Purple Pen Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Gastroenterologist and three-time guest Dr Kostas Brooks returns for a discussion on colonoscopy, bowel cancer screening, and best practice care in Australia.

In this episode, we cover:

Home bowel cancer screening

• The role of home-based faecal occult blood tests in early detection

• How the program works in practice

• What best practice looks like in screening and surveillance

Bowel preparation for colonoscopy

• Why there is no single standard bowel preparation protocol

• Practical tips to support patients to achieve optimal preparation

• Key considerations for medicines before and after colonoscopy

What happens during a colonoscopy

• Step-by-step overview of the procedure

• Emerging role of artificial intelligence in detection and diagnosis

Colorectal cancer in Australia

• Prevalence and key risk factors

• Who is most at risk and why

• What happens next after a positive colonoscopy finding

Further reading 

• Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care - Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard - https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/clinical-care-standards/colonoscopy 

• National Bowel Cancer Screening Program - https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/national-bowel-cancer-screening-program?language=en 

• Bowel Cancer Australia - Red Apple Day - https://redappleday.au/ 

In this episode of Myopia Progression and the Role of Atropine in Managing Myopia, we speak with Dr Loren Rose about one of the fastest growing challenges in children's eye health. We explore emmetropisation, the natural process by which a child's eyes develop towards clear vision, and what happens myopia. Dr Rose explains key concepts including hyperopic reserve, what a dioptre actually measures, and why both genetics and environment play important roles in myopia development. We discuss the influential Taiwan studies showing that spending around two hours outdoors each day can help reduce the risk of myopia, as well as the evidence linking prolonged near work and screen use with increasing rates of short-sightedness. We discuss the role of atropine drops and peripheral defocus lenses. 

Further reading

• Rose LVT. The quest for safe and effective myopia control in children. Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2024 Jul;52(5):503-504. doi: 10.1111/ceo.14391. PMID: 38950909. - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38950909/ 
• Optometry Australia Position Statement on Myopia Management - https://www.optometry.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Professional_support/Guidelines/Myopia-Position-Statement-2024-v3.pdf 
• https://www.optometry.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/Documents/Myopia-management-resource-guide.pdf  

We talked with, Dr Eleni Yiasemides (board-certified consultant Dermatologist specialist from Sydney) about

*Inappropriate indications for topical corticosteroids (cortisones) like perioral dermatitis when less is usually more

*The verdict on combination products corticosteroids + anti fungal creams and when to use them

*Busting myths on topical corticosteroids like "apply sparingly"

*The issue of tachyphylaxis

*Practice points about alcohol based treatments, preservatives and fragrance

*Alternative topical therapy other than corticosteroids

*Best practice for managing skin health (moisture, hydration and occlusion) alongside medicated treatment like corticosteroids

Read further

Perioral dermatitis

https://dermnetnz.org/topics/periorificial-dermatitis

RACGP

 https://www1.racgp.org.au/ajgp/2021/september/selection-of-a-corticosteroid

The Australasian College of Dermatologists

https://www.dermcoll.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ACD-Fact-Sheet-Topical-corticosteroids-and-eczema-April-2024.pdf

WE'RE BACK!

Happy 2020 to all our listeners! Today Kristin and Dan are joined by Dr Tanya Karaconji, Ophthalmologist at Sydney Eye Hospital, where we discuss a number of topics related to eye emergencies. We discuss:

• Red flags for selling chloramphenicol

• Eye drops made of swimming pool tablets

• How damaging one eye can make you lose both

• Intravitreal injections and culturing the eye jelly

• Hourly eye drops for keratitis

In the last of our episodes from MM2019, we spoke to the 2019 SHPA Medal of Merit winner, Tom Simpson.

Tom is the Executive Director for statewide hospital pharmacy in Tasmania. He gave us a recap of his excellent oration, based around five pieces of advice for his younger self.

You can read more about Tom and the SHPA Medal of Merit here

Jane and Kristin caught up with Sir Harry Burns at MM2019 to discuss what are some of the social causes of wellness. Sir Harry is Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Strathclyde, a surgeon and one of the world's leaders in addressing global health inequality

Recorded live at MM2019, Dan, Kristin and special guest host Viv Banks chat to some more poster presenters about their work.

Visit purplepenpodcast.com for links to the poster abstracts.

In the first of our episodes live from the SHPA Medicines Management 2019 conference, Jane and Kristin asked some poster presenters to talk about their work.

Visit purplepenpodcast.com for links to the poster abstracts.

Dan and Kristin are joined by Dr Rose Cairns from the University of Sydney and the NSW Poison's Information centre to discuss the latest trends in codeine usage.

Dr Cairns' research shows us that since codeine up-scheduled, less codeine overall is being used, patients do not seem to be switching to higher strength codeine products and opioid poisonings are down.

We also discuss whether there has been a switch to other prescription opioids, illicit opioids and the public perceptions of over the counter codeine.

In this episode, Dan and Kristin are joined by Professor Andrew Wilson, chair of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.

We discuss:

• What the PBAC does
• How it makes decisions on which drugs to recommend for subsidy
• How decisions are made in difficult situations, for example with new drugs with very little long term information, or where prices are exceptionally high

The PBAC is an independent expert body appointed by the Australian Government. Members include doctors, health professionals, health economists and consumer representatives. You can find out more about the work of the PBAC here

If you are interested in learning more about QALY's, Alwyn Smith's 1987 article "Qualms about QALYs" is an interesting place to start.