Medical researcher and scientific author, Estrelita van Rensburg, explains how bad science and misinformation leads us down the road to insulin-resistance, the precursor of illness and chronic disease. Her book will shake the foundations of standard nutritional advice and demonstrate how this leads to lifestyle diseases such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, dementia and cancer.
13 Jun 2023
Episode 79: Disaster Management and Preparedness
Climate change is a risk multiplier for disasters. Disasters cause multi billion dollars worth of damage worldwide therefore, prevention should be the aim. Paradigm shift from disaster response to disaster risk reduction, hazard to community resilience. Disasters have immediate, short term and long term impacts on health and clinical practice.
31 May 2023
Episode 78: Superior Vena Cava Syndrome
Superior Vena Cava syndrome (SVC) may be the first presentation of a cancer and therefore not suspected. The most common symptoms are facial edema, distended neck and/or chest veins, cough and dyspnea. Acute life-threatening symptoms such as airway obstruction from laryngeal edema, cerebral edema, hypotension and coma are possible, but fortunately rare. Over 60% of SVC syndromes are malignant in etiology, with 85% of those due to either lung cancer or lymphoma. Tumors can invade or compress the vessel and predispose to thrombus formation. Benign etiologies are rising in number, and mostly due to intravascular devices, which are often present in cancer patients as well. Diagnosis is dependent on having the clinical suspicion then confirming the diagnosis with imaging, preferably CT chest with contrast or angiogram. Management urgency is based on grading. Grade 4 represents life threatening symptoms requiring emergent intervention with stenting, thrombolysis or angioplasty. Lower grades allow for tissue diagnosis to tailor more definitive therapy to the cancer type: chemotherapy versus radiation therapy. Because SVC syndrome is often found in the later stages of cancer with less than 6 months survival and goals of care should be addressed. However, prognosis is dependent on tumor type. Readily curable cancers such as lymphoma and germ cell tumors long-term survival are expected despite SVC syndrome. In sum, the emergency physician needs to maintain a high level of suspicion when presented with classic symptoms of SVC syndrome, confirm the diagnosis with contrast chest CT and plan for advanced management with cardiology, interventional radiology, oncology or radiation oncology, which may necessitate transfer to a hospital with these capabilities.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Contact Podcast From St Mungo's
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Podcast From St Mungo's?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
