Frail elderly needed in research
Published May 1, 2012 | 
Not enough is known about how medication affects frail elderly patients – and older patients who are excluded from clinical drug trials are reportedly not helping the problem.
There are calls for the abolition of upper-age limits in clinical drug trials, with evidence to suggest increasing numbers of elderly Australians are being hospitalised because of the combined side-effects of the cocktail of medications they take.
Professor Richard Lindley from the George Institute for Global Health estimates about 10% of elderly patients end up in hospital because of the mix of medications they are taking.
“In many situations we really don’t know whether the treatments that were shown to be effective in young, fitter healthy people are going to work in older frail people – so we’ve got a bit of an evidence-practice gap,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“I think an upper-age limit isn’t scientifically sensible and especially as our population is ageing and the world is ageing, I think it really is important to get good evidence in older people,” he adds.
Professor Lindley also predicts about a quarter of Australians who live in nursing homes are taking at least four medications and believes rather than excluding frail patients, “put them in trials and measure their frailty”.
“Let’s see if people willing to go into clinical trials benefit from the sorts of typical treatments that doctors like myself are prescribing.
“I suspect it will be important for government funding agencies to consider the trials for the older frail patients.”
Take a trip to the Goomeri Pumpkin Festival
Published April 17, 2012 | 
The Goomeri Pumpkin Festival is held annually on the last Sunday in May, and this year it will be on Sunday 27 May. Around 15000 visitors flock to the tiny town to enjoy the fun-filled day which includes great entertainment, fun novelty competitions, delicious food and warm, friendly country hospitality.
Goomeri will be full of action with up to 200 quality market stalls lining the streets. A variety of music plays throughout the day, Goomeri’s speciality shops are open for the day and local wineries are in attendance.
The highlight of the festival is the legendary Great Australian Pumpkin Roll. At 2.00pm pumpkins of all shapes and sizes go rolling (and splattering) down Policeman’s Hill. Plenty of fun and laughter fill the hill with competitors trying to win the generous prize money.
More pumpkin fun can be had with Shotput Pumpkin, Pumpkin Bowls, a Decorated Pumpkin competition, Giant Pumpkin competition and just about any pumpkin activity you can have fun with.
All types of tempting pumpkin delights are available including soup, damper scones, pie and the delicious pumpkin fudge.
Goomeri and its surrounding areas have many things to interest visitors. As you drive into Goomeri you will see the town clock which was built to commemorate soldiers who served in war. Goomeri became known as the ‘Clocktown’ as a result. The interesting thing about the clock is that the time is indicated by the words ‘Lest We Forget’, instead of numbers. The first L begins where the 11 would be.
The town’s Heritage and Information Centre has displays of Goomeri’s history as well as many brochures about places to visit in the surrounding area. A walking tour is a great idea and you can view commemorative plaques, where particular buildings were in the early settlement of the town.
Visit the website at www.goomeripumpkinfestival.com.au for more details.
Queen of the Tea Cosies joins Cancer Council’s tea party
Published April 16, 2012 | 
Loani Prior's 'Daffy' tea cosy
To celebrate her role as Queensland’s official tea party ambassador, the Grand Purl Baa of knitting has poured her creativity into creating the first official Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea cosy and pattern.
The official tea cosy is the only one of its kind in Australia and was inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of the 6000 Queenslanders who will host a morning tea this May in support of the fight against cancer.
The design features the Cancer Council daffodil, which is the international flower of hope, and the blue and yellow colours of Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea.
The official tea cosy pattern is suitable for knitters of all abilities and is available free for download at www.grandpurlbaa.com.
Loani encourages all crafty locals and knitting groups to get their needles working overtime and knit the official tea cosy pattern to show off at their events this May.
“Everyone loves a tea cosy. They are funny even when they are not meant to be funny. And this one with its great big oversized daffodil ought to draw a few smiles.
“I’m hoping that knitters – and that includes anyone who has ever picked up a set of needles – will knit Daffy up to give, raffle, sell, or just keep your tea piping hot at your Biggest Morning Tea this year, and for many years to come.”
May is Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea time and there’s never been a better excuse to switch the kettle on, tea up your friends, family and workmates and help tip the balance in the fight against cancer.
All you need to do is sign on to host an event during May and start planning! Visit www.biggestmorningtea.com.au or call 1300 65 65 85 to find out more.
All funds raised from Cancer Council’s Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea support our vital work in cancer research, education programs and patient support services.
Thursday, May 24 is the official date of Cancer Council’s Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, however morning teas can be held any time throughout May or early June.
Papers published in the Lancet suggest Aspirin may prevent and treat cancer
Published April 16, 2012 | Newly published international papers are adding to growing research that Aspirin, commonly used now for people in danger of heart attack and stroke, may also help prevent and treat cancer.
