malignancy, and management of oesophageal
carcionoma.
Life on the edge
Jenni Parsons
Recently I attended a play, entitled 'Edge' about the life of the American poet Sylvia Plath. I can understand that a one woman show about the last day of the life of a suicidal poet may not be everyone's idea of a good night out.
Letters to the editor
Letters to the editor
The opinions expressed by correspondents in this column are in no way endorsed by either the Editors or The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
GI malignancies in Australian general practice
Janice Charles, Graeme Miller, Anthea Ng
The BEACH program, a continuous national study of general practice activity in Australia, gives us an overview of consultations involving the management of gastrointestinal (GI) malignancy.
Bowel cancer screening in Australia
Fiona B Millard
Modern screening tools have the potential to decrease mortality and morbidity from bowel cancer, the second commonest cause of cancer death.
Bowel cancer - guide for the GP
Paul McMurrick, Simone Dorien, Jeremy Shapiro
Many patients will remain asymptomatic until the advanced stages of colorectal cancer and hence, will only be identified by means of a coordinated screening program.
Diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal malignancy
Jeremy Ryan, Arlene Murkies
Dyspepsia is a common complaint in clinical practice. In the majority of cases this symptom will result from gastrooesophageal reflux or peptic inflammation or ulceration; however, upper gastrointestinal malignancy may present in a similar way.
Management of oesophageal carcinoma
Sean Mackay, Greg Stefanou
Treatments for oesophageal cancers have historically been surgical, and surgical treatment remains the mainstay of treatment for localised oesophageal carcinoma (stage I-III).
Management of gastric cancer
Sean Mackay, Theresa Hayes, Audrey Yeo
Gastric cancer is a common disease with a high mortality.
Pancreatic cancer - current management
Benjamin NJ Thomson, Simon W Banting, Peter Gibbs
Pancreatic cancer remains a common and lethal cancer with a median survival of approximately 6 months.
Life after breast cancer
Kirsty Stuart, Meagan Brennan, James French, Nehmat Houssami, John Boyages
This thirteenth article in our series on breast disease explores the many concerns that patients face after completion of their breast cancer treatment.
Until the chemist opens - palliation from the doctors bag
Rebecca Seidel, Christine Sanderson, Geoff Mitchell, David C Currow
People with a life limiting illness may have unpredictable exacerbations of their symptoms requiring after hours care by general practitioners using medications that are readily accessible.
Remove the tooth, but do not stop the warfarin
Max Kamien
Dentists rely on general practitioners to manage a patient's warfarin dose before uncomplicated dental extraction.
Urinary incontinence in dementia - a practical approach
Philip Yap, David Tan
Urinary incontinence is a common problem in dementia. Almost invariably, the person with dementia will develop incontinence as the disease progresses.
Lifestyle factors in the management of cancer
Craig Hassed
This is the second of a series of articles looking at the available evidence for complementary medicine relating to the theme topic in Australian Family Physician.
Osteoporosis from androgen deprivation therapy in prostate cancer treatment
Nicholas McLeod, Chi Can Huynh, Prem Rashid
Bone complications from metastatic disease in prostate cancer have been well documented.
Brain teaser: Is this the price for my tattoo?
Jerzy K Pawlak
Case history: A man, 56 years of age, was found to have hepatitis C. Risk factor for viral hepatitis was significant for intravenous drug use over 20 years (last 'shot' was 12 years ago).
Clinical Challenge
Jenni Parsons
Questions for this month's clinical challenge are based on articles in this issue. The style and scope of questions is in keeping with the MCQ of the College Fellowship exam.
The duty to follow
Sara Bird
Case histories are based on actual medical negligence claims, however certain facts have been omitted or changed by the author to ensure the anonymity of the parties involved.
Expressions of interest - writing for success
Ellen McIntyre, Richard L Reed, Elizabeth Kalucy
Book reviews
Vicki Kotsirilos, Steve Trumble
Books reviewed this month are Mosby's Handbook of Herbs and Natural Supplements 3rd edition by Linda Skidmore-Roth and Healthcare Scenarios in Developmental Disability Medicine by the Centre for Developmental Disability and Health.
What are the essential medications in pallative care? - a survey of Australian palliative care doctors
Phillip D Good, John D Cavenagh, David C Currow, David A Woods, Penelope H Tuffin, Peter J Ravenscroft
There is a disparity of availability and cost of drugs in the community for palliative care patients through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) compared to those available to inpatients in public hospitals.
Home medicines reviews - do they change prescribing and patient/pharmacist acceptance?
James Quirke, Belynda Wheatland, Marisa Gilles, Andrea Howden, Ann Larson
Home medicines review (HMR) was introduced into the Medical Benefits Scheme in 2001 to improve quality use of medicines, maximise health outcomes, and to encourage general practitioners and pharmacists to work collaboratively.
Increasing EBM learning in training GPs - a qualitative study of supervisors
Andrew Knight, Tim Usherwood, Jon Adams
Successful strategies for increasing the use of evidence based medicine (EBM)1 by general practitioners remain elusive.
Decision making for women at menopause - a focus group study
Ann Alfred, Adrian Esterman, Elizabeth Farmer, Louis Pilotto, Kathryn Weston
Women are faced with a confusion of information and uncertainty when making decisions at menopause.
