2009 October: Health

2009 October: Health

Anchor: Base Index
Other months: September November
Other areas: Business climate computing education international Internet science social technology Others

Topics: Addiction aged care alcohol allergies anorexia babies causes children cures death dental detection diagnosis diet disabilities disease doctors drugs fitness health care hospitals immunity mental nurses obesity pain pollution prevention sleep stress suicide surgery technology teenagers therapies violence waste women

Addiction and Alcohol

(see also Drugs and in Social)

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Mark Russell, Exposed: Grog online too easy for under-age teen, The Age, 2009 Oct. 11 (the 17-year-old girl could not believe how easy it was; couriers from Coles and Woolworths arrived at her Melbourne home last Thursday afternoon and each handed over a carton of 24 imported beers, no questions asked)
Julia Medew, Hopes high for cocaine-addiction vaccine, The Age, 2009 Oct. 7 (American doctors reported this week that a vaccine which stimulates antibodies to help block the entry of cocaine into the brain had been effective in 38 per cent of people tested)
Miriam Elder, Russia brewing on beer war, The Age, 2009 Oct. 3 (Russia has signalled a renewed bid to get to grips with rife alcoholism as the Government drafts a law to raise taxes on beer by 300 per cent and ban its sale in the country's ubiquitous kiosks)
Kate Hagan, Backpacker attackers' jail time increased, The Age, 2009 Oct. 3 (Victoria's Court of Appeal has increased the sentences of three repeat violent offenders who savagely bashed a German backpacker three years ago, rendering him so disabled that he requires ongoing care)

Aged Care

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Jill Stark, Elise Moore, Sarah Baker, Age shall weary them, but only a little bit …, The Age, 2009 Oct. 11 (doctors say that, more than any other age group, the over-65s are at greater risk of health problems by not being physically active than they are from undertaking regular exercise)
Michael Blastland, Can you trust life expectancy predictions?, BBC, 2009 Oct. 9 (half the babies born this year will live to 100, it has been reported; but how does that square with predictions about the health effects of obesity and other modern-day perils)
Paul Bibby, Sydney no place for the elderly, The Age, 2009 Oct. 4 (by 2030, 25 per cent of the NSW population will be 65 and older, but poor urban design and inadequate legislation will prevent older people leading active lives)
Nick Miller, Living until 110, sure, but at what price?, The Age, 2009 Oct. 3 (a new, fourth stage of life they call “the oldest old” could be wracked with crippling ill health and dementia, as medical science keeps us alive longer in near-vegetative states)

Allergies

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Julia Medew and Nick Miller, Shock reaction sparks flu vaccine inquiry, The Age, 2009 Oct. 8 (a spokeswoman for Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer Jim Bishop said he was investigating what had caused the reaction, but believed the woman had an allergy to latex, which was present in the bung of the syringes sent out to doctors with the vaccine)

Cures and Therapies

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Peter Ker, Plea to import axolotls, The Age, 2009 Oct. 6 (Melbourne medical researchers have lobbied the federal Environment Department to allow the importation of axolotls—sometimes dubbed “Mexican walking fish”—in the belief they could help research into regenerative medicine in humans)

Death and Suicide

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Reid Sexton, Safety rethink as pedestrian toll stays high, The Age, 2009 Oct. 11 (with pedestrian deaths now accounting for almost 14 per cent of all road deaths—up from 8.3 per cent in 2003, road safety experts and police are calling for a review of speed limits and an urgent pedestrian education campaign)
Nick Miller, The right time to die, The Age, 2009 Oct. 10 (many people are being kept alive in circumstances that they would not want, because doctors don't have the courage to make decisions)
——, Australia needs national conversation on death, The Age, 2009 Oct. 10 (the chief executives of two of Melbourne's leading hospitals say we need to break taboos and have a national conversation to improve the “quality of death” in our hospitals)
Angelique Chrisafis, Mass suicides rock France Telecom, The Age, 2009 Oct. 7 (the deputy chief executive of France Telecom has resigned in the wake of a spate of staff suicides that unions have blamed on a bullying management style and brutal approach to restructuring)
Rick Feneley and Jonathan Dart, Kokoda death raises fitness concerns, The Age, 2009 Oct. 6 (the first two days—when hikers must acclimatise to the extreme tropical heat, risk dehydration and endure extreme stress on their bodies—are commonly referred to as the ”death zone”)

Detection and Diagnosis

(see also in Technology)

