Thursday, February 2, 2017

CHF treatment mnemonic

Hello
Here's a simple updated mnemonic on pharmacotherapy of congestive heart failure: UNLOAD FAST

U- Upright position/ Ultrafiltration
N- Nitrates
L- Lisinopril (ACE inhibitors)
O- Oxygen therapy
A- Aquapheresis/ ARBs/ Aldosterone inhibitors
D- Digoxin/ Diuretics

F- Furosemide/ Fluid restriction
A- Arterial dilators (to decrease Afterload)
S- Sodium restriction
T- Theophylline/ Thiamine/ Taurine

Latest updates suggest new classes of drugs for the treatment of CHF, approved by the USFDA -
- Angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors (a combination tablet of valsartan and sacubitril)
- Sino-atrial node modulator (ivabradine)


Thats all
- Jaskunwar Singh

Lesch-Nyhan syndrome mnemonic

Here's a mnemonic on Lesch-Nyhan disease!

Edward syndrome mnemonic

Trisomy 18 is the second most common autosomal trisomy after trisomy 21. Here's a mnemonic for it!

Why do infants of diabetic mothers develop polycythemia?

Why do infants of diabetic mothers develop polycythemia?

It's due to hyperinsulinemia!

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Second Heart sounds: Quick review

Hello everyone,
Heart sounds are quite interesting and musical topic, something that makes more sense by practicing rather than just reading theoretically. This post is completely dedicated to second heart sound.

Second heart sound (S2)
It is produced during closure of pulmonary and aortic valve.
It is a high pitched sound.

A neonate with cyanotic heart disease (Case #1)

A 24-hour-old newborn, born to a diabetic mother, appears blue in all extremities. He is found to have a single, loud S2 murmur. He is given NICU support. CXR hows cardiomegaly with, an apparent narrowing of the superior mediastinum and increased pulmonary vasculature markings.

Diagnosis? Treatment till surgery is performed?

Anti-epileptic drugs, CYP450 induction and inhibition mnemonic

Cytochrome P450 aka CYP450 has the alphabets C and P:

C for Carbamazepine
P for Phenytoin

GABA A and GABA B receptor agonist antagonist mnemonic

Here's a super short post.

Flumazenil acts on the GABA-A receptor and baclofen acts on the GABA-B receptor.

How do you remember this?

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Whatsapp study group (Public)

This is... Experimental.
We do realize the group capacity is just 256 members, so all of you guys won't necessarily fit in.

Because all members will be added without verification... This is more risky. Even though we have 10+ admins :)

The rules are obvious - No forwards, no non medical talks, no wishing / greeting on occasions & no bothering other people via personal message.

Updated on Jun 17, 2017

Since the first public group is full (and a huge success), we created a second one: https://chat.whatsapp.com/561vU4UDy7V99K1ZmG6miH

To join one of the private strictly monitored study groups, follow the email procedure.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Psoriatic arthritis mnemonic

A simple one: PSORIATIC

P- Pencil-in-cup deformity

Pencil-in-cup deformity

S- Sausage-like digits
O- Onycholysis and Onychodystrophy
R- Rheumatoid factor negative
I- Ivory phalanx (increased bone density)
A- Arthritis multilans
T- Telescopic fingers
I- Itchy skin
C- Cold weather (more severe)


Thats all
- Jaskunwar Singh

Noonan syndrome mnemonic

Hey Awesomites!

NOONan syndrome- the name tells it all :D

Liposomal Preparations : A Quick Review

Hello everyone !
This is a short post about Liposomal delivery systems. Hope this introduces you to the concept nicely.

What are Liposomes ?
- They are vesicles made of Cell membrane phospholipids. In pharmacology, they can be used as Drug delivery systems.

What advantage does a Liposomal preparation offer in comparison to a regular preparation?
- The Liposomal preparation consists of the desired drug loaded into the Liposomal vesicle. This vesicle is resistant to degradation in the gut and can be customized to open up in selective tissues.
- Thus , it increases Bioavailability of the drug and hence , the action of the drug is more predictable and sustained !

∆ Is this even used at all? Or is it just an extra thing we learn which is never used ?

(- I'm  so glad you asked. )
Here's a list of drugs that have commercially available Liposomal preparations :

Remember : ABCD GIV

Amphotericin B
Bupivacaine
Vitamin C
Doxorubicin And Daunorubicin

Glutathione
Irinotecan
Vincristine

- Liposomal preparations have totally revolutionised the usage of Amphotericin B! Which is the drug of choice for a host of fungal infections and even Leishmaniasis.

- With the anti cancer drugs like Doxorubicin​ , innovative methods such as targeting the drug to a specific organ have been formulated so that the cytotoxicity is limited to the organ in question only ! Thus optimizing the absorption as well as the action !

What a marvellous delivery system , isn't it ?

I hope this post helped you!
Stay awesome.