SATURDAY
14TH DECEMBER 2002
PALPITATIONS
Palpitations is the word used to describe an uncomfortable awareness of your own heart beat. Just like people don't notice trains after they have lived next to a rail line for years - we are not usually aware of the relentless lub-dub of our heart. However sometimes it is normal to become aware of your heart beating such as during anger fear or maybe just after exercise - when we detect the increased load on the muscular pump as it steps up its pace.
Palpitations may have a regular or irregular beat. They may be of normal speed, rapid or feel slow - as if a beat is missing.
The heart is a muscular pump system with 4 chambers separated by one way valves. It is controlled by an ingenious electrical wiring system with switch boxes that keep the chambers pumping in a coordinated fashion to make sure the blood keeps moving round the body in the right direction !!
Here is schematic diagram of the heart pump system ( ok, so I wont give up my day job for a career as a graphic artist) .
The blue side of the heart is representing "used " or deoxygenated
blood flowing back into the heart after its journey round the body. It flows in
through the vena cava and is pumped out into the lungs where it will pick up
oxygen. The red side of the diagram represents the blood being pumped into the
lungs - picking up oxygen and flowing back into the heart ready to be pumped
back out through the body again.
Mostly palpitations are harmless but some re caused by a disease process and indicate a problem with the electrical circuitry - some might be important and require treatment others may just be of nuisance value. All need to be investigated and properly diagnosed.
Diagnosis may be made on the story and a clinical examination and/ or by taking a tracing of the heart's electrical activity. An ECG ( electrocardiogram) is a static snap shot of the heart rhythm. This may pick up where the problem lies by comparison with standard ECGs and if the palpitations are continuous. However sometimes the abnormality and or palpitations are intermittent so the static ecg may be normal. This is when a HOLTER monitor is useful. This is a 24 hour tracing of the rhythm - the person wears little impulse sensitive sticky labels and a small monitor records the electrical activity. Hopefully the abnormal rhythm will be "captured" .
Sometimes other methods are used, including exercising the person while wired up - to see if by adding load to the hearts work might bring on the abnormality.
Dr Paul Sparks - is a Cadiac Electro Physiologist - an expert heart sparky ! ( mmm I am not really in a position to make name jokes ( see my real name in my bio - but I couldn't let that one pass !) Paul will be joining us to talk about palpitations and their treatment .
Treatment of arrhythmias ( abnormal heart beat rhythms) depends on many things including the site of the problem the cause of the problem, and other co- existing medical problems the person may have .
The treatment of arrhythmias has come a long way in recent years. We have drug treatments that can control some problems. Pacemakers are small electrical devices which can be implanted under the skin with a wire that sits in the heart and detects if a person's internal the switchboxes fail at which point it can fire off an electrical charge to keep the rhythm on track .Some pacemakers also work constantly .
Some
people's problem can be an extra piece of wiring or a short circuit . Modern
techniques allow a
specialist to do procedures which can remove these extra or short circuits
without major surgery - Dr Sparks will tell us more about that .
click HERE to visit the National Heart Foundations web site about heart health generally
there are lots of sites with explanations about heart palpitations but I believe it is imperative that you have yours individually diagnosed and not try to make your own diagnosis by comparison on the net
PAMM'S BARGAIN GUIDE TO THE RESCUE !
With only 11 days until Christmas are you suffering Christmas shoppers block. Lacking inspiration for the servicemen and hairdressers who you want to say thanks to but don't want to spend a lot of money on - but feel that you cant give them the tin of shortbreads with the fake holly motif or bottle of red wine ...again
Well fear not - Pamm Durkin of the famous Pamms Bargain Guide to Shopping in Brisbane,Melbourne and Sydney is back to help us tick off the last few names on the list ( actually I am hoping I'll pick up some pointers to start my list !!)
Click
HERE to find out more about PAMM's
Discount Guides
click HERE to read Pamm's choice for Christmas bargains
DISEASE OF THE WEEK
PLAGIOCEPHALY
Last week we took a call from a grandmother who's daughter is thousands of kilometres away in another country. Imagine her concern when her daughter writes that there is a problem with the shape of her new born grandchild's head and it has some long Latin name.
On the strength of her call I have invited in to the studio one of Australia's leading paediatric neurosurgeons . Mr Geoff Klugg to explain the condition and the many myths and confusion that surrounds it.
My undesrstanding is that Plagiocephaly describes the flattening of part of a baby's developing skull. It is due usually to external pressure maybe from a tight neck muscle ( torticollis) or from a constant sleeping position. It needs to be distinguished from from Craniosynostosis which is a premature closure of the suture lines between the forming skull bones - these joins shouldn't fuse until the brain has grown to an appropriate size.
