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For this episode, Avi reached back to a memory of a teaching conference given by a co-resident during internal medicine residency: furosemide works by non-diuretic mechanisms in the acute setting, providing immediate relief to patients with acute pulmonary edema even before an increase in urine output. Furosemide was introduced as a loop diuretic in 1964Continue reading “Episode 25: Why can furosemide improve pulmonary edema from heart failure almost immediately?”

This episode is our second related to the topic of fever. In episode 21 we discussed the connection between fever and rigors and whether either can predict bacteremia. For this episode, we discussed the role and benefits of fever in infectious diseases. To do so required us to go back a few hundred million years.Continue reading “Episode 24: Why is fever beneficial?”

The “intern question” for this episode resulted from one of Hannah’s experiences on the wards. She cared for a patient who reported a symptom that was new to her. It was new to all of us. This is a bit unsurprising as it has a relatively limited body of available literature, having been first describedContinue reading “Episode 23: Why does “bendopnea” occur?”

Is there a selective advantage to being heterozygous for a cystic fibrosis gene mutation? If so, what does this mutation protect against? These – and other questions – were discussed in Episode 21 of the podcast. But, before getting into potential answers, some background is in order. Cystic fibrosis is an autosomal recessive genetic disorderContinue reading “Episode 22: Why is cystic fibrosis one of the most common genetic diseases?”

In this episode, we discussed fevers and chills. More specifically, we asked “why do we feel cold when we have a fever?” Shouldn’t we feel hot? We also discussed the dictum “culture if spikes”, meaning if your patient spikes a fever, blood cultures should be ordered. It is certainly one of the most common contingenciesContinue reading “Episode 21: Why do we feel cold when we have a fever?”