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Royal blood disorder identified, BBC, 2009 Oct. 8 (DNA analysis reveals the identity of the "cursed blood" disorder that afflicted the British Royal Family in the 19th and early 20th centuries)

Diet

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Disease and Immunity

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Jill Stark, HIV rates soar among young gays, The Age, 2009 Oct. 11 (new figures show the number of men aged 20-29 being infected is likely to be double 2007 levels by the end of the year, outstripping rates in the 30-39 age group, traditionally the group with the highest rate of new diagnoses)
Nick Miller, Semi-dried tomato warning, The Age, 2009 Oct. 10 (an outbreak of hepatitis A has been linked to contaminated semi-dried tomatoes, Victorian authorities warned yesterday)
Julia Medew and Nick Miller, Shock reaction sparks flu vaccine inquiry, The Age, 2009 Oct. 8 (a spokeswoman for Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer Jim Bishop said he was investigating what had caused the reaction, but believed the woman had an allergy to latex, which was present in the bung of the syringes sent out to doctors with the vaccine)
Julia Medew, Hopes high for cocaine-addiction vaccine, The Age, 2009 Oct. 7 (American doctors reported this week that a vaccine which stimulates antibodies to help block the entry of cocaine into the brain had been effective in 38 per cent of people tested)
Nick Miller, Hospital superbug in deadly spread, The Age, 2009 Oct. 5 (the killer “golden staph” superbug is a growing problem not only in Australian hospitals but in the community at large, new research has found)
Scientists close in on ebola, The Age, 2009 Oct. 3 (scientists are closing in on the source of the ebola and marburg viruses, two of the world's most lethal infectious diseases)

Drugs

(see also Addiction and Cures)

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Julie Robotham, Cost of new cancer drugs spiralling, The Age, 2009 Oct. 10 (the cost of treating cancer with breakthrough drugs will become unaffordable, a leading specialist has warned, after the Federal Government said yesterday it would spend $104 million to fight a rare blood malignancy)
Julia Medew, Needle program success, The Age, 2009 Oct. 6 (taxi drivers, tradesmen and body builders are among the growing number of people using St Kilda's 24-hour needle and syringe exchange program—the only service that operates all night, every night in Victoria)
Nick Miller, Herbal drug not real deal, The Age, 2009 Oct. 5 (a third of ginkgo biloba sold in Australia may be “spiked” and contain little, if any, of the highly valued herbal medicine, according to Government tests)
Botox maker challenges law, The Age, 2009 Oct. 4 (the maker of Botox is challenging a US law that prohibits it from marketing its wrinkle-smoother for unregulated uses such as treating spasmodic disorders)
Denis Gregory, Rare bee skills not enough to earn visa, The Age, 2009 Oct. 4 (a Chinese apiarist who has developed a successful market for unique bee products from Australian eucalypts may have to leave the country because his work is not considered internationally recognised)

Fitness and Sleep

(see also Obesity and in Social)

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Health Care and Doctors

(see also Cures, Drugs)

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Doctors neglect hand wash, The Age, 2009 Oct. 19 (doctors are by far the worst health workers when it comes to washing their hands, with fewer than half managing to do so despite knowing its importance in reducing infection rates, a survey of public hospitals has found)
Paul Austin, Disability watchdog hits out, The Age, 2009 Oct. 16 (the Office of the Public Advocate's report, based on the findings of more than 5000 visits to psychiatric facilities and other state-monitored care homes last year, paints a picture of residents living in fear in sub-standard accommodation, overseen by overworked and sometimes poorly trained staff)
Julia Medew, GPs face patient violence, The Age, 2009 Oct. 13 (Australian GPs and their staff are being verbally abused and physically threatened by people who can't get an appointment or have to wait too long, research shows)
Julia Medew and David Rood, Some doctors 'nursing objection' to abortion law, The Age, 2009 Oct. 10 (some doctors are refusing to comply with Victoria's new abortion laws, according to an opponent of the legislation, which was passed one year ago today)
Larine Statham, Who cares for the children who care?, The Age, 2009 Oct. 10 (the capacity of mental illness to change the lives of the entire family is often overlooked; rarely officially recognised as carers, children with a mentally ill parent are offered little assistance because service providers have no way of knowing the extent of the problem)
Nick Miller, The right time to die, The Age, 2009 Oct. 10 (many people are being kept alive in circumstances that they would not want, because doctors don't have the courage to make decisions)
Nick Miller, Healthy, wealthy with wiser targets, The Age, 2009 Oct. 8 (better and longer lives, and billions of dollars in savings, are the prizes for setting realistic health targets, research has found; VicHealth, which commissioned the report, says it will be used to pressure government to follow through on proposals such as a tobacco tax hike and fast food ad restrictions)
Stephanie Peatling, End the poverty of disability, The Age, 2009 Oct. 4 (a national insurance scheme for people with disabilities is on the radar for the Rudd Government after persistent warnings the existing system is in crisis)

