across all cultures. The World Psychiatric Association estimates that 3 per cent
of the population suffer from this condition at any one time. Other studies
suggest the figure to be as high as 8 - 15%.Dr Feelgood Sunday 23rd February 2003
PROCEDURE
OF THE WEEK
ORGAN
TRANSPLANT
Today
marks the final day of the official organ donation awareness week but it should
not mean we don’t talk about the issues – in fact what is hoped is that we
will al talk MORE about how we feel about organ and tissue donation and
transplantation and more over how we feel about our own potential to help save
up to 10 lives in the event of our own death.
Australia
has one of the best organ transplantation success rates in the world yet has one
of the lowest rates of organ
donation ! This is thought to be mainly due to people NOT talking about the
issues as pertinent to themselves meaning that if tragedy occurs the organ and
tissue donation decision is often left to grieving relatives who may not know
their loved one’s wishes.
Meanwhile
the thousands of people on the waiting list for transplant …wait. Its not like
vultures waiting for prey to succumb. No one wants anyone to die.
I
think Dr Christian Barnard, pioneer heart transplant surgeon summed it up in
1969 when he said
“It is infinitely better to transplant a heart than to bury
it to be devoured by worms”
Associate
Professor Don Esmore is a heart transplant Surgeon in Australia he is head of
the Cardiac transplant unit at te Alfred Hospital which is one of the members of
the World Collaborative Transplant Centres. He’s is going to explain
transplant surgery to us.
visit
the RedCross website for stats on Organ transplant success rates and other info http://www.organ.redcross.org.au/f_stats.html
visit the site of the Internations Collaborative Transplant Study http://ctstransplant.org
Visit the Mechanical Heart website http://www.ventracor.com/
SIGN
ON TO SAVE A LIFE - consider registering your wishes to donate your ograns and
tissue in the event of your death - also please tell your family
dial 1800 777 203
or visit the register and find out more info here - http://www.hic.gov.au/yourhealth/our_services/aaodr.htm
LOVE
YOUR WORK
CHEESE
MAKER
Ok,
if you are someone with Cholesterol problems I apologise in advance for this
segment but we’re going to talk about cheese.
Its
amazing to think that some rotten milk and the occasional bacteria can make
something so marvellous - if you described it to an alien they would probably look at
you oddly.
The
art of cheese making is ancient and Hans Essenwanger is a
cheese maker from the Timboon Farmhouse Cheese . He’ll be telling us
about his passion.
visit
the Timboon cheese factory www.timbooncheese.com.au
LOVE
YOUR WORK
PROSTHETIST
Prosthetics
is a fascinating area of health care. Part artist and part therapist, these are
the people who fashion replacement external body parts after surgical or
accidental removal.
Peter
Knowles is prosthetist who makes eyes. He’ll be telling us about his art and
science
Social Anxiety Disorder by its very nature has a “catch 22”. Because the disorder involves extreme anxieties about being judged people with the problem often wont seek help. For this reason it is vital that we talk about it. Social Anxiety Australia is a support group offering stress management courses and support.
From the
website of the SAA : - Social Anxiety Disorder is a fear of being embarrassed,
judged or evaluated negatively in social situations. Because of this fear, the
person with Social Anxiety Disorder experiences physical symptoms of anxiety,
and as a result tends to avoid the social interaction or social situation that
brings on the symptoms of anxiety.
The
level of anxiety experienced by the person with Social Anxiety disorder is
excessive, and results in substantial impairment in the person's social,
emotional, interpersonal and occupational life.
Social
Anxiety Disorder is equally common in men and women and is found
across all cultures. The World Psychiatric Association estimates that 3 per cent
of the population suffer from this condition at any one time. Other studies
suggest the figure to be as high as 8 - 15%.
