Author: healthprofessionalradio

Overview:
•  Across the country, the number of GP visits being bulk-billed has declined as fewer doctors make the free consultations available and patients avoid medical care due to out-of-pocket expenses. The Commonwealth Department of Health revealed in the September quarter the GP bulk-billing rate in Tasmania fell to 74 per cent from 76.4 per cent in the previous three months.

• The Productivity Commission’s Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report says despite some positive trends, the plight of Indigenous Australians has “stagnated or worsened” in critical areas of wellbeing.

• Voluntary euthanasia has been knocked back in South Australian Parliament for the 15th time after a marathon late session in the House of Assembly. The Death with Dignity bill from Liberal MP Duncan McFetridge was examined clause by clause and a conscience vote was tied at 23 votes for and against.

Overview:
•  The chief health officer’s biennial report said 70,000 more people were being admitted to hospital every year, and 50,000 more were turning up to emergency.
Dr Jeanette Young said it was a rapid increase and unsustainable. Dr Young said while half of the increase could be explained by population growth and some could be chalked up to an ageing population, a lot of the patients should be seeing their GP instead.

• The Health Department has already detected mosquitos carrying Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses around the Perth and South West regions. Authorities [are] urging people to make sure they cover up and protect themselves from mosquito bites.

• Alcohol-related crime is costing Canberra taxpayers nearly $12 million a year, new research suggests. The Deakin University study measured a range of factors including police and court costs, healthcare bills for victims of crime, lost output and property damage. It found the total impact of alcohol-related crime per year was $11.7 million.

Overview:
•  The joint study between Bond University associate professors of physiotherapy Rodney Pope and  Rob Orr and the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) showed firefighters lose an average of 1.2 kilograms in the first 30 minutes of battling a house fire.

• The research was led by the Robinson Research Institute at the University of Adelaide, and involved the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and the Pregnancy Outcome Unit of SA Health showed that women who conceive babies in winter are more likely to develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy.

• Research physiotherapist Lucy Salmon said Medicare data showed the number of children undergoing ACL reconstructions had more than tripled in the past 15 years.

Overview:
•  Researchers have uncovered a strange way that asbestos-related tumours grow, which could pave the way towards better treatments.
The scientists at Adelaide’s Flinders University have found that malignant mesothelioma tumours are able to transform into blood vessels, promoting their own growth.

• Indigenous Australians continue to be disproportionately represented in HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates compared to the wider population, new research has found.

• E-health files in the United States are being used for identity fraud and by paedophiles, according to a new report that highlights the vulnerabilities of online health systems. Washington-based Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology’s Your Life James Scott told Future Tense the level of hacking was “massive”, and that many health organisations have simply failed to keep pace with network security needs.

Overview:
•  An elderly patient is recovering from a rare and potentially deadly strain of meningococcal on the Sunshine Coast. Queensland Health said it was the second case of the W strain this year in the Sunshine Coast health district, while in Queensland there had been 10 cases of W strain reported since January this year.

• Professor Peter Snyder, a neuroscientist from Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital in the US, said the presence of retinal plaque on a person’s eyes could be a precursor to determine whether someone will develop Alzheimer’s disease.

• New Australian research has shown how the immune system avoids attacking its own tissues with antibodies – whilst still maintaining a strong defence against invaders. The findings, from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research (Sydney) and the John Curtin School of Medical Research (Australian National University), have just been published in the leading journal Nature Communications.