Prof
Brian
Fildes is Acting Director Monash University Accident Research
Centre and RACV Chair of Road Safety. He'll join us to discuss the
research going on at the MUARC and also the trends in trauma on our roads - and
what we can do about it.
THE ROAD TOLL
- the hidden trauma -
The number of deaths from Road traffic trauma has dramatically fallen. The reason is a combination of many things. Seat Belts, speed limits, booze buses, air bags and awareness campaigns have all contributed to reducing the number of people who die on our roads by up to 50%. We can all pat ourselves on the back ........but wait ..................people are still suffering horrendous injuries from road traffic trauma which change their lives and in many cases destroy there future and often change their family for ever. The cost to them personally and to the community emotionally and financially is enormous. I hate to think this but chances are someone reading this, or listening to my program now might not be able to after the silly season that is about to begin ......
Also news came yesterday that Zsa Zsa Gabor was seriously injured in a motor vehicle collision. Some years ago her driving hit the headlines when she allegedly slapped a traffic policeman. This time, however , according the news reports she wasn't driving . The issue of when it is time NOT to drive, and who decides -is a sticky one. Many older persons need to drive to maintain their independence. But at what cost ? There has been research done in this area at the Monash University Accident Research Centre.
Prof
Brian
Fildes is Acting Director Monash University Accident Research
Centre and RACV Chair of Road Safety. He'll join us to discuss the
research going on at the MUARC and also the trends in trauma on our roads - and
what we can do about it.
click HERE to visit the MUARC
HEALTHY HOLIDAY OPTIONS
I attended the Victorian Tourism Awards the other evening and it was fabulous to see commitment to tourism rewarded.
One award recipient caught my eye in particular - Grampians Adventure Services . They won the category of " Adventure Tourism".
This got me thinking about
highlighting some healthy holiday options around the country on the program - So
I invited
Glen Warren the director, of Grampians Adventure Services to join us and
tell us all about action packed holidays where rather than lolling
on a banana lounge sipping daiquiris you'll be abseiling backwards down a
sheer drop then relaxing with a
night time nature walk.
click HERE to visit the Tourism Awards
DISEASE OF THE WEEK
DIABETES
A few times in the programs first 6 weeks the topic of diabetes has come up and so I thought it was time to have a good look at it. Probably around 7% of the Australia population has diabetes. it is estimated that 7% of these may not even know they have it !
The term Diabetes was originally used to describe any condition which results on the excessive production of urine. Mellitus literally means : honey -sweet. So Diabetes Mellitus got its name because people with condition produce excessive urine which has sugar in it.
Sugar, in the form of glucose is the body's basic energy source. It is derived from food and can stored in tissue for use later. There is an available amount of glucose in the blood stream which is constantly being delivered to cells to use to continue their work.
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. In simple terms this hormone acts like a key to unlock a "door" for glucose out of the blood stream and into cells .
If insulin is unable to open that door or if there is no insulin to do it then glucose will accumulate in the blood stream. The body tries to rid itself of excess glucose via the kidneys which are a filtration unit for many waste products. The excess sugar is flushed out with urine. But in order for the sugar to stay dissolved in "solution" extra water must go with it - This is why people with diabetes produce excessive amounts of urine . People may have no symptoms of Diabetes or the may notice thirst, excessive urination, tiredness, infections and weight loss.
Sugar is not normally found in urine.
The diagnosis of Diabetes is made by a blood test - a fasting reading of blood glucose level above 7 mmol /l , or a random level of greater than 11 mmol /l are diagnostic of Diabetes.
There are two main types of diabetes ( which have changed their names )
Type 1 (previously called juvenile diabetes ) - the absence of insulin
Type 2 ( previously called non insulin dependant diabetes or maturity onset diabetes) - where insulin is not working efficiently to let sugar out of the blood stream in to the cells
( the reason they changed their names is because we now see type 2 in younger people and type 2 is sometimes treated with insulin if the persons own hormone is failing to respond to other treatments.)
There is also a temporary form of diabetes in pregnancy - called Gestational Diabetes - this is where other hormones in pregnancy reduce the effect of insulin. Women who have had this condition tend to have larger babies and may be more at risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life
Dr
Matt Cohen, Endocrinologist who is the Director of medical Services athel
International Diabetes Institute will join us to take your calls on
Diabetes. 
click
HERE to visit the
International Diabetes Institute
Last
week when we spoke to Bill Taylor the Brewer some questions arose 
contacted by
Diabetes Australia , Qld.
We'll be joined by Maria Packard who is a dietician
from Diabetes Australia, Qld and well talk about food and diabetes
click HERE to visit Diabetes Australia Qld
* You may recall the question about Diabetes Insipidus - This condition is not related to the condition we commonly call Diabetes. We'll talk more about this too
click HERE to read more about diabetes insipidus
THE ULTIMATE BOARD GAME
CRANIUM
Well
here it is - the ultimate board game - take the best bits of trivial pursuit - 
over lay some charades - add some playdoh and there you have it - Cranium
- as they point out - the game for all your brain !
Game
designer Richard Tait will be joining us on the phone from
America to tell us
all about his brain child
Click HERE to find out more about CRANIUM the Game
Click HERE to find out more about other games by the makers of CRANIUM the Game
Its simple - you play in a team - you move around a board and pick up activity cards. These direct you to perform a task in one of the four categories - if you get it right you move on - but these activities are so much FUN ! From spelling to charades impersonation whistling drawing clues with your eyes closed or making your clue out of clay ......Not only fun for the whole family - but the whole brain as well !!
hows this for a rave review -
"It is the most fun game...we
can't stop playing it"
- Julia Roberts on The Oprah Winfrey Show
ORGAN OF THE WEEK ( HUH ?)
