The Health News – 3 February 2017

Overview:
• Anthony Mundine invited Charlie Teo (brain surgeon) to his rematch with Danny Green in Adelaide tonight, but the Australian Medical Association wants the boxing to be banned.

• Australian businesses aim for better care services, better public transport and stronger regulation on employees as part of Australia’s labour market solutions.

• Australian doctors are worried about patients with angina because of the national shortage of the vital drug used to treat it. The brand of drug used to treat it, Anginine, dilates arteries to increase blood flow to the heart during an attack.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the  3rd of February 2017. Read by Rebecca Foster. Health News

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-02/charlie-teo-to-attend-mundine-green-fight/8235870

Anthony Mundine has invited renowned brain surgeon Charlie Teo to his rematch with Danny Green in Adelaide [tonight]… but the Australian Medical Association is unimpressed and is repeating a call for boxing to be banned.

It is understood the invitation was extended by Mundine’s agent, who told The Daily Telegraph he wanted the “best neurosurgeon in the country” at the Adelaide Oval bout.

Organisers of the much-hyped encounter said Dr Teo had been invited as a guest, not an on-duty doctor, and that he had accepted.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called for boxing to be banned ahead of the fight, saying the evidence linking the sport to brain injury was conclusive.

Dr Teo is famous for performing radical brain surgery in cases that other surgeons consider inoperable.

But having a neurosurgeon at a boxing match would offer no protection for the fighters, AMA president Michael Gannon said.

He said doctors cannot support an activity in which acute brain injury is a potential outcome

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-02/work-life-balance-policy-not-individual-actions-economist/8235030

Better care services, better public transport and stronger regulation on employers are all part of the solution to Australia’s labour market problems, an Australia Institute economist says.

Dr Jim Stanford, from the institute’s Centre for Future Work, was responding to a new Australian National University study finding the work limit for a healthy lifestyle should be set at 39 hours per week, not the 48-hour limit set previously.

Many Australians are working far more than that, putting their mental health at risk — but it’s up to stricter regulations on employers to turn the tables, Dr Stanford said.

However, there are some things workers can do to help themselves. Employees could start by educating themselves that spending half their lives at work isn’t “inevitable or natural or fair”, Dr Stanford said.

“When people live in a dog-eat-dog environment for long enough they start to think ‘yes, I should work 20 hours unpaid overtime a week to keep my job’,” he said.

Once people realised their conditions were unsustainable, they should begin talking to their colleagues, joining or starting a union and lobbying Government for change.

Just as important an issue as overwork is the problem of underwork — the large proportion of Australians who are working in part-time or casual jobs.

…

What is a ‘standard’ work week?

• In Australia, the National Employment Standards specify that employers must not ask full time employees to work more than 38 hours a week “unless the additional hours are reasonable”
• There is not one strict definition of what constitutes “reasonable” additional hours. What is “reasonable” for one workplace can be different to what’s considered acceptable in another
• …
• Internationally, UN conventions (not ratified by Australia) dating back to 1919 mandate a maximum 48-hour working week

The obvious way for everyone to find balance would be to share the work more equitably, but this would require placing stronger regulations on working hours and scheduling.

The workplace isn’t the only place people need to share the load: Dr Stanford said there were also small- and large-scale solutions to the enduring inequity between the sexes when it came to household and caring tasks.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-02/doctors-worried-about-national-shortage-of-heart-drug-for-angina/8235144

There are concerns Australians suffering from the heart condition angina are at risk because of a national shortage of the vital drug used to treat it.

Angina is a medical condition that causes heart attack-like symptoms because of a lack of blood supply to the heart muscle.

The brand of drug used to treat it, … dilates arteries to increase blood flow to the heart during an attack.

Queensland GP, Dr Mason Stevenson, said doctors were informed on Wednesday of the national shortage and that the next batch was not due until March.

Dr Stevenson, who is a former Australian Medical Association Queensland (AMAQ) president, said there were generic drug options available but were not as effective.

Dr Stevenson said angina had the potential to be serious.