Dr Feelgood Sunday 24th November

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Last week I received an email from a listener requesting information to assist a friend overseas. I contacted this lady and found that the friend she was trying to help lived thousands of miles away in another country. They had never met. They had never spoken. But their friendship was strong.

Her friend had a problem with digestion. She weighs less than 30 kg and she has had multiple operations for a rare and possibly inherited problem. In desperation this young woman in her 20's has posted information on the internet in the hope that someone might be able to help her understand her condition since doctors in her country were unsure what more, if anything could be offered.

Many people turn to internet chat sites and BBS's for help, camaraderie or just someone to chat with late at night when it all seems black . We often speak of the bad side of the internet - but this example shows how this technology can offer hope.

We've been able to find a doctor who, while unable to offer a cure, can at least explain the condition.

We are currently trying to locate the friend but we only have an email address and her chat site friends think she may be in hospital at the moment.

click here to visit the Canadian organisarion of rare diseases - a site dedicated to give people with rare diseases access to information and others in the world who may be in the same position

ALLAN CAMPION is the organiser of the, 2002 National BBQ day when people across the country will sizzle a snag or chuck a chop on the barbe in the name of charity - the national Barbeque website lists where the charitable barbes are taking place and people can visit and munch knowing participation will help local charities

We'll becrossing live to a National BBQ Day event .. Liz is organizing a farmer's market/BBQ day. The BBQ will feature local produce.

Sly of the Underworld - well known to listeners of 3aw as the resident breakfast underworld figure has moved to include book publishing in his repertoire - his latest creations are co-authored by two of Australia's most respected crime journalists ,John Silvester and Andrew Rule.

The latest in a series of short stories about Australian Crime - Underbelly 6 is an amazing read. Great for the train or the beach you can get your fix of intrigue in bite sized pieces. The most amazing thing about this book is - the stories are all TRUE -

Sly will be giving us the insider info on his friends in the underworld - but don't tell anyone ...........

" Heart failure" is a strange medical term It should not be confused with cardiac arrest. Heart failure is the term we use when describing the deterioration of the pump action of the heart. It is due to the heart muscle becoming weak and unable to keep up with the demands of the body - it has many causes - including damage to the muscle through heart attack ( lack of blood supply), infection, attack form antibodies ( autoimmune diseases). Broadly diseases that result in the muscle of the heart becoming weak are called "cardiomyopathies". If the blood is not being pumped efficiently a back log occurs and thats why symptoms such as swollen ankles may indicate a problem with the heart . Also the lack of forward progression may result in not enough oxygen being delivered to the organs of the body - so the person becomes Short of breath in an attempt to get more oxygen in .

Prof Garry Jennings is the director of the Baker Medical Research Institute. His Unit is respected world wide for their work on cardiovascular disease. Garry will help us understand this condition and more over the help that is available for people with heart failure .

Laurie Hayden is a sports psychologist - infact he's the man who worked with our America's Cup Team that brought the Cup home to Australia in 1983. Now he is a Lifecoach . It seems this is a whole new area where individuals have someone to help them get motivated to achieve their goals in life. Laurie will join us and tell us all about Life Coaching and give us a few take home tips to start the week with !

Would you know what to do it you witnessed a drowning or your friend was bitten by a snake? What about a burn from a barbeque ? Sure dialing 000 is the right thing to do but that's not ALL you can do. We are all part of the chain of survival and no matter how fast an ambulance is dispatched YOU can help an injured person by following some simple guidelines

- We'll be talking with Ceri Price, a Paramedic from St John Ambulance, WA about what you can do if faced with a health emergency .

How helpless would you feel if you didn't know what to do ? Keep calm, and assess the situation using DR ABC.

D	danger	assess any threat of immediate danger to the patient yourself or others ? eg potential fire
R	response	if safe, respond to the situation, go to the patient's aid organise others to assist. If appropriate call 000
A	airway	check whether the patient's airway (mouth and nose) are clear
B	breathing	check whether the patient is breathing - watch chest - feel for breath
C	circulation	check the patients pulse - carotid pulse in neck is strongest - check ONE side only at a time

Of course you'll need to know more than just how to assess the situation if the person is bleeding or has stopped breathing or their heart stopped beating Everyone should do a FIRST AID COURSE .