THYROID GLAND
The Thyroid sits beneath under the skin in your neck. It is shaped rather like a bow tie, and its job is more or less as the body's throttle. It may be small but its very important - Dr Murray Gerstman will be joining us in the studio to tell us all about the Thyroid and what can go wrong with it ...
here are some problems that can arise -
Hyperthyroidism - over production of Thyroid hormone- speeds up metabolism
Hypothyroidism - under production of Thyroid hormone - slows down metabolism
Congenital Hypothyroidism ( previously called "Cretinism" ) some babies are born with a thyroid that doesn't function properly. In Australia it is routine that babies are tested within few days of birth with a heel prick test. It is easily treated with replacement hormone. Untreated these babies my grow up with developmental delay.
GOITRE - this is a diffuse swelling of the gland - it may or may not be associated with hormone production problems .
Thyroiditis - there can be situation where the body produces antibodies that some reason attack the gland - this can result in under or over production of hormone - and indeed someone could have over production which "burns out" to become under production
Thyroid Nodules - cysts can form within the gland
Thyroid Cancer - sometimes lumps within the gland may be cancerous
Iodine Deficiency - The thyroid uses Iodine to make it's hormone - years ago, in some communities there seemed to be a disproportionate number of people with under active thyroid glands . It was found that there was a lack of iodine in the area. It was decided to give these areas supplements and this explains why you have two types of salt on the market - iodised and non iodised.
Graves Disease - This is an autoimmune condition resulting in an overactive gland. This can be successfully treated However a distressing potential side effect of the condition is changes to the persons facial appearance. For reasons that are not fully understood the autoimmune changes also affect the tissue around the eyes and can result in protruding eyes. The person can take on a startled look. There is not much help to prevent the eye changes but not everyone gets them
Click
HERE to visit the Thyroid Australia - a support group in the process of setting up
nationally
INTERNET WITH OUT TEARS
SILVER SURFERS
Last week we met Rosemary who asked for help for a friend she had met online ..... she has never been a computer whiz and she learned how to navigate the net after reading a book in the library.
The internet gives people a freedom to find information and keep in touch that's never been available before. But many people, especially older people , are hesitant to try as the prospect of learning the technology is daunting.
One City in Australia is
taking a proactive approach - The Ipswich Library has an internet training
division called SILVER SURFERS - Volunteers and workers visit retirement
villages and teach residents how to use the internet.
Trevor Nardi is the Chair of Ipswich Library Services and he'll be telling us
why we shouldn't be afraid of computers and some tips for surfing with out tear !
Click HERE
to visit the Ipswich Library Silver Surfers Service
TRAVELLERS HEALTH TIPS
IMMUNISATIONS
Too often people come into my general practice asking for travel immunisations, which is great , except that then they go on to tell me they are leaving next week ! part of your preparation for a trip overseas has to be finding out WHAT immunisations and precautions you should consider before you go
Dr
Bernie Hudson is an Infectious Diseases Specialist
at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. He'll join us with some tips for overseas
travel preparation
Click
HERE to visit the Medical Advisory
Service for Travellers Abroad
PROCEDURE OF THE WEEK
FACE LIFT
Once the exclusive realm of Movies Stars and only ever spoken about in hushed tones now aesthetic facial surgery is a commonplace procedure. But what is involved? What sort of results can you expect ? How safe is the procedure and how much should you expect to pay ?
Mr
ALFRED LEWIS
– President, Aust Society of Plastic Surgeons
click
HERE to visit the Australian
Society of Plastic Surgeons
PILATES
an old idea revisited
You might think that Pilates is a trendy new term describing a some new fad fitness regime - The truth is that Pilates has been around since the 1920's - Its namesake Joseph Pilates was a sickly boy from Dusseldorf Germany who wanted to be able to run and play like the other boys . As he grew up he devised his own fitness regime combining eastern and western fitness philosophies. Alan Menzes ,is the founder of the Pilates Institute of Australia. He introduced the Pilates exercise method to Australia in 1980's.
In
1945 Joseph Pilates and William Miller published a book outlining his fitness
regime which principally involved mat work and sought a balance between
mind body and spirit. He died in 1967 aged 87.
Alan Menezes is from The Pilates Institute. He introduced the exercise regime to Australia in the 1980's.he will be joining us to tell us all about Pilates
Click HERE to visit the Pilates Institute of Australia
LOVE YOUR WORK
retirement ? what's that ?
Prue Gillies is the former Principal of Ruyton Girls School . She "retired" a couple of years ago ...... sort of .......any one who knows Prue knows that she could never retire - she's got too much to give to the world - She is a former recipient of the AM order of Australia ( in fact NOW she is the Chair of the Committee in Victoria ! )
These
days ( amongst all the other activities she has) Prue is Director of a 
large Child Care Centre in the Melbourne CBD called KIDS on COLLINS.
We'll speak to Prue about her career change and also about child care in general
- how to go about choosing a child care centre and the sorts of activities that
you should expect to be part of the curriculum.
click HERE to visit KIDS ON COLLINS Child Care Centre
also ......
Is
Christmas still happening at your place ?
There has been a lot of talk around in the media about political correctness and Christmas Celebrations - some child care centres and schools considering not having carols, or Christmas trees or even Santa because not everyone celebrates Christmas. I would d be interested in your thoughts on this one
..................tomorrow ....................celebrity check up with an entertainment family - 5 generations of performers - 2 generations currently performing in Singapore in Singing in the Rain ! A woman who talks to Whales !