The Health News Australia March 18 2018
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are more likely to get cancer and far more likely to die from the disease than non-Indigenous people, with remoteness having a dramatic impact on their prospects. According to new data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, between 2011 and 2015 Indigenous Australians were 10% more likely to acquire cancer and one point four 1.4 times more likely to die from it.
- A Victorian man in his 80s has become the fifth person to die in a listeria outbreak after eating contaminated rockmelons. Three Victorians and two people from NSW have died after consuming fruit linked to a farm in southern NSW. Cases have also been reported in Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania. Listeria infection is particularly dangerous for pregnant women, their unborn babies, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems.
- Australian researchers are developing a hormone-free male contraceptive pill that wouldn’t impact libido or fertility, and believe it could be available in the next five to ten years. The hormone-free pill, being developed by researchers at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, would work by using chemicals that switch off two signalling proteins in the brain that causes sperm to be released. The researchers say that it would bypass the side-effects that have up until now hindered development of a male contraceptive pill.
News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 18th of March 2018. Read by Tabetha Moreto.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are more likely to get cancer and far more likely to die from the disease than non-Indigenous people, with remoteness having a dramatic impact on their prospects. According to new data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, between two thousand eleven and two thousand fifteen Indigenous Australians were ten percent more likely to acquire cancer and one point four times more likely to die from it.
While there have been improvements in survival rates, Indigenous people are still more likely to die from preventable cancers such lung, liver and cervical cancer. The AIHW pointed to a range of contributing factors, including social disadvantage, higher rates of smoking, poor nutrition, physical inactivity and poor access to health services, in noting the rates could be linked to preventable risks. AIHW spokesman Justin Harvey said this link suggested there was room for improvement, by reducing the risk factors such as smoking and diagnosing cancers earlier before they reach more advanced stages.
Indigenous people were two point one times more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer and one point eight times more likely to die from it than non-Indigenous people. It was the leading cause of death for both cohorts but far more common for Indigenous people, with fifty five point three deaths per one hundred thousand people, compared with the non-Indigenous rate of thirty point three Indigenous women were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer.
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For Indigenous people living in remote communities, access to medical clinics, as well as fear and mistrust of the medical system are often cited as contributing factors.
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Rates of smoking among Indigenous people are falling at a much faster rate than among non-Indigenous people, but still remain higher. In two thousand sixteen the proportion of Indigenous people who smoked fell below forty percent for the first time.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-16/fifth-melon-listeria-death/9554778
A Victorian man in his eighties has become the fifth person to die in a listeria outbreak after eating contaminated rockmelons. Three Victorians and two people from New South Wales have died after consuming fruit linked to a farm in southern New South Wales .
Victoria’s deputy chief health officer, Doctor Brett Sutton, said the latest death had only just been linked to the outbreak after test results came back. He added: “Sadly, the investigation has also confirmed that a miscarriage has also been linked to the outbreak.” Victoria’s health department would not provide further details about the victim, including the date of his death. Eight people in Victoria have been affected with listeria from the melons — four men and four women, all from high-risk groups.
Cases have also been reported in Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania. Listeria infection is particularly dangerous for pregnant women, their unborn babies, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. It starts with flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, muscle aches, nausea, and sometimes diarrhoea.
Symptoms of infection in pregnant women may be mild and include a temperature before or during birth. The outbreak has been traced to Rombola Family Farms near Griffith. In a statement on Thursday, the business said it was working with the New South Wales Food Authority to “identify, quarantine and remedy” the source of the listeria.
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All affected melons, also known as cantaloupes, have been withdrawn from sale and distribution. The New South Wales Food Authority said rockmelons currently on the shelf are safe to eat. The authority is also considering imposing additional regulation on the rockmelon industry to ensure compliance with food safety.
Australian researchers are developing a hormone-free male contraceptive pill that wouldn’t impact libido or fertility, and believe it could be available in the next five to ten years. The hormone-free pill, being developed by researchers at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, would work by using chemicals that switch off two signalling proteins in the brain that causes sperm to be released.
The researchers say that it would bypass the side-effects that have up until now hindered development of a male contraceptive pill. Such side-effects include long-term irreversible effects on fertility, birth defects in future offspring and libido and are often caused from interfering with male hormones.
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Thanks to new funding from the Male Contraceptive Initiative, the Melbourne scientists have moved into the next phase of developing a drug that would block these two proteins in a single pill. Lead researcher Doctor Sab Ventura said if the next stage of drug development is successful, trials could soon commence.
This would mean the first hormone-free and reversible male pill could be on the market within ten years, he said. Doctor Ventura added: “We are moving closer to developing a convenient, safe and effective, non-hormonal oral male contraceptive that can be readily reversed.”
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