I am trying to "collect " support groups. I have my support page on this site where i link off to local support groups. I recently received an email from the President of the Keratoconus Australia - a support group for a debilitating but not particularly common eye disease - This man will join us in the studio to discuss what it takes to set up a support group

Bill Sloane is recipient of the 2002 Prime Minister's Environmentalist of the Year He is a fourth generation farmer who has pioneered commercially viable and environmentally responsible land management techniques on his property near Savernake, in Southern NSW. His work in this field has achieved national recognition, including the 2002 Prime Minister’s Award for Environmentalist of the Year, administered by the Banksia Foundation.

Bill will be talking to us about the drought and ways we can help the situation with water conservation and recycling.

This coming week marks the launch of the Banksia Foundation award nominations for 2003 - click HERE to find out more about the awards and how to enter.

We laud our Aussie Film Actors who make it in Hollywood as Celebrities and Icons - but what about these names - Howard Florey,Macfalane Burnet, Carl Wood and Barry Marshall ? These men have all made contributions to medicine that have changed the way medicine is practiced - Howard Florey was one of the two scientists who's work gave us Penicillin , Macfarlane Burnet''s work on antibodies and the immune system revolutionised the way we understand disease. They both received Nobel Prizes. for their work. Carl Wood was part of the team that made pioneering advances in IVF technology . Barry Marshall's name is not so well known here. But his contribution is said by many to be as great as those mentioned before. We will be talking to Barry today.

In the early 1980's when Barry Marshall was a young doctor working in a Western Australian hospital he joined in on a research project with another colleague, Dr Robin Warren, who had noticed an unusual spiral shaped organism that seemed to live in the stomach of some people.

The pair came up with a revolutionary theory that unlike standard medical teaching - peptic( stomach) ulcers were actually caused by infection with a bacterium which caused inflammation of the stomach and could lead to ulcer formation .

In 1982 they were able to isolate and culture this previously unknown bacterium which they named Helicobacter Pylori .

The young doctors were convinced that their find would significantly change the way ulcers were treated. Indeed they proposed that a course of antibiotics would cure many ulcers. The conservative medical establishment took a sceptical view of the young doctors from far off Perth. Not only that but teaching had always been that NOTHING, and certainly not a bacterium, could survive the strong acid in the stomach ! The medical establishment were about to be proven wrong!

Barry, like some of the great historical figures , passionate about their cause, swallowed a solution containing the bug to prove it caused disease. About a week later, he started developing all the classic symptoms of gastritis.

Barry's actions were dramatic but it proved his point. The medical profession budged and these days many millions of people have benefited from his work.

Barry left Australia and spent many years in America, as we often see with our brightest academic and scientific

Prof Barry Marshall -click to read article by Melissa Sweet

minds. However he's back -

These days Professor Barry Marshall lives and works in Perth quietly. He maintains a home page which proudly states that H Pylori was found in Perth WA

Barry is an icon in our midst. One man who changed the world of medicine. His work with Dr Warren is often said to be one of the most significant medical breakthroughs in recent history. He is the Burnet Fellow at the University of Western Australia the namesake of which was awarded the nobel prize for medicine on 1960 for his work in immunology ( see links page to nobel site).

Many people feel Professor Barry Marshall should win a nobel prize for his work.

click HERE to visit Prof Barry Marshall's Hpylori lab (I note Barry's link to the quackery site - I like this one too and have added to my links page)

Last week I received an email from a listener asking about treatment options for infertile males - Joining me in the studio will be Dr Rob Mc Laughlan , who is Principal Research Fellow at Prince Henry's Institute of Medical Research.

click HERE to visit a scientific page that Dr McLaughlan edits on male hormone and fertility issues - there are also articles on other aspect of male reproduction and development