The Health News Australia October 30 2017

• UK charity Target Ovarian Cancer recently surveyed 1,000 women and found that only 1% knew that needing to pee more than usual can be a sign of the disease. Ovarian Cancer Australia says that it can be a difficult disease to diagnose due to the somewhat normality of the symptoms. Abdominal or pelvic pain, increased abdominal size, persistent bloating and feeling full after eating a small amount are symptoms that women experience from time to time and are often caused by less serious health issues.
• A $100 million fund to fight brain cancer, which aims to double the survival rate of patients within a decade, has been announced by the Federal Government. After 30 years with no real progress in treatment of the disease, health experts said the new Australian Brain Cancer Mission fund will revolutionise efforts to find a cure.
• A new survey has found that Australian businesses and their managers are failing employees when it comes to adequately addressing mental health and wellbeing issues. Of the 5017 workers surveyed, it found 46 per cent of Australians identify workplace mental health and wellbeing as a problem in their business, but only a fifth of these (20 per cent) believe that the issue is being addressed.  

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 30th of October 2017. Read by Tabetha Moreto.

https://www.womenshealth.com.au/needing-to-pee-symptom-of-ovarian-cancer?category=Health

Most of us would recognise that something might be amiss if we noticed pain during sex or unexplained bleeding. But there’s another common symptom of ovarian cancer that an enormous majority of women wouldn’t consider as questionable. UK charity Target Ovarian Cancer recently surveyed one thousand women and found that only one percent knew that needing to pee more than usual can be a sign of the disease. Further, only one in five recognised that abdominal pain can be a symptom, three percent knew that constantly feeling full is typical sign, and only twenty one percent were aware that bloating can be an indicator.

Ovarian Cancer Australia says that it can be a difficult disease to diagnose due to the somewhat normality of the symptoms. Abdominal or pelvic pain, increased abdominal size, persistent bloating and feeling full after eating a small amount are symptoms that women experience from time to time and are often caused by less serious health issues. However, three women die from the disease every day making it the most deadly of all women’s cancers, so it’s important to be aware of these issues if they are new for you and you’ve experienced them multiple times over a four week period. If that’s the case, speak to your general practitioner.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-29/brain-cancer-new-$100-million-fund-to-fight-brutal-disease/9096092

A one hundred million dollar fund to fight brain cancer, which aims to double the survival rate of patients within a decade, has been announced by the Federal Government. After thirty years with no real progress in treatment of the disease, health experts said the new Australian Brain Cancer Mission fund will revolutionise efforts to find a cure. Cure Brain Cancer Foundation chief executive officer Michelle Stewart said the announcement was “brilliant news”.

The Government will invest fifty million dollars into the fund. The Cure Brain Cancer Foundation will contribute twenty million dollars, while the Minderoo Foundation will donate ten million dollars and another organization is expected to announce its twenty million investment in coming months. Announcing the initiative in Melbourne, Health Minister Greg Hunt said it aimed to double the survival rate of patients within ten years. Despite almost no improvement in three decades, he cited rapid improvement in the treatment of leukemia as evidence that fast progress was possible.

Miss Stewart said brain cancer killed more than thirty children in Australia each year, more than any other disease. It kills more people aged over forty than any other type of cancer. Miss Stewart said the new investment would make a big difference in efforts to cure the “brutal” disease. The Australian Brain Cancer Mission will be guided by a research roadmap, developed by Australian and international brain cancer experts and advocates.

http://thenewdaily.com.au/money/work/2017/10/26/superficial-mental-health-at-work/

A new survey has found that Australian businesses and their managers are failing employees when it comes to adequately addressing mental health and wellbeing issues. The SuperFriend’s Indicators of a Thriving Workplace report, seen first by The New Daily, revealed almost half of the nation’s workers believe mental health concerns are a major problem in their organisation.
Experts says that as awareness of psychological issues grows, poor management capabilities and “superficial” policies are letting employees down.

Of the five thousand seventeen workers surveyed, it found forty six per cent of Australians identify workplace mental health and wellbeing as a problem in their business, but only a fifth of these (twenty percent) believe that the issue is being addressed. In addition, only fifty per cent of workers are aware a wellbeing strategy is in place in their business. And of those companies with a policy, only twenty per cent of their workers deem it effective. Just ten per cent of the respondents believed their managers had the knowledge and skills to effectively support employees with complex mental health issues. And according to SuperFriend CEO Margo Lydon, upper management within Australian businesses are clueless to their employees’ concerns. According to Miss Lydon, mental illness in the workplace can develop as a result of bullying, harassment, not having policies in place to support good work practice or employers ignoring the early indicators that contribute to poor mental health.