BitingTheDust

Indigenous News Update – Employment

Robbo — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 07:00:07 +0000

Ergon Energy employee who is “face of Indigenous employment” sacked after 20yrs employment in remote community http://bit.ly/crxWlK

Downer EDI signs service contract with Fortescue. 20 per cent of the project’s workforce to be indigenous. http://bit.ly/9ivwoW

The Commonwealth Bank is offering 34 new Indigenous traineeships across Australia. Already has 64 places http://bit.ly/bagicf

Abbott committing the Coalition to Commonwealth government support for Pearson’s Australian Employment Covenant. http://bit.ly/bcUQjv

Camel industry developing strategic plan with Aboriginal landholders to reach wild camels & create sustainable industry http://bit.ly/cPpRUv

The Indigenous News Updates are sourced from news and other articles from around the country that I have posted on Twitter.

Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.

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Wreck of the Week

Robbo — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:00:59 +0000

It looks like the only item not used for spares off this old girl was the grille.

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Residential Aged Care Coronial Communique

Robbo — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:48:57 +0000

The June Residential Aged Care Communiqué is out. This is a great resource that highlights selected cases that have been reported to the State Coroner’s Office that may interest the Aged Care Community.

You can subscribe by email at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine with the communiqué becoming available online much later. The download is below as it is not yet available on the website.

This issue looks at deaths arising from two commonly used and we would think benign pieces of equipment. A urinary catheter and a hot water bottle. There are many contributing factors all being the usual suspects. Communication, following policy and protocols and training amongst others.

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Dutasteride – RGH E-Bulletin

Robbo — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:08:25 +0000

Benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) is the most common prostatic disorder, with an incidence rate that increases with age.

Symptoms of urinary obstruction include hesitancy, dribbling after urination, nocturia, frequency and urgency and urinary retention. The gold standard for treatment is surgery. Where surgery is contraindicated or not desired, medications may be used to provide symptom relief by decreasing urinary outflow resistance.

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The 2009 RGH E-Bulletins are archived here.

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A joint initiative of the Patient Services Section and the Drug and Therapeutics Information Service of the Pharmacy Department, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia. The RGH Pharmacy E-Bulletin is distributed in electronic format on a weekly basis, and aims to present concise, factual information on issues of current interest in therapeutics, drug safety and cost-effective use of medications.
Editor: Assoc. Prof. Chris Alderman, University of South Australia – Director of Pharmacy, RGH © Pharmacy Department, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia 5041.

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Indigenous News Update – Social Justice

Robbo — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:00:50 +0000

SORRY Day and Anzac Day should not be treated similarly in the national school curriculum, Tony Abbott says. http://bit.ly/cE9ciV

Aboriginal rights activists rallied calling for official recognition of Aboriginal flag in Queensland’s constitution http://bit.ly/9dB0LQ

Indigenous leaders call for constitutional change http://bit.ly/cVwWfy

Labor government to recognise Aborigines by amending the Constitution http://bit.ly/avxWrq

Labor backs Indigenous recognition in constitution http://bit.ly/9N8ioH

First Indigenous MP in House of Reps receving hate mail from people voting for him who didn’t know he was Indigenous http://bit.ly/czRKZa

The Indigenous News Updates are sourced from news and other articles from around the country that I have posted on Twitter.

Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.

If you like this post and what else you see on the blog please subscribe by RSS feed (the orange button) or by email. Visit my subscription page.

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A Load of Pertussis

Robbo — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:00:48 +0000

Canada has a travel advisory for California. A health advisory on pertussis (whooping cough).

In most countries pertussis is a notifiable illness. This year California has had a sevenfold increase in pertussis notifications. All other states have declined a little or remained about the same as last year.

I imagine a lot more people from Canada travel to California to Australia and a sevenfold increase sounds quite a lot. The number of notifications up to 24th August was 3,311. Checking all current health advisories from Canada shows no current health advisory for Australia yet Australia has about 2000 notifications for pertussis each month.

Year to date figures (5th September) show Australian pertussis notifications for this year have reached 14865 (and probably will be lower than last year’s number of 29737). If we look at it another way Australia has so far had 14865 pertussis cases for around 22 million people with California having 3311 cases for 36 or so million people.

This table from the Department of Health (2005 figures the latest I could find a comparison) shows it very clearly.