Click
HERE to find out more about
plagiocephaly - through and excellent support group site (
especially their FAQ sheet)
CELEBRITY CHECK UP
BRIAN CADD
During
our very first program we had a quick chat with the wonderful Brian
Cadd,
he promised to come back and chat f
urther
and I am delighted that he will be joining me in the studio today as my
celebrity check up. He has just completed the "long way to the
top" tour and like last year is playing to packed housed
at Capers cabaret in Melbourne leading up to Christmas
Click HERE to visit Capers Cabaret
CATARACTS
I received an email during the week from a listener who wanted some guidance on how to find out more information about cataracts . Her mother had just been diagnosed.
Its often difficult when you don't want to appear to be prying but want ot be sure your relatives are getting the right advice and the internet is a great source - but be careful to always be sure the information you are accessing IS reliable.
The lens in each
eye needs to be clear to allow for best focus - which is its function. The lens
is made up of protein tissue and can change shape to allow us up close or
far off focus. A cataract is a clouding of the lens due to damage of the
proteins. The change is rather similar to what happens when you cook an egg
white where it changes from clear to white. There are various conditions and
lifestyle factors which may increase the likelihood of developing cataracts.
These include eye injury, steroid medication ,Long-term
exposure to sunlight
Symptoms
may include sensitivity
to glare,lurred vision colours seeming to be faded
Treatment is surgery.
I
know a lot of people are confused about cataracts and especially when to have
surgery . So today Dr Noel Alpins an ophthalmologist and cataract
specialist join us to explain all about cataracts and their management .
click HERE to visit Dr Alpins home page
click HERE to visit Vision Australia Foundation's page on Cataracts
CHRISTMAS COOKING TIPS
STEPHANIE ALEXANDER
Stephanie Alexander is one of Australia's leading restaurateurs
and cookery 
authors.
She has just been awarded La
Prix La Mazille International by
the Salon International du Livre Gourmand de Perigueux 2002 for her book Cooking
and Travelling in South West France (Penguin Books). This prize is
the French jury's top award for a food book about France in a language other
than French.
Her book The Cook’s Companion (1996), which has sold around 250,000 copies !! , is essential for anyone who has a kitchen . Stephanie wrote it because of her concern that we may be " raising children and young adults with little if any understanding of what to do with fresh food in their daily lives. When faced with independent living these young people were at best anxious or, at worst, unable to cook for themselves."
So given that many of us may be in that position it will be wonderful to have Stephanie Join us in the studio to give is some practical tips on preparing that christmas fare we might have to do !
click HERE to visit Stephanie Alexander's home page - with info about all her fabulous books !
click HERE to read Mietta's best Australian Restaurant Reviews for 2002 of Stephanie's Melbourne Restaurant - The Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder .
click HERE to visit Stephanie's Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder
click HERE to read what her late colleague and friend, Mietta, has to say about her
BOTTOM LINE IN SKIN CANCER
Associate Professor Pru Hart has released results of her research which looks trying to find the causes or predictors or skin cancer.
Our immune system is constantly surveying the body on the look out not only for invaders but also for abnormal cells. We assume that a strong healthy immune system probably gobbles up abnormal cells which if left might become cancerous.
MAST CELLS are part of our immune system and are sentries waiting to call the troops to nuke invaders. They are mediators in inflammatory reactions - they settle in tissue and also play a central role in immediate allergic reactions. When stimulated they release potent inflammatory chemicals, that act on the blood vessels and other local tissue causing redness swelling and heat .
Prof Hart's research involves looking at the body's immune responses. in relation to seeing whether there may be a pointer as to why some people seem to be more prone to skin cancer . She compared people different racial origin specifically looking at the number of MAST cells in their skin
Her results caught the eye of the media during the week possibly because of the site show has chosen to watch. She wanted to look at areas NOT exposed to sun - so the bottom line is she used skin from buttocks ! She found more mast cells present in the buttocks of people with a history of basal Cell Carcinoma - a skin cancer - her hypothesis is that sun exposure may adversely affect the immune system
Prof Hart will join us to explain her results
click HERE to read a short version of Prof Hart's Findings from her Lab in South Australia
TOP SELLING TOYS
To some kids the RIGHT toy seems to be critical .......if its LAST SEASON's Film merchandise soft toy or the WRONG brand of felt tip pen we may find our expensive gift of love tossed aside - mind you, wiht very young kids - they seem to often be tossed aside ffor the box anyway !
John Gillman is the Corporate Affairs manager for Myer Grace Bros and he's going to give us teh list of this years top selling toys and gifts to take the heart ache out of choosing !