Burning feet syndrome. A clinical review.

Background: Burning pain in the feet has been known to occur as a distinct clinical symptom for almost two centuries. Despite being a common and fascinating clinical entity, this syndrome has received scant attention in the medical literature and has been described only in anecdotal reports.

Objective: This article describes and discusses the various aspects of this intriguing syndrome.

Gastric asthma: a clinical update for the general practitioner.

Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by increased airway reactivity with airflow obstruction. It is exacerbated by multiple triggers, and one common, often overlooked trigger is gastroesophageal reflux (GER). The prevalence of GER in asthmatics is estimated at between 34% and 80%.

Alcohol consumption, hepatic iron load and the risk of amoebic liver abscess: a case-control study.

Objective: It is unknown why most amoebic liver abscess (ALA) cases occur in alcohol drinkers. In experimental studies, the presence of 'iron' potentiates the in-vitro growth of Entamoeba histolytica (E. histolytica), and is also known to increase its in-vivo invasiveness in animal infections.

Self-referral to specialists--a dodgy proposition.

Patients are often ill-equipped to know which speciality to choose for their health problem. Especially in the presence of non-specific symptoms, choosing the right specialist might not be so obvious. In such cases, misdirected self-referrals by patients to self-chosen specialists can sometimes lead to misdiagnosis resulting in unwarranted delays in getting the right treatment.

Hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis--treatment with heparin and insulin.

Heparin and insulin stimulate lipoprotein lipase and are known to decrease serum triglyceride levels. However, their efficacy in hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis is not well documented. We report a 51-year-old man in whom treatment with heparin and insulin was accompanied by reduction in serum triglyceride levels and resolution of pancreatitis.

Palmar erythema and hoarseness: an unusual clinical presentation of sarcoidosis.

Palmar erythema is a very unusual manifestation of sarcoidosis. We report on a patient whose presenting features of sarcoidosis were palmar erythema and a hoarse voice. The diagnosis was confirmed by palmar skin biopsy and the patient responded well to treatment with prednisolone.

Plasmodium vivax malaria presenting with severe thrombocytopenia.

Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria are endemic infections in India and are commonly associated with mild hematological abnormalities. Severe thrombocytopenia is common in isolated falciparum and mixed falciparum/vivax malaria, but is very rare in isolated P.vivax infection.