Two papers in the Lancet and one paper in the Lancet Oncology, all published recently, show research results suggesting daily use of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA, sold under the brand name Aspirin in many countries) can reduce the long-term risk of cancer death.
However, researchers from the U.K. and Italy, led by Prof. Peter Rothwell of the University of Oxford and John Radcliffe Hospital in England, stress that the short-term effects of daily use of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, as well as how risky or beneficial it may be over time, have yet to be determined.
Currently, medical practitioners are urged to put anyone who has had a heart attack or stroke on anti-platelet therapy (low-dose ASA, to prevent clots) because it can greatly reduce the risk of deadly recurrence.
Researchers said, “Observational studies show that regular use of Aspirin reduces the long-term risk of several cancers and the risk of distant metastasis.”
Aspirin prevented around one in 30 deaths from cancer among those who had a daily dose for about five years during a 20-year period.
In a commentary linked to the published research, scientists from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, in Boston said the studies make “a convincing case” that the cardiovascular-protection and anti-cancer benefits of Aspirin outweigh the harms that may include excess bleeding (hemorrhage), and “moves us another step closer to broadening recommendations for Aspirin use.”
However, they warn, “these analyses do not account for less serious adverse effects on quality of life, such as less severe bleeding.”
As with any medication, people should seek advice from their doctor before embarking on a self-prescribed dosage of aspirin.
For more details of the research go to: www.nhs.uk/news/2012/03march/Pages/daily-aspirin-cuts-cancer-risk.aspx.
Organ donation drive
Published April 3, 2012 | Despite $150 million in Federal funding and a national reform agenda to increase organ and tissue donation, donation rates here still lag behind many countries, including the US, Spain and Belgium. About 1600 Australians are waiting for a donor organ at any given time.
Last year, which marked the second full year of the government’s reform agenda, there were 337 organ donors – a 36 per cent increase since 2009 – which helped 1001 recipients.
While it is the highest national rate ever recorded, the number of organ donations dropped in NSW, ACT and Tasmania in the same period. Figures released last year showed while NSW has the biggest registered donor list in Australia, in many cases family members decided against donation.
As a result, more funding will now be spent training doctors and nurses to be more empathetic when dealing with the grieving families of potential donors.
Dr Robert Herkes, NSW medical director of DonateLife, a national tissue and organ donation network, says more education is needed to deal with grief-stricken families.
“Data shows that in acute stress, intellectual age regresses to that of an eight- to 12-year-old. When [family members] have the headspace to think about donation, it’s often too late,” he says.
Transplant surgeon Dr Deborah Verran, from advocacy group ShareLife, says doctors working in countries with higher donation rates have better communication skills. She is heartened by the government’s decision to invest in educating staff.
“It is not an easy job. It requires an incredibly skilled person to go into the room of a grieving family and engage them,” she says.
Less than one per cent of people who die in hospital are suitable donors. A person must be free of cancer and infection and on life support in intensive care.
About 5.8 million people are currently registered on the Australian Organ Donor Register, which began in 2000. That is an increase of 4.5 per cent since 2008.
However, while these registrations are legally binding, they are never enforced should the person’s family disagree.
To find out more about organ donation go to medicareaustralia.gov.au or contact your nearest Medicare office.
Courtesy: news.com.au (Katrina Creer, Gemma Sutherland)
Age discrimination: A waste of human resources
Published April 1, 2012 | Age Discrimination Commissioner, Susan Ryan, recently told a group of top human resource managers that they hold the key to stopping the waste of human resources that is age discrimination.
Speaking to the Australian Human Resources Institute HR Directors Networking Forum in Sydney, Commissioner Ryan said that the human resources industry was ideally placed to create a productive culture in relation to the millions of Australians who are kept out of work because they are considered “too old”.
“One out of three unemployed people aged between 55 and 64 are long-term unemployed and this long-term rate is more than double the rate for younger age groups,” Commissioner Ryan said. “In September 2009, the average number of weeks a 15-19 year old was unemployed for was 30.5 weeks, compared with 77.5 weeks for someone aged 55 years and over.”
She said there appeared to be a serious disjunction between raising the pension age to 67, the needs of the worker-starved economy and the persistence of age discrimination in employment.
“So many people want to work longer and need to work longer, but age discrimination is stopping them,” Commissioner Ryan said. “People who lose their jobs between the ages of 45 and 65 have huge difficulties finding another one and the stats show that many don’t.”
“Additionally, a structural lag that allows the continued application of age bars in areas that fall outside the protections of the Age Discrimination Act – such as in Workers compensation, Income protection insurance and the Superannuation Guarantee – are acting as a de facto retirement age, forcing people out of work on the basis of their age,” Commissioner Ryan said.
She said complaints to the Australian Human Rights Commission about age discrimination had recently risen by 44%, enquiries about age discrimination on the basis of being too old were up 78%, while Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed one in five over 55s seeking longer hours and 18% of unemployed over 45s claimed their main difficulty was that employers considered them “too old”.