Most recent notification rates per 100,000 population for frequently notified vaccine preventable diseases, by country of residence

Why haven’t the Canadians issued a travel advisory against Australia. As an Australian I feel ignored!. Perhaps they are worried about 3311 notifications all packed close together in a state only twice as big as Victoria, our second smaller state.

But enough joking.

Pertussis is a life threatening condition. In Australia sixty per cent of all notifications are in the over 20 age group. With a vaccination schedule including vaccination for pertussis at 2, 4, 6 months and 4 years of age (some states have a booster at school) babies under six months of age are at highest risk (21% of notifications in 2008) due to partial immunisation. Between 1993 and 2006 there were 21 deaths in Australia caused by pertussis. 17 of these were in infants less than twelve months of age.

There is some good information here and here(PDFs).

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Desert Sunset

Robbo — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 04:00:41 +0000

Have a pleasant Sunday afternoon

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Indigenous News Update – Legal

Robbo — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:00:22 +0000

Aboriginal physically restrained by hospital security staff in Townsville & handcuffed by police dies. Investigation? http://bit.ly/c4xJcY

Police wanted to treat death of Aboriginal man as death in Care rather than in Custody even though he was handcuffed http://bit.ly/95Vw3E

South Australia’s Aboriginal legal aid set to close regional offices. Receives only 1.5% of national funds http://bit.ly/9ZU1aU

Birdwatchers banned from seeking Princess parrot in Aboriginal lands after many unauthorised entries http://bit.ly/aW5ss3

Government employees, contractors and journalists will no longer need a permit to enter APY lands. Still need to notify http://bit.ly/9R6GFx

The Indigenous News Updates are sourced from news and other articles from around the country that I have posted on Twitter.

Image source: OpenClipArt.org, public domain.

If you like this post and what else you see on the blog please subscribe by RSS feed (the orange button) or by email. Visit my subscription page.

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Constipation (Part 1) – RGH E-Bulletin

Robbo — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:30:16 +0000

Constipation is not easily defined because there is wide inter-individual variation in normal bowel habit (the normal frequency of bowel motions may vary from three times per day to twice per week), but the term implies a diminished frequency of bowel motions and/or the passage of small hard stools.

Causes of constipation are many, and in an individual, may be multifactorial. Causes of constipation include: inadequate fibre intake, dehydration, immobility reduced muscle tone in small/large bowel, pregnancy, carcinoma, dementia, depression, hypercalcaemia and drugs.

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Wreck of the Week

Robbo — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:00:33 +0000

I seem to have a few wrecks becoming part of nature. Here’s another.

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Factors Influencing Anticoagulation with Rivaroxaban – RGH E-Bulletin

Robbo — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:00:05 +0000

Rivaroxaban is an oral direct factor Xa inhibitor in advanced clinical development for the prevention and treatment of thromboembolic disorders. As clinical use increases for this new drug it is important to be aware of factors influencing its clearance and hence anticoagulant potency. This is particularly important in the early part of the clinical use of a new drug, as sponsored clinical trials may have inclusion and exclusion criteria that might tend to be selective for healthier patients.

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High Dose Vitamin D – RGH E-Bulletin

Robbo — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:00:34 +0000

Vitamin D3 deficiency is associated with muscle pain and weakness, fatigue, reduced bone mineral density and an increased risk of falls and fractures. Vitamin D3 levels decline with advancing age, presumably due to reduced sun exposure and cutaneous synthesis, and impaired renal function.

The recommended daily intake to prevent deficiency in Vitamin D3 replete patients with minimal sunlight exposure is 400 IU for those aged 51-70 years and 600 IU for those >70 years. Patients in residential care may require higher intakes.

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Hyperhidrosis – RGH E-Bulletin

Robbo — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 22:00:39 +0000

Hyperhidrosis is excessive sweating in response to heat or emotional stimuli, and is classified as primary or secondary depending upon aetiology. Primary focal hyperhidrosis is a chronic idiopathic condition that, when severe, can be debilitating to the person’s professional, psychological and physical well being.

Hyperhidrosis most commonly affects palms, soles and axillae and occurs in about 2 – 3% of the population. The onset is most common in the 2nd and 3rd decades of life. There is some evidence for a genetic link but the cause is unknown. In terms of its pathogenesis, hyperhidrosis is thought to be due to a central abnormality of the hypothalamic sweat centre.