Sue
Cleland is the founder of Social Anxiety Australia and runs the
Anxiety & Stress Management Service of Queensland
visit
Sues Support group here - www.socialanxiety.com.au
read
more about Sue http://www.socialanxiety.com.au/help/qld/scleland.htm
Breast Cancer
and Abortion – link or myth ?
I
was stopped at the lights about 6 months ago and a huge billboard directly in
front of me made my jaw drop it said something like ‘…….
If
you’ve got breast cancer and had an abortion call this number now
I
cant remember the number or the name of the firm of Lawyers but I nearly drove
off the road wondering where it would all end!
Then
articles started popping up in the newspapers
……. visiting “experts” giving lectures ……. Is this a genuine
concern for women and their risk of breast cancer ? Or could this be a campaign
with another agenda ?
It
is always important to consider risks. It is important to know whether the risks
are calculated correctly and based on sound research. But if the guys who have
spent 20 years or more studying statistics cant agree on what’s sound and
what’s not – where does that leave the rest if us.
I’ll
just climb up on my hobby horse for a moment as I do about these sorts of things
and point out yet again – that we must all consider ( if we have a chance) to
consider the risks and benefits of anything we do . The risks quoted by
statisticians may be pertinent to a population of thousands or millions but are
they relevant to YOU ? Crossing the road has its risks – but we tend to
calculate the risks and benefits before we do it
- and not all roads are the same and not all reasons to cross are the
same for every individual at a specific time – so by quoting the national
figures on pedestrian knockdowns really means little if you are considering
crossing the road to grab your 2 year old off the median strip !!! A risk you
might consider worth taking
So
its important to ask why has a person taken a particular stance and have they
got another agenda – trusted sources (
and beware of trusted sources that get toooooo big ….power corrupts etc …)
Also
beware of statistical wool that is pulled and tangled over your eyes by the mis
use of numbers in a clever way that confused CAUSUAL and CASUAL relationships
– oo here’s a nice example – imagine 2 males and a female – she becomes
pregnant - male a was known to have
visited her home on the day calculated as conception day. Is he the father ?
Possible – yes – however he was delivering the new garden furniture
while she was out at a motel with male B – NOT guilty your Honour – his
relationship was casual NOT causal !! ( he might argue it was professional not
even casual hehe)
If
you ever watched Murder She Wrote or Perry Mason You’ll know what I am getting
at !
The
trouble is when the Jury is still out then people have an opportunity to
speculate and spin – its just hard when YOU need to make a decision before the
jury has decided.
Prof
Michael Henderson is a Breast Cancer Specalist,
he is a surgeon and researcher with the Peter MacCallam Cancer Institute
and has been involved with Breast Screen and other initiatives.
Peter
MacCallum Home Page http://www.petermac.org
read
some of the debate –
http://www.theage.com.au/text/articles/2003/02/19/1045638358741.htm
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/818/context/cover/
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/library/facts/fact_cancer_022800.html
if
you want more just put the words breast cancer and abortion into a google search
and see how much info is around
CARPAL
TUNNEL SYNDROME
Have
you ever had a tingling in your hand with pain
in your wrist or forearm that gets better when you hang your hands over the
side of the bed or found by swinging your arms around it improves ? If you were
a woman were you pregnant at the time ? This all sounds like Carpal Tunnel
Syndrome – a common problem where tendons and nerves get squashed in the
tunnels they pass through in order to pass from the forearm to the hand.
The
small bones of the wrist are called the carpal bones and they fit together in a
way that allows maximum mobility of the wrist. The problem is that wrists are
narrow and allowing nerves and tendons to get to their destination while being
protected form injury means dodging between the carpals. Inorder to keep
everything in place there is a band of ligament on the palm side of your wrist
that keeps a lid in everything.
The
tunnel is a tight fit and if anything causes the tunnels to become narrower
there is a likelihood that one or other nerve or tendon will get squashed.
Treatment
obviously involves finding the cause and managing that but sometimes surgery is
needed .This is where the band of ligament is divided relieving the pressure.
