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Yet another sensational week of group mentoring last week.  Holy guacamole…these cases just get more and more tasty! So much to talk about on every case presented, we all learnt buckets from a smorgasbord of conditions including: sudden onset thyroiditis (with a T4 of 45!!), azoospermia secondary to methylation and possible mitochondrial dysfunction and a 60 something female with chronic sleep issues, severe leg cramping with a differential ddx of intermittent claudication.

Just wanted to share this incredible resource related to one of the other cases from last week – a female client with a long history of interstitial cystitis, bladder pain and pudendal neuralgia.  One of the striking aspects of the case was the high frequency of acute onset UTI sx which, in site of being ‘culture negative’ on repeat analyses, respond favourably to UTI specific antibiotics.  We’ve all come across these ‘ghost infection’ situations…not a trace to be found of the offending organism or even infectious markers on urinalysis but without a doubt an infectious driver – the problem has long been convincing other practitioners of this!..and sometimes ourselves!!  

This article, Novel Strategies in the Prevention & Treatment of Urinary Tract Infections by Luthje & Brauner, which we shared in the group last week, is one of the best articulations of how such a situation arises & the pathophysiological process responsible…with the bottom line being, when it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…it’s an infection regardless of negative culture!  

Fantastic and very readable article – don’t miss the bit on Quiescent intracellular reservoirs (QIR)…love it! A huge thank you to all my mentees, for keeping all our brains stimulated and our learning so dynamic! 🙂

We have had an unprecedented interest in group mentoring this year, so we are working hard to prepare for 2018 to make sure no one misses out! You can read more about the Rachel Arthur Mentorship Programme (RAMP) here. Please get in touch if you would like to put your name down on the 2018 waiting list and we will contact you first to confirm your position. Keep an eye out for more information in October when we officially open applications for a January 2018 kick-off!