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Central Post-Stroke Pain – RGH E-Bulletin

Robbo — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Central post-stroke pain (CPSP) is a chronic pain disorder resulting from a lesion or dysfunction of the central nervous system. Previously known as the “thalamic syndrome”, CPSP has been shown in early post-mortem studies and modern imaging techniques to also occur in extrathalamic lesions.

Frequent co-existing pain in stroke patients and variability in onset, presentation and intensity of CPSP, as well as the lack of diagnostic criteria, makes diagnosis of this disorder complex. Currently, the Western Australian Therapeutic Advisory Group recommends tricyclic antidepressants as the first line treatment for CPSP and lamotrigine as the second line approach.

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Caffeine – RGH E-Bulletin

Robbo — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 06:00:58 +0000

Caffeine is a methylxanthine compound used medicinally to stimulate the central nervous system in combating fatigue and drowsiness. Caffeine also stimulates skeletal muscle contraction and gastric secretion. Caffeine has a medical indication for the management of neonatal apnoea, and may also have a role in sports medicine with ongoing research on its use to enhance endurance in elite athletes.

Caffeine occurs naturally in the leaves, nuts and seeds of plants. Guarana derivatives, available in many forms in Australia, are produced from the guarana plant seeds (which contain 3.6-5.8% caffeine). In Australia, if caffeine (or guarana) is added to a product then the food must be labelled to indicate that it contains caffeine.

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Detection of Benzodiazepine Dependence in the Elderly – RGH E-Bulletin

Robbo — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:37:58 +0000

The prevalence of benzodiazepine (BZD) use increases with age. The prevalence rates in community settings are reported to be between 10-40%. Elderly patients are at risk of adverse effects including dependence, which occurs to some extent in 15-44% of those prescribed benzodiazepines. Detection of benzodiazepine dependence in patients, especially the elderly, is very important as this helps in reducing the impact of withdrawal syndrome when discontinuation is initiated with gradual dose reduction.

Other serious adverse effects of benzodiazepines in the elderly include cognitive impairment, psychomotor effects, increased risk of falls, motor vehicle accidents and urinary incontinence. Adverse effects tend to be more significant amongst the elderly because of comorbidities, polypharmacy, and altered pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic characteristics.

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SSRIs and Abnormal Bleeding – RGH E-Bulletin

Robbo — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 04:00:33 +0000

The first published report of abnormally increased bleeding time associated with Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) treatment was published in 1990, noting that these antidepressants also have the pharmacological property of diminishing granular storage of serotonin in platelets, suggesting a basis for a drug-induced defect in haemostasis.

Other early reports also provided important signals in the form of case reports of abnormal bleeding and bruising; a report of a fatal intracranial haemorrhage associated with an SSRI; and a case where a patient developed a demonstrable and reversible defect in platelet aggregation after the commencement of fluoxetine.

Even a cursory examination of the prescribing information for any of the SSRI agents reveals many clues about the knowledge that was to evolve later – adverse effects listed for SSRIs include purpura, petechial rash, ecchymosis, epistaxis, menorrhagia and rectal bleeding, and some are listed as “common”.

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Melatonin – RGH E-Bulletin

Robbo — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 03:00:29 +0000

Melatonin is a hormone which appears to play a role in the regulation of circadian rhythms. Circulating levels of melatonin follow a diurnal cycle, as its secretion from the pineal gland is stimulated by darkness and inhibited by exposure to light. On the basis of this physiological role, it is thought exogenous melatonin may be useful in restoring
altered sleep cycles.

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Moxonidine for Hypertension – RGH E-Bulletin

Robbo — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:00:37 +0000

Combination drug therapy in addition to lifestyle modification will often be required to reach blood pressure targets or the lowest tolerable blood pressure in hypertensive patients. Moxonidine (Physiotens®) is a relatively new centrally acting antihypertensive that was listed for subsidised supply through the Australian the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) in 2006. It was listed as add-on therapy with other antihypertensives on the basis of cost-minimisation compared to clonidine. It was considered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee to be similar to clonidine in efficacy with apparently fewer adverse effects.

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Wreck of the Week

Robbo — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:14:38 +0000

It’s been a while since the last wreck. Lets see if I can string a few Wreck of the Weeks together. Believe me, it’s not because of a shortage of wrecks.

Here’s a wreck upon a wreck upon a wreck. And no respect for the white posts. A take home message is don’t bring out crap gear as it won’t come home again.

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