Free flu vaccinations for older Australians

The Minister for Ageing, the Hon Justine Elliot MP, has urged any of the 2.7 million Australians over 65 who have not already taken advantage of their free annual influenza shots to be vaccinated and protect themselves against potentially life-threatening winter illness.

"As the 'flu season generally lasts until late August or September, many people can still be protected by having the vaccine now," she said.

Last year, 2.57 million Australians over the age of 65 received the free flu vaccinations from their GPs, at clinics, or in nursing homes across the country.

Over the last five years, influenza and pneumonia were responsible for 2.5 per cent of all deaths in Australia and, in 2006, resulted in 2,725 deaths - making these two conditions combined the 12th highest cause of death.

Please see additional information in the Minister's media release.

HealthInsite has topic pages on Influenza and Influenza Vaccine.

 

Doctors falling for advertised pills

Pharmaceutical advertising is driving up the cost of medication, and could also cause some people to be prescribed the wrong treatment. A report, Pushing Pills, by consumer group Choice has found advertised medications are being over-prescribed, even if they are less suitable for the patient, or far more expensive than less-advertised medications. Choice found 93% of ads aimed at GPs for high blood pressure medicines were for new treatments that were not necessarily more effective than older and cheaper options.

Michael Johnston, Choice's senior health policy officer, said drug companies made more money from newly patented drugs for which they had exclusive rights, and consumers and taxpayers ultimately paid for the advertising to get doctors to prescribe them. Choice has called on the Federal Government to significantly increase its investment in providing unbiased information, including independent drug information for doctors.

"An increase in independent information will almost certainly lead to savings in PBS expenditure and better health outcomes for consumers", Mr Johnston said. Choice studied the advertisements in 24 issues each of Australian Doctor and Medical Observer newspapers published in 2005 and 2006 in compiling its report.

HealthInsite has a topic page on Medicines that highlights sources of available Consumer Medicine Information.

 

Overweight, insulin-resistant women at greater risk of breast cancer diagnosis

Women who have risk factors commonly associated with Type 2 diabetes also have much greater odds of being diagnosed with an advanced breast cancer, according to research presented to the Population Health 2008 Conference in Brisbane by University of Melbourne researcher Dr Anne Cust.

Dr Cust was a key collaborator on an international study which found that women who were overweight or had signs of insulin resistance - such as elevated blood glucose or insulin levels - were about 50 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with an advanced breast cancer tumour. Researchers tracked more than 60,000 Swedish women over a 20-year-period from 1985 to 2005. All were cancer-free when recruited and their blood tested for glucose, insulin, and other hormones associated with obesity and diabetes risk. Insulin resistance is most commonly caused by being overweight and inactive, and is often a precursor to Type 2 diabetes.

Dr Cust said that previous research had shown a strong link between being overweight and an increased breast cancer risk in post-menopausal women, but this study was the first to demonstrate the influence of insulin resistance on the stage of cancer diagnosis. "Women with insulin resistance or who were overweight were less likely to be diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancers, but at greater risk of being diagnosed with stage 2 to 4 tumours - larger more advanced cancers," she said. "We know that being overweight and having insulin resistance is a risk factor for getting cancer but, in the case of breast cancer, our study indicates that the cancer will be more advanced."

Dr Cust's research was conducted with colleagues from Umea University, Sweden, and the German Cancer Research Centre. It was recently published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. The abstract is at PubMed.

HealthInsite has topic pages on Breast Cancer.

 

Dental Health Week 2008

There are two distinct audiences that will be targeted in this year's Dental Health Week to be held from 4 - 10 August 2008, and which is being coordinated by the Australian Dental Association (ADA). Young Australians will be encouraged to undertake a 7 Day Dental Bootcamp which will give them the basic training they need to look after their teeth, and to understand what's good for them and what they should avoid. You can start your kid's Bootcamp program anytime - just go to the Dental Health Week website and follow the prompts.

The Caring Generation is focussed on the oral health of Australians who are between 30 and 50 years of age. A person in their mid to late thirties can now expect to keep most of their teeth for life. This has a significant impact on the way in which Australians need to maintain their oral health.

The ADA notes that while tooth loss is declining in adults, keeping natural teeth increases the risk of more complex oral health issues. Dentists say that they are seeing more adults presenting with decay affecting the roots of the teeth, serious gum disease (clinically known as periodontal disease), extensive dental erosion, and gum recession, commonly referred to as 'getting long in the tooth'.

Increasing financial burdens on household incomes and extensive patient waiting lists in the public health sector are two reasons for the ADA encouraging people to recognise the value in investing in good dental health now, and prevent costly restorative work in the future.

Dr Lejmanoski, chair of the Oral Health Committee for the ADA says that dentists are seeing a number of Australians who treat dental care and treatment as a discretionary expense. "The most recent national Survey of Adult Oral Health 2004-06: Australia's dental generations indicates that while more Australian adults are going to the dentist now than 17 years ago, approximately 48% of people are not attending the dentist regularly," says Dr Lejmanoski.

"Regular dental check-ups and the maintenance of good oral hygiene would result in an expense that is a fraction of the yearly cost of most people's visits to the hairdresser. With more and more research showing the intrinsic link between oral health and overall health, a regular dental check up can prove to be an investment in good health", adds Dr Lejmanoski.

HealthInsite has topic pages on Dental Health.