Paul Howard
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paulhoward.bsky.social
Paul Howard
@paulhoward.bsky.social

Consultant in Palliative Medicine (Isle of Wight, UK); Palliative Care Formulary Editor (neuropharmacology sections)

Medicine 31%
Public Health 30%

Here, Dr Takemura and colleagues examined the impact of low dose ("adjuvant") methadone on QT internal. Even in those with cardiac risk factors, there was no increase in QT with these dose regimens.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40071699/
Introduction of oral methadone to high-risk patients with prolonged QT interval: A retrospective study - PubMed
Even in patients with heart disease or prolonged QTc at baseline, methadone may be safely administered by initiating low-dose methadone when the dose of other opioids is low and by adjusting the concomitant medications that can interact with methadone.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Really useful summary; thanks

What I'd add is: consider SC B12 replacement. I don't have easy access to MMA, so offer a trial of treatment if fatigued with a B12<350.

Nothing works every time. But can be spectacular: eg
From housebound to going on a holiday
From bedbound to going out for lunch

Reposted by Paul Howard

The overwhelming weight of scientific evidence says that vaccines do NOT cause autism. The link has been studied many many times. Here is just a taste of the mountains of peer-reviewed evidence:

Thread [1/9]

Reposted by Smith, Paul Howard

I’ve been circling around this idea for awhile but didn’t have the skill to summarize what others have now done extremely eloquently:

Proposing the concept of misinformation exposure as a social determinant of health.

Read on if you’re interested.

Other SC ABx with ph/kin data include: ceftriaxone, ertepenan, meropenam and teicoplanin

SC metronidazole, ceftazidime, pip-taz are all well tolerated

If you're new to SC ABx, this is an excellent review article

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32674952/
Subcutaneous Antibiotic Therapy: The Why, How, Which Drugs and When - PubMed
SC administration of antibiotics may be useful in various settings such as in hospitalized patients and among those in long-term care facilities or being cared for at home. However, further clinical studies are needed to assess the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic properties, as well as the risks and …
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

It also makes parenteral antibiotics more feasible outside of hospitals, ideal for those wanting active treatment, but at risk of harm from hospitalisation (eg those with frailty)

spcare.bmj.com/content/earl...
Subcutaneous antibiotics in palliative medicine: Retrospective chart review
Objectives To investigate the use and safety of subcutaneous (SC) antibiotics for infection and symptom control in the palliative setting. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review of the use...
spcare.bmj.com

Here, subcutaneous co-amoxiclav becomes the latest ABx with pharmacokinetic information confirming absorption comparable to IV and sufficient to get above MIC

SC administration can avoid missed doses if delay cannulating, eg fragile veins
doi.org/10.1093/jac/...
doi.org

I think "the need to recognise dying" is over-emphasised

For me, it's "needing to hear patients and families when they recognise deterioration and are asking for symptom focused care"
(As well as hearing the opposite, when frail people want active escalation; palliation should never be imposed)

For refractory symptoms, the specialist paramedics take out parecoxib, ketamine, clonidine, lacosamide, phenobarbital etc with our support/advice.

So there really is no excuse for people to die badly for want of access to medicines.

It's partly an equity issue: the paramedics are spotting "unplanned" dying as a result of frailty, advanced dementia and other diagnoses whose unpredictable prognoses hampers access to traditional palliative models based on planning ahead. Latter needs supplementing with rapid access approaches

Specialist paramedics from
@iownhs.bsky.social ambulance service identify people in their last days of life wanting symptom focused care, supplement their sch17 ability to give morphine with a PGD for midaz, hyoscine butylbr and levomepromazine, and then call our 24/7 community team to follow-up

Examples of solutions have existed for several years (eg @iownhs.bsky.social ambulance service, @nhswalesexecutive.bsky.social Wales ambulance service) so why are these not being taken up by other areas?
❗Paramedics are often being left without access to patient information or medications when attending people nearing end of life who urgently need palliative care.

This is so wrong.

Reposted by Paul Howard

❗Paramedics are often being left without access to patient information or medications when attending people nearing end of life who urgently need palliative care.

This is so wrong.

Reposted by Paul Howard

The 2025 Resuscitation Guidelines emphasise the importance of correct defibrillator pad placement - a simple step that gives someone in cardiac arrest the best chance of survival.

🎥 Watch the video to learn more
🔗 Read the full Guidelines at resus.org.uk/2025-guidelines

For cancer-related VTE, unless specific reason for a LMWH (eg drug interactions), apixaban is safer (n=12 011; less major bleeding [RR 0.67; P= 0.0003], more effective (reduced recurrence of PE), kinder (some find LMWH v painful), cheaper, and saves nursing time.

journals.lww.com/annals-of-me...
journals.lww.com

Apixaban is often the DOAC of choice for cancer-related VTE because its safer than rivaroxaban (quoted thread)
Its also cheaper in UK.
Further, this systematic review found reducing apixaban to 2.5mg BD after 6 months reduced bleeding risk without increasing VTE recurrence
doi.org/10.1016/j.th...

