David Wong, Hepatologist in Toronto. UHN/SMH. INTJ

Attending the Jenny Heathcote Hepatology Update today. ##liversky
www.torontohepatologyupdate.com

Parents are pressured to give kids an '80s summer. Are we wearing nostalgia blinders? | CBC News The internet is rife with articles and posts waxing nostalgic for the unscheduled summers of decades past. But the reality is all these posts urging parents to let kids be bored and free can make mode...

Parents are pressured to give ...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
It's very telling @cbc.bsky.social did not allow comments at the end of this article. I'm sure GenX would roast them. It implies that women in the workplace is a recent thing. Most of my friends' moms were working. Summers were glorious.

Who should see these patients? Endocrinology? Cardiology?
Who is left to see liver failure, decomp cirrhosis?

People quote guidelines like they are gospel. In the end guidelibes are just opinions from those who have reviewed literature. There is no guarantee that the authors have actual clinical experience.

Paid services like UpToDate are guilty of this as well.

I was taught to swim away from a sinking ship as you might get sucked down along with the ship. Trick for us is not to get sucked down.

Bruce Arthur: Donald Trump has pushed America into a golden age of stupid. Now’s Canada’s chance to be smart It is hard to grasp just how historically stupid U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs are. Now is Canada’s chance to be smart and build new trade networks.

www.thestar.com/politics/fed...

Canadian newspaper, the Toronto Star, dated April 4, 2025 with the headline “Trump launches golden age of stupid”

Saturday’s Toronto Star (Canada)

Do the Americans still have a constitution in anything but name? I thought the Supreme Court gave that away.

It is still too high. Please adjust Y axis to zero

Deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens in the treatment of severe alcohol use disorder: a phase I pilot trial - Molecular Psychiatry Molecular Psychiatry - Deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens in the treatment of severe alcohol use disorder: a phase I pilot trial

Ben Davidson talking about deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbans as a means to manage severe alcohol use disorder, some with poor liver function. #LiverSky

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Regression of Human Cirrhosis: Morphologic Features and the Genesis of Incomplete Septal Cirrhosis Abstract. Context.—Cirrhosis is widely regarded as being irreversible. Recent studies have demonstrated that fibrosis may decrease with time in humans and experimental animals if the disease activity ...

Cirrhosis is not a one way street of progression.
Many may have not seen this because it was not published in a clinical journal but this work from Ian Wanless has profound implications for Hepatology.
meridian.allenpress.com/aplm/article...

To choose a career, I needed to do more than ‘follow my dream’ Practical advice helped this international scientist figure out her post-Ph.D. direction

"[My adviser] told me that instead of focusing on finding a dream job, I should think about what I am good at and what makes me happy at least 80% of the time. This advice surprised me at first, but it ended up being exactly what I needed to hear." scim.ag/3DHtLCc

The registry needs to have a purpose. However, it can be used to push boundaries.
Examples:
1. Refractory ascites. Max age?
2. PreOp registry
3. Variceal bleed. When is too sick just too sick?
I know we have pushed well past the age criteria of 65 and so far so good.

This is code for
1. Give fluids
2. Give enough
3. Don't give too much
4. Reassess frequently, more frequently the sicker they are

Something to bear in mind, that the successful studies we see published reflect not just the science but also the skill to do the non-science dance, whether that be writing grants or writing papers or networking to publicize the work. Those with good ideas but who are not as skilled are silenced.

The key may be in the selection. There are so many variables (types of surgery, types of decompensation) that it is impossible to address from a prospective study at this point in time. It may be worthwhile to have a registry to help glean what is futile versus what is possible.

Without recurrent or refractory ascites.

Thank you for that caveat!!

Due to referral bias I am seeing a lot of worsening ascites on carvedilol.

Toronto Winter Garden Theatre for the Wizard of Oz

As a teacher, I hope my students learn when I teach them. However they seem to need a lot of repetition to get through the stages:
1. New concept
2. Heard before
3. Remember
4. Understand
5. Apply knowledge
For some concepts most never get to 5

You mean vaccine discovery for Covid
And HBV!

But the current lesson is:
Vaccines only work if you use them. Measles comes to mind.

There is an emerging contrast between Asia and Africa for chronic HBV in young people

That part is true. I have seen guys in their 20s start crying when told they needed long term treatment with Tenofovir when I worked in Ethiopia.
Need more effort with birth vaccination for Africa as it seems to be working in Asia.

YouTube video by Ren Ren - Hi Ren (Official Music Video)

Hi Ren. Song from 2022.
Ever hear something that sounds interesting but when you listen to the words it blows you away. Self doubt, mental health. #MedSky
youtu.be/s_nc1IVoMxc?...

In the early 2000s Jenny Heathcote did a quality of life study comparing 3 groups. Turns out Hep C was least happy, followed by liver clinic staff. Hep B was the happiest.
Hep B does not have to be catastrophic and full of stigma. People can and do live with hep B.

Liver Clinic Christmas party
The one where the lab researchers go WILD

2015 HCV meds became available. I was made to feel envy because I was told that if a drug was approved by the FDA, laws mandated that it would be covered.
The grass always seems greener elsewhere but sometimes it is just a mirage.
HCV meds soon became readily available in Ontario Canada.
#MedSky

Does mixed systems help or rob from the public system?
Does the public benefit from a mixed system or does benefit only go to those of privilege?
Do our politicians have the best interests of the public at heart or are they looking out for their rich buddies?

A high-tech medical clinic operated by a telecom giant has opened in Toronto — and it’s accepting up to 6,000 patients Each of the seven examination rooms in the new Telus Health clinic is equipped with 'AI scribe' software that listens to appointments and sends notes to your phone.

Telus clinic reboot in Toronto. Are they a silo again or will blood test results be visible in OLIS so that healthcare providers outside of Telus can see the whole picture when their patients get sick? MedCan and Cleveland clinic also silos @thestar.com
www.thestar.com/business/a-h...
@torstar

For years I have heard the arguments for private healthcare from healthcare colleagues in Australia and USA.
Why have we not heard more about the challenges from mainstream media?
Have the Hollywood court dramas been more accurate all along?

First clinic done at St Mikes.
Epic here is different from Epic at UHN. Things are mostly there but called something different and located elsewhere.
Like going to live in the US. Looks the same but something is slightly off.
#MedSky #Epic