The Medical Journal of Australia: Indigenous Health Issue

The Medical Journal of Australia published its annual Indigenous Health issue on
19 May 2008.

Articles include:

Partnerships in action: addressing the health challenge for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples : Editorial
(Tamara Mackean, Mick Adams, Sally Goold, Christopher Bourke, and Tom Calma)

Cancer care for Indigenous Australians : Editorial
(John D Boffa)

Navigating the process of developing a research project in Aboriginal health
(Anne P F Wand and Sandra J Eades)

The complete contents page is at MJA 19 May 2008. Other MJA articles on Indigenous health since 1998 are listed on the MJA's Articles on Aboriginal health page.

The Medical Journal of Australia is published on the first and third Monday of each month. All articles are available free in HTML and PDF format after registering at the site.

HealthInsite includes links to information on mental health issues and services for Indigenous people, to information about heart, stroke and vascular health for Indigenous people, and to information on other health services for Indigenous people.

Diet is the key to fighting winter colds and flu

According to Accredited Practising Dietitians, boosting antioxidant-rich fruit and vegetables could be the best defence against winter sniffles and sneezes.

The Dietitians Association of Australia recommends eating a wide variety of fruit and vegetables in a range of colours, and choosing those in season over winter in order to get the right mix of antioxidants for a healthy immune system.

Accredited Practising Dietitian and DAA spokesperson Dr Trent Watson said that some people find it more enjoyable to overeat fatty comfort foods and hibernate indoors during the cooler months, but our immune systems often suffer as a result.

"Some studies have shown that carotenoids can help immune function, and the antioxidant allicin is said to have antiviral properties. But there is no silver bullet for a strong immune system. Eating a wide range of fruit and vegetables each day will give us the best mix of antioxidants, in the right amounts" said Dr Watson.

For a healthy immune system, Dr Watson also recommends eating enough zinc, found in lean red meat, fish, and poultry, as well as wholegrain cereals, legumes, reduced-fat dairy foods, and nuts. And according to a UK study involving more than 180 people, eating breakfast may also help fight off colds and flu. Along with stress, the researchers found that missing breakfast was linked to susceptibility to illnesses, such as the common cold.

Dr Watson said people who skipped breakfast were often tired and irritable later in the day, and were more likely to miss out on key nutrients and antioxidants. He suggested warm winter breakfast ideas like porridge with reduced-fat milk, or poached or boiled eggs on wholegrain toast, and some fruit.

"Even winter 'comfort' foods can provide antioxidants and need not be high in fat or kilojoules. Try nourishing winter staples like chunky vegetable and lentil soups, and slow-cooked casseroles made with lean meat and vegetables like sweet potato and carrot," said Dr Watson.

He said it was important to drink plenty of water during winter, and to keep up with exercise - a known immune system booster.

Nutrition Australia is a HealthInsite Information Partner, and has a wealth of information on shopping for good health, menu plans to get your diet back on track, and recipes, among other things. HealthInsite has topic pages on Nutrition and Diet Services, and Nutritional Disorders.

Stop the Clot: Reducing blood clot risk for hospital patients

A new national prevention program to stop potentially lethal blood clots developing in private hospital patients was launched recently by the Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, The Hon Nicola Roxon.

Blood clots kill at least 2,000 people each year, and some 30,000 Australians are hospitalised each year because of blood clots. Hospital patients are at 25 times greater risk of developing a clot than air travellers.

The Stop the Clot program has been developed by the National Health and Medical Research Council's National Institute of Clinical Studies (NICS) and successfully implemented in over 40 public hospitals nationally. Now NICS is working with the private hospital sector to reduce the incidence of blood clots in private hospitals.

The Australian Government is committed to working with both public and private hospitals to raise standards and improve safety. The program is funded by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care to improve the assessment and management of venous thrombo embolism (VTE, DVT, or blood clot) risk in hospitalised patients.

"In my twenty years as an emergency physician, I treated too many patients suffering from blood clots, returning to hospital after being discharged. The luckier ones returned to emergency departments with leg pain and swelling and the prospect of chronic circulation problems in their legs. "Others came by ambulance - shocked, breathless, collapsed. Some came in cardiac arrest," said Professor Chris Baggoley, Chief Executive of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.

Minister Roxon stressed the urgent need to better manage high-risk patients in a bid to cut the VTE toll. "For those that survive, there are significant long term consequences and costs" she said. "Patients with VTE require diagnostic tests, treatment with blood thinning drugs, a longer hospital stay, and lifelong tests and treatment."

According to Professor Warwick Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Stop the Clot program uses a world-first whole-of-hospital approach to minimise the risk of blood clots.

"The key is identifying at-risk patients and managing them throughout their entire hospital stay from admission to discharge, and even post-discharge" he said.

"Simple management measures, such as the use of blood thinning drugs and compression stockings, systematically used across all departments can have a big impact. We know what we have to do to prevent blood clots occurring, but the challenge has been changing hospitals' systems and procedures to address the issue across the board."

Hospitals participating in the Stop the Clot program are supported by NICS to identify the key issues required to systematically integrate best practice guidelines into routine hospital care.

NICS, the NHMRC, and the Safety and Quality Commission are all proud HealthInsite Information Partners. HealthInsite has a topic page on deep vein thrombosis.