Conditions
that result in narrowing of these carpal tunnels are pregnancy or under-active
thyroid gland through accumulation of excess fluid. Arthritis may sometimes also
cause entrapment at this level.
Mr
Tim Bennett is a plastic surgeon
who specialises in hands and he will be telling us about the management of
carpal tunnel syndrome . These days keyhole surgery has added optiond to the way
we treat the condtion.
This
is a fabulous diagram of CTS from Okalahoma State University http://www.pp.okstate.edu/ehs/kopykit/carpal.htm
this
page has more CTS links than I have ever come across on one topic !http://www.knowdeep.org/cts/
NED
KELLY
MORE
FAMOUS AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
Ian Jones is a Ned Kelly historian he wrote Ned Kelly – A Short Life. He is the owner of the famous Jerilderie Letter ( see link below) and consultant for 'The Legend of Ned Kelly Exhibition' which opens February 24. at 'The Beacon' at Southgate in Melbourne after a very successful season at the Old Melbourne Gaol .
Is
Ned a Victim or a Villain ?
The
State Libarary of Victoria has many Kelly treasures
http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/slv/exhibitions/treasures/jerilderie/
Next
Month , move over Mick Jagger cos Heath’s in town – Ned Kelly The Movie is
released here is the official site
- http://www.nedkellythemovie.com/
Weighing
up the facts/ fiction ? - this site seems to have a comprehensive list of books
articles and exhibitions relating to Ned Kelly http://www.bailup.com/
THE
HUMOUR FOUNDATION
A
Support Group with a Difference
Patch
Adams made us all take note with his notion that laughter is the best 
medicine
and this has been taken to heart by a group of Australians who want to make the
clinical world of operations and hospitals a little easier for children.
Performer
Jean Paul Bell and GP Dr Peter Spritzer got together and started the Humour
Foundation – They send clown doctors to perform their magical operations and
dose patients with their laughter treatment at children’s hospitals around the
country
Clown
Doctor, Dr B. Looney, Aka Jean-Paul Bell from the Humour Foundation
will join us today
please visit the humour foundation and learn more about their work http://www.humourfoundation.com.au
Hernia
is a word people use a lot but I wonder whether they really know what it is ?
A
hernia is simpl a general description for something that pokes through a layer
of tissue – simple example- if you have a tear in your jeans and some skin
bulges through – then the skin is herniating through the jeans – not a
problem ( depending on your skin and the part of the body that’s protruding )
but if the tear was to become tight around the lump of skin poking through then
it might become painful.
A
hernia can potentially happen anywhere in the body but the term usually is
applied as a name for the herniation of internal abdominal contents through the
front wall of the abdomen ( under the skin obviously) .
The
abdominal organs are kept in place partly by a sheet of tissue and muscle - some
of us have more attractive muscles than others ( but we’re all wanting to work
on it !) The muscles are configured in overlapping layers at different angles
giving maximum strength – there are a couple of potential weak spots where the
overlapping misses out – especially in the groin and in the middle .
Hernia
may be congenital : Some babies are born with the weaknesses in the wall and
these hernia are commonly seen in the umbilicus or groin.
Hernia
may be acquired : Increasing intraabdominal pressure stresses these weak spots
and sometimes the fabric gives way and pop – out comes a hernia –
a lump which may be able to be pushed back – if it cant then it might
mean the hole is came out through is small and this may result in problems of
blood supply to the herniated part. This can be serious.
The
contents of the hernia can vary – sometimes its a bit of fatty tissue
sometimes the apron of protective insulating
tissue called omentum and sometimes it may be bowel.
People
tell stories about old men using trusses to hold their herniae in – Modern
treatment is more about repairing the weakness in the walls using surgery and
these days surgery has come along way and Mr Peter Grossberg is a surgeon
who specialises in small incision surgery for hernia repair.
Read
more about hernias on this American Surgery site http://www.surgerychannel.com/herniarepair/