EKU Podcast: Cardiovascular Disease Risk Assessment

In this podcast Suzanne Evans, a patient and founder of Lipoedema UK, shares her story about this painful adipose disorder, which is often misdiagnosed as obesity or lymphoedema. Originally launched within the Lipoedema eLearning course in September 2014.

In this 20 minute podcast, Dr Emma Nash speaks to Dr Sally Higginbottom about adverse effects of antipsychotic medication, with a focus on movement disorders and strategies to detect them early in routine practice. Funding for this podcast was received from Teva Pharmaceuticals. Teva Pharmaceuticals reviewed the content for scientific accuracy and full editorial control remains the sole responsibility of the RCGP.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading global cause of death, with an estimated 18 million deaths each year (over 30% of all global deaths). In 2022, around 175,000 people in the UK died from CVD, accounting for about 27% of all deaths — the second most common cause of death after dementia and Alzheimer's disease. In this podcast, Dr Thomas Round talks to Dr Nicholas Jones, a salaried GP in Oxford with a special interest in cardiology, about primary risk assessment and lipid management in cardiovascular disease.  EKU Programme module on Cardiovascular disease: risk assessment, reduction & lipid modification. British Journal of General Practice article on Cardiovascular disease — risk assessment and reduction: NICE 2023 update for GPs.

People living with severe mental illness face one of the greatest health equality gaps in England. Their life expectancy is 15–20 years shorter than that for the general population, and this disparity is largely due to preventable physical illnesses. In this podcast, Dr Thomas Round discusses physical health in people with severe mental illness with Professor Carolyn Chew-Graham, a Professor of General Practice Research at Keele University and a GP in Manchester and Dr David Shiers, Honorary Research Consultant at Psychosis Research Unit and a former GP in North Staffordshire, who became involved in the early intervention reform after his daughter’s experience of a severe psychotic illness. 

In this podcast Dr. Julie Oliver, chair of the Primary Care Women’s Health Society is interviewed about endometriosis. Starting with the basics of definition and symptoms, the podcast then goes on to discuss more nuanced aspects of care, including decisions about whether to refer or manage empirically, and how to support a patient in primary care while she is on a potentially long list for consultant review. The podcast takes a life course approach, ending with a discussion about management of the menopause in women who have had endometriosis, and the need to remember that symptoms may persist even after apparently definitive surgical treatment. An educational grant was received from Scottish Government for the production of this podcast. Editorial and content decisions were made solely by the RCGP.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are a class of drugs initially developed to treat type 2 diabetes and are now becoming more widely used for obesity. They work by mimicking the actions of the GLP-1 hormone, which is released by the gut after eating. GPs will be used to prescribing them for type 2 diabetes, but less so for obesity.  In this podcast, Dr Thomas Round discusses the evolving role of GLP1-RA in obesity, the benefits and potential side effects, the role of the GP, and the latest NICE guidance in this area with Dr Stephanie DiGiorgio, an urgent care GP with a specialist interest in obesity. 

This podcast is part of a Veterans' Health eLearning course, which aims to educate GPs and primary care teams as to why veterans are a special group. In this podcast, Dr Emily Brookes talks to Jon Lynn, a military veteran, about how a veteran patient may present differently in their health-seeking behaviours and how identifying whether a patient is a veteran can enable healthcare professionals to provide good healthcare to this patient group.  The Royal College of General Practitioners has developed the Veteran Friendly GP Accreditation Programme. This programme will improve the healthcare of veterans and their families, by giving a better understanding of the special needs of this population and resources available to help. Thousands of NHS England Practices are now successfully accredited, with numbers of accredited practices rapidly growing. You can find out more about accreditation for your practice here: www.rcgp.org.uk/veterans Funding for the production of this course was provided by NHS England as part of the RCGP Veteran Friendly Accreditation Programme. Editorial and content decisions were by the RCGP and NHS England.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly Alliance has provided funding towards this independent Programme. The Alliance has had no editorial input into or influence on the agenda, content of this podcast. Editorial and content decisions were made solely by the RCGP.  In this podcast, Dr Emma Nash speaks to Dr Jim Moore, a GP with a special interest in cardiovascular medicine and past president of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society, about chronic kidney disease. The approach to diagnosis and categorisation is discussed, along with when further investigations or referral may need to be considered. Recognising that the majority of CKD is managed in primary care, Jim explains the key areas to target in terms of optimising outcome and reducing complications, along with how to talk about CKD with patients. He also gives an overview of the most important medications in CKD management, and the key things that GPs need to know about them.

In this podcast, Dr Emma Nash speaks to Dr Laura Patterson about the complications of shingles. Laura tells us about the most common short and long term complications, and also the serious consequences that we need to be vigilant for. The highest risk groups for complications are described, along with the steps we can take to try to prevent them from occurring.  This podcast was initiated and funded by GSK, and the content developed by RCGP. GSK have had no input into the content other than to review for compliance purposes.

Testosterone deficiency in men can often cause erectile dysfunction or loss of libido, and should be considered whenever a man presents with these symptoms. However there are many other symptoms which can be missed. This podcast looks at potential presentations of testosterone deficiency, along with associated conditions, and explores how we might investigate and manage this important problem. An educational grant was received from Besins Healthcare for the production of this podcast. Editorial and content decisions were made solely by the RCGP.