Bea’s
back ! She’s on DVD and she’s still ruling the roost. PRISONER 2 is the
second release on DVD of the phenomenal 1970’s TV series Prisoner. Which is
still being seen all over the world – and especially adored in England.
Dr
Feelgood Saturday 22nd February 2003
CHRONIC
OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (COPD)
Emphysaema
and Chronic Bronchitis
Have
you seen people taking the occasional breather on low fences – hopefully not
also taking a smoko –they might have difficulty with hills and stairs – some
cant make it to the front gate without getting breathless. While there are many
causes of breathlessness there are also treatments that can help – some people
with a history of smoking might think shortness of breath is a sort of lot they
have to live with for their sins – some may take it as a part of aging or lack
of exercise. The truth is that if you have shortness of breath make no
assumptions about the cause and dont self medicate– get it properly
diagnosed.AND moreover get it reviewed regularly. We have discussed
breathlessness due to heart problems – and we’ve talked about asthma –
another cause of shortness of breath that some people confuse with asthma is
COPD – While some of the features
of COPD are similar to asthma in
that wheeze may be present and
inflammation results in mucus production and mucus
the problem with COPD is that the shortness of breath is also due to
damage to the alveoli – the tiny sacs at the end of the branching airways
tubes – these little balloon like structures act as a meeting point for red
blood cells to pick up a consignment of oxygen – their structure allows
maximum surface area for transfer. In COPD the structure is often broken down
and the sacs join up so the ergonomics of the surface area is reduced. Hence
less oxygen transfer means the body responds by trying to speed things up – so
the sufferer feels short of breath in an attempt to increase the amount of
oxygen getting in.
We
know that cigarette smoking is a big risk factor for COPD – it is also
associated with paralysing the little waving hair like structures
( cilia ) that line the respiratory tree and whose usual job it is to
wave mucus up the tree so it can be coughed out .
Put
the combo of paralysed cilia and decreased oxygen transfer due to less surface
area and its dynamite ! Pooling of the mucus is a sitting duck for infection –
and this is commonly the cause for the flare ups that people with this condition
get .Its also the reason why they can get into all sorts of trouble if they get
the flu – any increase in mucus production – as happens with a cold or flu
and their airways can get very inefficient at their usual job of passing oxygen
into the blood stream
So
what's the good news?
Treatment
is always advancing and its worth checking in with your doctor – Also we
always need to be vigilant about reassessing our diagnosis and must never forget
to consider an additional problem if things get worse or don’t respond – in
older people there can be a mixed picture – elements of COPD and asthma AND
just to be really confusing – pump failure of the heart can also step into
confuse the issue
Dr
Peter Holmes is a respiratory specialist at Monash Medical Centre his interest
is COPD and he’ll be giving us the latest on treatment
for
more info click on the link -> http://www.lungnet.com.au/copd.html
SUPPORT
GROUP OF THE WEEK
I
remember Ken Morgan’s smiling face when I was growing up on Saturday nights as
a sponsor of the Prize Wheel on Hey Hey Its Saturday with Daryl Somers. We all
hoped the person won the car and Ken always kept smiling when they did.
Ken’s
motto is KEN CAN – and he certainly does !
Ken has been involved in charity work for disadvantaged children for
decades. He and his wife Lenka are well respected for their selfless work they
don’t talk about it – they do it ! Ken is vehement about charity being REAL
charity – volunteering do just that !
Ken
is one of the founders of a fabulous charity in Victoria called KIDS UNDER
COVER. Ken was aware of the under funded and under appreciated problem in our
community of homeless children. He was tired
of relying on waiting for other groups to get around to raising the money
doing the job so he did it himself. He was also aware that some children
did have rooves over their heads but crowded or difficult family circumstances
may mean if something wasn’t don’t about housing conditions they may end up
on the street. Providing bungalow accommodation for these young people can keep
the family together and allow the young person to thrive.
Ken
gathered together some of his friends and started building homes for kids. In
2002 thy celebrated as they opened the doors on their 100th property!
Please check out the KUC website and see the great work this man has achieved
– He really has got something to smile about !
to
visit KIDS UNDER COVER click on the link -> www.kuc.org.au
This
week is organ donation awareness week – Usually this makes people think of
kidneys and hearts and lungs. However its not all about those organs – the
largest organ in our body is often not thought of as being something that can be
donated after death - SKIN. Donated
skin is used to help treat burns injuries and with the events of last October in
Bali our country’s skin bank is running low. Of course its not like the blood
bank where you rush off and give your skin – but it is something else to
discuss with your family in the event of your death .
Tissue
donation after death is not as time critical as organ donation but its not
something that people want to be hearing about for the first time after a
bereavement . Please discuss your feelings about organ and tissue donation and
sign up to save a life by calling
1800
777 203
Jane Beard is the Senior Transplant & Family Liaison Coordinator with the Donor Tissue Bank of Victoria . She’ll be talking with us about Australia’s Tissue Banks
to
visit the
for
more information about the organ and tissue donor registry click on the link
->
http://www.hic.gov.au/yourhealth/our_services/aaodr.htm#role
SCIENCE
CELEBRITIES
SHEILA
KITZINGER
If
you’ve ever been pregnant you’ll know the name Sheila Kitzinger – it may
sound like a cliché but lets face it - she the wrote the book !!