Hospitals and Nurses

(see also Surgery)

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Nick Miller, Fears of job cuts, reduced services, The Age, 2009 Oct. 20 (some hospitals may have to lose staff, close beds or reduce services to meet new savings targets set by the Victorian Government)
Julia Medew, Hospitals fail on time benchmarks, The Age, 2009 Oct. 15 (more than 260,000 Victorians failed to get emergency care within clinically appropriate times during the past financial year and another 22,000 waited too long for elective surgery)
Nick Miller, Avoid February stay like the plague, The Age, 2009 Oct. 15 (February is the worst month to go to hospital, a study at The Alfred hospital has found, because the influx of trainee doctors causes the number of medical errors to rise by 40 per cent)
Nick Miller, Australia needs national conversation on death, The Age, 2009 Oct. 10 (the chief executives of two of Melbourne's leading hospitals say we need to break taboos and have a national conversation to improve the “quality of death” in our hospitals)
Julia Medew, Crash risk for nurses, The Age, 2009 Oct. 9 (nurses and other shift workers should be driven to and from work to prevent them from crashing their cars while extremely fatigued, an expert says)
Mark Metherell, Hospital funding shake-up, The Age, 2009 Oct. 8 (an overhaul of Australia's health system is taking shape, with hospitals facing tougher competition for funding and health services outside hospitals likely to shift to federal control)
Danny Rose, Rushing to hospital? Don't forget medicines, The Age, 2009 Oct. 5 (an Australian study has shown that patients are better off carrying their prescription medications with them to the emergency department; having the drug packets on hand led to fewer errors in the recording of a patient's medication history and also reduced the chances of a patient receiving the wrong drug or dose errors during their hospital stay)
Nick Miller, Hospital superbug in deadly spread, The Age, 2009 Oct. 5 (the killer “golden staph” superbug is a growing problem not only in Australian hospitals but in the community at large, new research has found)
Kate Benson, Squeeze on hospital retailers, The Age, 2009 Oct. 4 (the NSW State Government plans to quadruple revenue gained from retail leases in hospitals are driving out small businesses in vulnerable communities and forcing operators to sack long-serving staff)

Mental

(see also Stress and in Science)

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Paul Austin, Disability watchdog hits out, The Age, 2009 Oct. 16 (the Office of the Public Advocate's report, based on the findings of more than 5000 visits to psychiatric facilities and other state-monitored care homes last year, paints a picture of residents living in fear in sub-standard accommodation, overseen by overworked and sometimes poorly trained staff)
Green spaces 'improve health' , BBC, 2009 Oct. 15 (people living close to green spaces have less chance of being mentally ill, say Dutch researchers)
Nick Miller, Specialist teams will target youth, The Age, 2009 Oct. 15 (four new youth mental health teams, due to be announced this month, will go into schools, youth centres and perhaps even shopping centres and railways stations to identify and help young people with early signs of mental illness)
——, Diagnosis to rock the world of mental health, The Age, 2009 Oct. 15 (mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia could soon be diagnosed by plugging an electrode into a patient's ear and rocking them around on a chair)
Larine Statham, Who cares for the children who care?, The Age, 2009 Oct. 10 (the capacity of mental illness to change the lives of the entire family is often overlooked; rarely officially recognised as carers, children with a mentally ill parent are offered little assistance because service providers have no way of knowing the extent of the problem)
Maria Katsonis, Simple things are often the key to good mental health, The Age, 2009 Oct. 3 (the World Health Organisation views mental health as more than the absence of mental illness; it sees it as integral to individuals, families and communities, and as "a state of wellbeing in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community"; it is a positive view in which mental health provides the foundation for wellbeing, allowing us to fully participate in life)
Peter Gregory, Violent youths 'can be changed', The Age, 2009 Oct. 1 (young people engaging in street crime are spiritual anorexics whose behaviour can be changed through structured activities, a leading adolescent psychologist says)

Obesity and Anorexia

(see also Diet and Fitness)

