If you’ve never heard of NAFLD (Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease), or MASLD (Metabolic dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver disease (MASLD), its equally non-catchy new name[1], you’re not alone. Yet this condition affects 30% of the global population. Image: DALL-e As an anesthesiologist working in the operating rooms of a large university medical center in Cleveland, Ohio …
Despite the huge excitement that greeted the sequencing of the first human genome at the turn of the century, genetic testing isn’t routine. When will this change? Historically, genetic testing was reserved for patients with known or suspected genetic disorders. Tests could identify single gene (“monogenic”) changes linked to conditions like sickle cell disease, haemophilia …
Discovery Health reviewed 8 years of data from private hospital “patient satisfaction surveys”. They say patients with low scores are more likely to have an unplanned hospital readmission in the 30 days after hospital discharge and that their study identifies responsible gaps in hospital care. Are they right? I want to discuss these conclusions …
Does “patient satisfaction” predict hospital readmission? Read More »
This week I attended a webinar series hosted by the Cardiac Arrhythmia Society of Southern Africa (CASSA), taught by cardiologists from the University of Cape Town, focused on Essential ECGs. These are the ones you can’t miss – if you do, your patient might die! I surprised myself by getting the quizzes mostly right. Surprised …
Eagles, beagles and a moose – change comes to cardiology Read More »
Advances in artificial intelligence have come at breathtaking speed but have outpaced most ordinary people’s ability to make productive use of these amazing technologies. Some people walk away disappointed because they use Large Language Models (LLMs) inappropriately, as if they were search engines, and get less than impressive results. A good answer to how to …
Read an edited and updated (March 18, 2024) version of this article here, on Insight Health Solutions – https://www.insight.co.za Do Google Gemini’s claims match their ambitious aims? Measuring human intelligence (“IQ”) is challenging, even controversial. As we enter the age of artificial intelligence (AI), in healthcare and everything else, how will we measure the “IQ …
Over the years, I’ve used Google Translate where I had to, including on trips to China – and found it useful enough. But Google Translate is primitive compared to the ability of today’s generative AI applications to read and write fluently in multiple languages. When it comes to languages, my mom’s not bad for a …
Solving the Twelve Language Problem in healthcare Read More »
We measure pain, why not pleasure? Decades ago, your kindly GP always dispensed comfort if not cure. He knew you since birth, and your mom since she had you. She held your hand and inquired about your vegetable patch, your grandkids, or how school was going. With few tools of modern medicine at their disposal …
August 2008 saw the first of South Africa’s rolling blackouts (load shedding). Three years later, the R360 billion financing of two massive coal-fired power stations – Kusile and Medupi – was approved. At around the same time, financing to move the country toward a very different energy future was proposed: a Green Bond to pay …
America spends an enormous amount (nearly 18% of GDP) on health care. Total US health care spend (2022): $4.5 trillion! [$1 trillion is 1,000,000,000,000 dollars] Per capita spend (2022): $13,493! [i.e., more than ZAR250,000 per person per year] Despite the huge outlay, the US achieves worse health outcomes than other wealthy countries. For example, life …
