The Health News – 6 September 2016

Overview:
•  Wollongong painter Jorge Invernon got to a point in his life where he urgently needed to press pause, and with his life on hold, he dived into the slums of India and mountains of Nepal. He also spent time trekking in Nepal, where he plans to return next year for charity work. Mr Invernon has come back to his old life in Australia a changed man. He said his trip had given him new perspectives.

• The Department of Defence  released its human health assessment regarding the detection of poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination around the base. The report found there was a low and acceptable risk to health associated with typical exposure to the PFAS detected in the environment for the general community.

• A study funded by the Heart Foundation conducted across four Adelaide hospitals found Aboriginal people were between 40 and 50 per cent less likely to receive an angiogram. Researchers found “significant disparities in the process of patient assessment leading up to receipt of an angiogram test” after looking at SA Health data and medical records of all Aboriginal admissions.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the  5th of September 2016. Read by Rebecca Foster. Health News

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-05/yoga-in-indias-heat-and-poverty-reclaims-painters-perspective/7816034

Wollongong painter Jorge Invernon got to a point in his life where he urgently needed to press pause, and with his life on hold, he dived into the slums of India and mountains of Nepal.

As far as lifestyle changes go, switching from being a successful Illawarra commercial painter to yoga student in an Indian ashram is dramatic.

Mr Invernon said it was a move that has given him enormous physical and psychological benefits.

“I needed a good break; I was a tradie for over 20 years and I felt like it was a good chance to have a rest from what I was doing,” he said.

“I wanted to travel and be free for a while and live like a gypsy.

“Also, I was carrying an injury, so it was time for me to have a rest and a change.”

… it was the injury that took him on his journey to India.

Having sought treatment from a number of different health practitioners, he thought he would try yoga.

“I started practising it and it really changed my life,” he said.

“I was very stuck physically and I was always pushing the physical [work], I had a racing mind and working as a tradie, I needed to change my ways.

“I started getting good benefits out of yoga — physically it opened up my body, but mentally there were massive changes in becoming more present, more conscious of my breath and of slowing down.”

He also spent time trekking in Nepal, where he plans to return next year for charity work.…

Mr Invernon has come back to his old life in Australia a changed man.

He said his trip had given him new perspectives.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-05/oakey-report-into-defence-base-contamination/7814204

The Department of Defence says residents who live near the Oakey Aviation Base in south-west Queensland are likely to have ingested a range of toxic chemicals associated with firefighting foam.

The department … released its human health assessment regarding the detection of poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination around the base.

Firefighting foam used at the base in training and emergency responses since the 1970s caused contaminated groundwater and soil.

The report confirmed that people who drank or used bore water before 2010, when the chemicals were first discovered at the base, were likely to have ingested them.

The report found there was a low and acceptable risk to health associated with typical exposure to the PFAS detected in the environment for the general community.

It also found that consuming meat, fish, locally grown vegetables and incidental ingestion of water while swimming, boating or fishing were considered to be low risk.

But the report found the community’s exposure to the chemicals must be minimised.

The community has been advised not to drink or bathe in bore water or groundwater.

The report also recommends the community avoid the consumption of locally produced eggs in the contamination zone, but the report did not detail the actual human health risks.

A toxicology report said the chemicals had caused some cancer in animals but there was no proof it could cause cancer in humans.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-05/aboriginal-patients-with-heart-issues-foregoing-angiograms/7814392

Aboriginal people are less likely to undergo an angiogram test when they present at hospital with cardiac problems, a study has found.

A study funded by the Heart Foundation conducted across four Adelaide hospitals found Aboriginal people were between 40 and 50 per cent less likely to receive an angiogram — an X-ray which determine if the heart’s arteries have narrowed or are blocked.

An angiogram helps doctors diagnose the existence and extent of a patient’s coronary arteries — the cause of heart attacks — which allows patients access to treatment earlier.

Researchers found “significant disparities in the process of patient assessment leading up to receipt of an angiogram test” after looking at SA Health data and medical records of all Aboriginal admissions.

The study also found 10.5 per cent of Aboriginal patients discharged themselves against medical advice which researchers said raised concerns about access to quality care, communication and inadequate cultural insight of health care providers.

Professor Brown said Aboriginal people in South Australia faced many challenges in accessing the care they needed.