Sheila
has international fame as an advocate for childbirth education – and putting
pregnancy and childbirth in its rightful place – not as an illness or medical
condition but as a healthy activity and natural part of life !
She
in her 70’s but as vibrant as ever and is visiting Australia this week
speaking at a series of conferences around the country for National Association
of Childbirth Educators.
To
quote Sheila from her book Birth over 35 -
Health
is not a medical artifact. Economics, politics, the social system in which we
live, conditions in the work-place, poisons in the environment, and personal
relationships are all elements in causing health and disease. Doctors treat
illness; they do not make us healthy.
For the vast
majority of women physical health and a sense of well-being during pregnancy is
nothing to do with how often they visit the doctor, but with the social
conditions in which they live."
I
was contacted recently by one of the event organsiers by email and I am very
excited to be interviewing Shelia today on the program !
to find out more about the conferences Click on the link -> http://www.nace.org.au/
To
visit Shelia’s site click on the link -> http://www.sheilakitzinger.com/
FINDING
YOUR ROOTS
INSEMINATION
BY DONOR AND PRIVACY ISSUES
We
have spoken on several occasions on the program about issues relating to
adoption and the organisations that exist to help people find their biological
parents. Technology developed in the 1970s to help infertile couples achieve
miracles was wonderful. Fertile people are often glad to assist by donating
sperm and eggs. I recall many of my male medical student colleagues taking about
donating sperm and bragging about the quality of their product!
Of
course we now think of IVF as a normal option for fertility problems and
donation as a commonplace thing. The technology has been around long enough now
that many of the babies conceived this way are adults. Some of them are asking
who their biological parents are and some are seeking to find them.
Laws
vary from state to state in Australia .
Myfanwy
Walker was conceived through artificial insemination by donor . She’ll be
speaking at a public
meeting for couples considering donor insemination in Melbourne where
the law says that children conceived this way in that state
have a right to obtain identifying information about the donot
The
seminar is to be held in Melbourne 27th February 2003 at 7.30pm.
More
info call Vanish 1800 334 043
to
visit VANISH (remember law is
different in various states – VANISH is a VICTORIAN organisation ) click on
the link -> http://home.vicnet.net.au/~vanish/
Andrew
Harper is a cameleer he bought the Outback Camel Company in 1995. For 26-years this company has
been taking people on treks
in the Australian out back on board Camels
!
Andrew
is launching a new range of trips from 14 to 30 day adventure in some of
Australia’s harshest land , walking alongside a camel train where everything
you will need is on the back of 16 camel means you’d want to
be fit.
We’ll
be talking to Andrew about these exciting challenges and what sorts of preparation
you’d need to do for the adventure
Andrew
warns “Simplistically
speaking, our expeditions are not tours, nor are they holidays or vacations.
These journeys are authentic, contemporary expeditions in every sense of the
word and they require active participation from all the expedition members for
the trip to be successful.”
Outback
Camel Company Melbourne Information/Slide Night
will be held
Monday February 24th
at 7:00pm – 8:30pm
at
Phoenix Bar
82
Flinders Street, Melbourne for
more info CALL 03.9654 5219
LOVE
YOUR WORK
TREE
SURGEON
I
have always wanted to meet a tree surgeon – today I will Dave Bidwell is a
tree surgeon with the Royal Botanic
Gardens and Domain Trust in Sydney. He’ll be telling me all about his work and
how the drought has affected our urban treescape
for
more info about theRoyal botanic Gardens click here - > www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au
CELEBRITY
CHECK UP
VAL
LEHMAN
Bea’s
back ! She’s on DVD and she’s still ruling the roost. PRISONER 2 is the
second release on DVD of the phenomenal 1970’s TV series Prisoner. Which is
still being seen all over the world – and especially adored in England.
“Queen” Bea Smith, the murderous matriarch and mistress of Cell block H the “Donnette” of the Wentworth Prison, made Val Leyman an Australian Icon - I was scared of her.
But Val Leyman is not Bea Smith and she had a life before and certainly has one after Prisoner.
Val was born in Western Australia and studied fine Arts. She had already started her career on stage when the role of Bea in the new TV series came along. Val won 3 logies for her performances but as is often the way in Austrlaian TV the phenomenal success of the series and longevity it enjoys is of little benefit to the actors who made it so great
Since Prisoner Val has been in numerous TV roles and live theatre productions as well as thriving in her Antique business .
click HERE
and HERE
for more info on Val
Click HERE
for Info on
New video DVD/video release of Prisoner
PS
- I heard from someone else in the show,not Val,
that not only was the pay lousy at the time but there are no residuals
for the repeats . Americans Actors cottoned on to this before Australians and
fought for their rights to be paid when the programs were repeated.
TV stations run repeats with fresh advertisers – what do actors get ?
Angry letters from fans because they haven’t written back …….. I dont
believe its right that actors are not paid for their work when others make
money from repeats !
We’re
all a sucker for a gorgeous French accent and Gabriel Gate is an Australian
favourite - Gabriel says there is
no age barrier to cooking and he believes we can all learn to do it if we want
– Gabriel joins me today :)
visit
Gabriel's website by following the link -> www.gabrielgate.com