Though there were several ‘future-focused’ and successful employers that were moving away from the old stereotypes, and the Australian Law Reform Commission was conducting an audit of laws and policies that act as barriers to economic participation of older people, Commissioner Ryan said a general shift in mindset still needed to take place.
“Since 1909 and the introduction of the age pension, we have not really adjusted our concept of old age in relation to work,” Commissioner Ryan said.” With the dramatic demographic changes we have seen, and will see as many children today will live on into their 90s, we can no longer act in our employment practices as if most of us will be dead or useless by 65.”
Die well and with dignity
Published March 5, 2012 | Palliative Care Australia (PCA) is a member of the National Aged Care Alliance (NACA), which released the ‘Australians Deserve to Age Well’ blueprint for Reform.
‘The Blueprint lays out a step by step process for reform,’ said Dr Yvonne Luxford, PCA Chief Executive Officer.
‘Nobody expects these changes to happen overnight, but we need to make a start and we need the entire political spectrum to support change commencing in this year’s budget.’
One of the key areas of reform is the notion of dying well, this follows palliative care and dying with dignity being ranked as major issues for older Australians.
‘We know that older Australians want to have access to high quality palliative care and to have as much control over their death as possible, which includes being able to die at home,’ said Dr Luxford. ‘But we also know that the current aged care system isn’t meeting their end of life care needs.’
‘The suggested reforms will support people to prepare for a dignified death by helping them to make choices and to record their end of life wishes in advance care plans. Improvements to residential and community care will mean more people can be supported by palliative care services in their homes, avoiding costly hospital services and futile medical interventions,’ said Dr Luxford.
‘The Productivity Commission said that palliative care should be the ‘core business of aged care’. It is time that reforms are made to realise this, starting with a commitment in the 2012 Federal Budget.’
Source: palliativecare.org.au
Australians deserve to age well
Published March 5, 2012 | If you’ve ever tried to access aged care services for yourself or your family you’ll know the system can be a minefield.
It’s hard to know where to start, it’s inconsistent and very complicated. In-home support services are extremely limited and residential care based on arbitrary ratios not demand.
Yet we know our population is ageing. By 2050 over 3.5 million Australians are expected to use aged care services each year. This is more than a threefold increase on a system that is already buckling under pressure today.
How will we afford it? How can we fix the system today so it can provide all of us with the choice, quality and dignity we deserve as we age?
In 2011 the independent Productivity Commission released the Caring for Older Australians report recommending comprehensive reform of the aged care sector.
The suggested changes would result in a much more people centred system with more choice which is fairer for everyone across the country.
Neither the Gillard Government nor the Opposition have officially responded to the report or committed to its recommendations.
The age well campaign is driven by an alliance of organisations in the aged care sector who recognise the urgent need for reform.
Source: agewellcampaign.com.au
Older Australians are spending less
Published January 25, 2012 | A survey out this week has shown that nearly half (47 per cent) of people aged over 55 are spending less in major retailers and shopping centres than they did a year ago.
The survey, by Essential Media Communications, found that only 24 per cent of older people said they were satisfied with prices while 45 per cent were unhappy with the level of customer service.
The largest money-drain was gas and electricity, with 70 per cent saying they spent more than 12 months ago. Food and groceries were also expensive, with 60 per cent spending more than they did last year.
People aged 18-34 were more likely to save this year than any other age bracket with 41 per cent saving more. In contrast, 40 per cent of over 55s are saving less and 19 per cent said they intended saving more.
Courtesy: National Seniors ‘Connect’. National Seniors Australia is a non-profit organisation that gives voice to issues that affect older Australians. Go to www.nationalseniors.com.au.
Seven facts about climate change and hunger
Published January 25, 2012 | When it comes to protecting the world’s poorest inhabitants from the erratic weather and natural disasters that many scientists expect in coming years, hunger is a key part of the discussion. Here are seven facts that explain why.
1. By 2050, climate change is expected to increase the risk of hunger by 10-20 percent compared to a no-climate change scenario.
2. By 2050 we can expect 24 million more malnourished children as a result of climate change. Almost half of this increase, 10 million children, will be in sub-Saharan Africa.
3. Between 1980 and 2006 the number of climate-related disasters has quadrupled.
4. The number of people affected by climate-related disasters is expected to reach 375 million per year by 2015.
5. In 2010, climate-related extreme events and disasters affected some 300 million people, most often in countries which have little capacity to cope.
6. With climate change, two thirds of the arable land in Africa could be lost by 2025, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
7. By 2030, climate change could push food prices up by 50-90 percent more than they would otherwise be expected to rise, according to a recent report by Oxfam.
If you would like to make a difference and have some fun at the same time, play the online free rice game at freerice.com. Every time you answer a question correctly 10 grains of rice will be donated to hungry people through the World Food Program.