Diabetes as part of exocrine pancreatic disorders by Dr Stan Landau
Diabetes is an often overlooked and underappreciated aspect of diseases involving the exocrine pancreas. This form of diabetes develops following surgery, either the removal of insulin-producing beta cells as part of a wider operative procedure, or following an insult to endocrine pancreatic tissue such as in chronic pancreatitis. With the rapid increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes, clinicians may incorrectly misdiagnose this sub-type of diabetes and thus omit key treatment elements. This short review covers many salient clinical aspects of the diabetes associated with exocrine pancreatic disorders.
Cystic fibrosis and COVID-19 pandemic: Stay calm and breathe! by Dr Marco Zampoli
The COVID-19 pandemic originating in China caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus had by June 2020 spread to 216 countries, infected over 7 million people and resulted in 423349 deaths. The global impact of this pandemic and attempts by governments to contain it has been devastating to economies and people across the world. Foremost amongst those affected or most at risk of acquiring the infection and dying have been healthcare workers, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions, particularly diabetes, obesity and hypertension.
Ethics: Working in the time of Covid-19 - implications for healthcare professionals by Ms Elsabe Klinck
The first cases of COVID-19 on South African shores diagnosed in early March, has led to a significant change in not only daily life, but the way in which businesses operate (or not operate!) during this global pandemic.
Improving the diagnosis in pancreatic cancer by Prof Sandie Thomson
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has an abysmal prognosis as evidenced by the incidence rate resembling the mortality rate. Surgical resection is only possible for approximately 15% of patients and advances in perioperative management have resulted in 30 day mortality rates of under 5%. If PDAC is detected at an early stage the 5-year survival increases to around 30% in specialised centres. The poor prognosis is primarily due to its advanced stage at diagnosis. Consequently there is a critical need for biomarkers and/or imaging methods that can more accurately detect early-stage disease. A major focus of pancreatic cancer research is to develop biomarkers and imaging methods with sufficient sensitivity and specificity to accurately detect early-stage PDAC when surgical resection has a chance of cure.
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