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Pollution and Waste

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Kate Lahey, Ombudsman: Compensate residents near tip, The Age, 2009 Oct. 16 (Victoria's Ombudsman has called for compensation for Cranbourne residents living near a council tip leaking potentially deadly gas, after finding the state's environmental authority wrongly approved the tip and then failed to properly control the site)
Jeremy Cooke, 'Big step' needed on UK landfill, BBC, 2009 Oct. 12 (the UK's environment Secretary Hilary Benn tells the BBC a radical rethink is needed on how we dispose of waste)
Waste firm in cyanide probe, BBC, 2009 Oct. 8 (a waste company is banned from discharging industrial effluent into sewers after a cyanide leak in the River Trent)
Peter Ker, Rivers 'at risk' in licence renewal, The Age, 2009 Oct. 6 (fears for human and environmental health have failed to deter the Brumby Government from reissuing 9200 licences for cattle to roam freely through Victorian rivers)

Prevention and Causes

(see also Diet and in Science)

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ME virus discovery raises hopes, BBC, 2009 Oct. 9 (US scientists say they have made a potential breakthrough in understanding what causes the condition known as chronic fatigue syndrome or ME)
Nick Miller, Local experts cautious on breast cancer gene, The Age, 2009 Oct. 7 (British scientists have identified a gene that, when it malfunctions, could be the cause of half of all breast cancers and many other tumours in the bowel, prostate and bladder)
Adele Horin, Welfare families hand suffering down to young, The Age, 2009 Oct. 1 (young people who have grown up in welfare-dependent families are disadvantaged in more ways than has previously been realised, a study shows; from much higher rates of asthma and hospitalisation to much lower rates of post-school study and entry to university, the young are likely to suffer the disadvantages of their parents)

Stress and Pain

(see also Mental)

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Farrah Tomazin, Stress at private schools costs millions, The Age, 2009 Oct. 19 (Victorian private school teachers are being paid out millions of dollars a year because of workplace stress and injuries, with some warning the problem will worsen as classroom demands and parental expectations continue to rise)
Kate Benson, Push to take chronic pain seriously, The Age, 2009 Oct. 19 (Australia could become the first country in the world to recognise chronic pain as a disease in its own right, giving sufferers greater credibility and access to more integrated services)

Surgery and Dentistry

(see also Hospitals)

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Julia Medew, Pacemaker surgery gives baby gift of life, The Age, 2009 Oct. 22 (a team of Melbourne doctors has saved the life of a premature baby by hooking her tiny heart up to an external pacemaker)
Jaw bone created from stem cells, BBC, 2009 Oct. 10 (scientists create a joint in the jaw from human adult stem cells, an advance which could revolutionise reconstructive surgery)

Teenagers and Children

(see also in Education and Social)

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Nick Miller, Specialist teams will target youth, The Age, 2009 Oct. 15 (four new youth mental health teams, due to be announced this month, will go into schools, youth centres and perhaps even shopping centres and railways stations to identify and help young people with early signs of mental illness)

Women and Babies

(see also in Internet and Social)

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Julia Medew, Pacemaker surgery gives baby gift of life, The Age, 2009 Oct. 22 (a team of Melbourne doctors has saved the life of a premature baby by hooking her tiny heart up to an external pacemaker)
Clare Kermond, Grumpy old women? Try 50, fit and fabulous, The Age, 2009 Oct. 17 (recent research by Melbourne psychologist Dr Amanda Deeks has found that in areas such as body image, intimate relationships, career and friendships, many women over 50 are happier than they were earlier in their lives)
Mother can pass on cancer in womb, BBC, 2009 Oct. 12 (scientists have proved that it is possible for a mother's cancer cells to be passed to her unborn child)
Julia Medew and David Rood, Some doctors 'nursing objection' to abortion law, The Age, 2009 Oct. 10 (some doctors are refusing to comply with Victoria's new abortion laws, according to an opponent of the legislation, which was passed one year ago today)
Julia Medew, Advance aids prolapse recovery, The Age, 2009 Oct. 7 (thousands of women will benefit from a new technique to repair vaginal prolapse, a common condition that affects about half of Australian women who have had children)
Julia Medew, Parenting classes reduce postnatal depression, The Age, 2009 Oct. 3 (Melbourne University researchers recruited 400 new mothers and their partners to test whether specific lessons when their babies are one-month-old protected them from postnatal depression and anxiety)
Nick Miller, Testosterone spray may help women fight dementia, The Age, 2009 Oct. 1 (a daily testosterone spray may help post-menopausal women ward off dementia and memory loss, according to new Victorian research; a pilot study run by Monash University's Women's Health Program has been described as “an exciting new lead” by its head researcher)