Reposted by Paul Howard

If you're invested in high quality palliative care and haven't heard @drkathrynmannix.bsky.social speak, you are missing out!

If you have, you'll know what a fantastic opportunity this is to come and listen and engage with Kathryn on "Talking about Dying".

📣 Join us 13th November 6pm GMT
RFK Jr: We need to stop trusting the experts... Trusting the experts is not a feature of science or democracy, it's a feature of religion and totalitarianism.

Just in case someone's never asked for mycoplasma serology, but isn't sure whether they're missing out, what would you tell them? Esp if they work with immunocompromised people who often have "inflammatory symptoms" (fatigue, sweats, wt loss, anorexia etc)
Asking for a friend.....

Reposted by Paul Howard

Read our exclusive interview by @maxkozlov.bsky.social with the ex-CDC director - Susan Monarez -
In which she talks about the importance of the job and the reasons why she was fired

🧪 #CDC #MedSky
@nature.com

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Exclusive: ex-CDC director talks about why she was fired
“I would never do that, as a scientist,” Susan Monarez says of being asked to approve changes to vaccine recommendations without knowing the details.
www.nature.com

Important study examining effect of ethnicity on UK ED attendance outcomes in last 3 months of life.
Found white patients received more analgesia and were admitted less often.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ethnic disparities in opioid prescribing for cancer pain and associated emergency department visits and hospital admissions in the last three months of life: a retrospective cohort study - British Journal of Cancer
British Journal of Cancer - Ethnic disparities in opioid prescribing for cancer pain and associated emergency department visits and hospital admissions in the last three months of life: a...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Paul Howard

@drkathrynmannix.bsky.social Edinburgh is famously accessible from the NE of England, & we are always delighted to welcome palliative care people across the border to our conferences. We have a great line up this year, closer & cheaper than London. www.palliativecarescotland.org.uk/content/annu...

Database studies are prone to streaming; i.e. since apixaban is known to carry a lower bleeding risk, more likely to select it if higher bleed risk - can only control for coded risk factors, so some risk factors missed
So it's interesting that they still found apixaban's non-major bleed risk lower

"In cancer-associated VTE, apixaban was associated with similar risks of recurrent VTE and major bleeding, and a lower risk of clinically relevant non-major bleeding compared with rivaroxaban"

journals.plos.org/plosmedicine...
Comparative safety and effectiveness of apixaban and rivaroxaban for treatment of cancer-associated venous thromboembolism: A retrospective cohort study
Jingjing Sun and colleagues compare the risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism, major bleeding, and clinically relevant non-major bleeding among individuals with cancer-associated venous thromboembo...
journals.plos.org

I agree; in UK hospitals I see administration of fluids and drugs delayed for hours in those with difficult veins.
SC would often be a far faster option: fluids, many antibiotics, PPIs, TXA, metoprolol, corticosteroids; the list of drugs given SC grows yearly yet remains little used in UK hospitals

Reposted by Paul Howard

The idiom "like a moth to the flame" dates to at least the 12th century, to Persian love poem "Layla and Majnun". Shakespeare references it in "Merchant of Venice."

But here's the thing. Moths DON'T fly to flames. And we're just now understanding that.

Let's talk about dorsal light response.
a picture of a mosquito killer hanging from the ceiling with the caption i can 't help it it 's so beautiful
Alt: a picture of a mosquito killer hanging from the ceiling with the caption i can 't help it it 's so beautiful
media.tenor.com

Reposted by Paul Howard

In 58 advanced cancer patients, hypodermoclysis provided safe, effective hydration for up to 14 days, with minimal local toxicity and frequent co-administration of opioids and potassium. And 30 ys later still not done in American hospices and hospitals

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2384700/
Hypodermoclysis for the administration of fluids and narcotic analgesics in patients with advanced cancer - PubMed
Fifty-eight consecutive patients with advanced cancer who required parenteral hydration were treated with hypodermoclysis. A solution of two-thirds 5% dextrose and one-third saline was used in all cas...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

🙋‍♂️

Points I learned were:
1."Normal" levels don't exclude deficiency. NICE suggest MMA if B12 180-350 (indeterminate) but our local haem suggests go straight to trial of Rx (MMA also problematic)
2.Many need maintenance more often than 2-3 monthly, so if Sx recur before next injection, shorten interval

This is a really key point.
E.g studies of "high dose (1mg) B12" are uninterpretable because they use blood levels not symptoms as an outcome (oral replacement can increase blood levels without adequately correcting deficiency).
Because the serum B12 can give surprisingly high levels of false positives (unnecessary painful injections) and false negatives (dangerous symptom progression due to missed diagnosis) neither clinical treatment nor scientific study should rely on blood test results alone (but both usually do).