A QUEENSLAND man in his middle years or older is the most likely person in Australia to be diagnosed with skin cancer, research has found.
A landmark study from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, released today, has shown men aged 55 or over from the Sunshine State are at the highest risk of non-melanoma skin cancer.
The study of more than 1.7 million Australians also found a whopping 7 per cent of Australians over the age of 20 had a skin cancer cut out between 2011 and 2014, of which nearly 3 per cent had more than one cancer removed.
QIMR Berghofer cancer control group leader David Whiteman said the study should act as a reminder to policy makers and the general public of the importance of sun protection.
“It is a reminder that skin cancer is really common and it is going to become more common,” he said.
“And it is a reminder also that it is non-trivial.
“Many people tend to think, ‘Oh, it is just a small little skin cancer, it can be excised’. But when you add that up for the entire population, it accounts for hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars of expenditure.”
The research, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, found the rate of skin cancer treatment in Queensland was nearly twice the national average and nearly three times that of Victoria and Tasmania.
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University of the Sunshine Coast professor of cancer prevention Michael Kimlin said the study shows the cancer burden in sunnier states was much higher than in other areas.
Bruce Armstrong, a professor with the University of Western Australia and the University of Sydney, said the research was the first “credible indication of how large the burden of multiple (non-melanoma) cancers of the skin (is)”.
“While just over half of people who had any (non-melanoma) cancers removed in 2011 to 2014 had only one removed, about 20 per cent had two removed, 10 per cent had three removed, 5 per cent had four removed, 3 per cent had five removed and so on,” he said.
“Some people had more than 20 removed. And the older you are, the worse it gets.”
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Just over one-third of children experiencing anaphylaxis received epinephrine before arriving at the hospital, according to a new study.
The findings come as prevalence of anaphylaxis rises and amid recommendations from the Academy (http://bit.ly/2vcc48T) and others to promptly treat with epinephrine.
Researchers analyzed records from 408 patients ages 0-25 years who were treated for anaphylaxis at Nationwide Children’s Hospital from 2009-’13.
They found 36.3% received epinephrine before arrival. Children were more likely to fall into this category if they were between the ages of 13 and 17, had multiple food allergies, had a history of anaphylaxis or had a reaction that occurred at school.
“Treatment with epinephrine is often delayed or avoided by parents and caregivers, and sometimes antihistamines are used even though they are not an appropriate treatment,” lead author Melissa Robinson, D.O., said in a press release.
Another predictor of early epinephrine was the number of organ systems involved. Those whose symptoms impacted two or three organ systems were less likely to receive epinephrine prior to arriving at the hospital than those with one organ system involved. The authors called it a “very ominous and illogical finding” and said regional preferences or patient misunderstanding may have been involved, but more study is needed.
The authors also found about 30% of children who had been prescribed self-injectable epinephrine did not have it with them when the allergic reaction occurred.
About half of all patients received epinephrine at the hospital and were more likely to do so if they hadn’t already received it. Researchers found patients were more likely to be discharged home if they had received epinephrine before arriving at the hospital.
“Ongoing efforts to provide education to patients and medical care professionals regarding appropriate and timely recognition of anaphylaxis and prompt epinephrine are needed,” the authors concluded.
The Academy’s customizable Allergy and Anaphylaxis Emergency Plan is available atwww.aap.org/aaep.
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If you ride regularly, the chances are at some point either you or one of your riding companions will have a spill. It’s most likely to be something small, like skidding out on a corner on your road bike or washing out on a trail on your mountain bike. Sometimes, however, it can be a bit more serious.
Cycling is a fundamentally safe activity, but no activity is completely without risk. I’ve managed to sprain my ankle walking down a flat pavement, for example, so the occasional incident isn’t unlikely, especially when mountain biking.
The question is, would you know what to do to if something did happen?
First aid
I learned first aid from about the age of 14 as a cadet in the St John Ambulance, a first aid charity in the UK which offers training and delivers first aid cover at various events across the country — everything from local rugby matches and village fetes to stadium concerts.
St John Ambulance offer a specific first aid for cyclists app
The staff at BikeRadar have all had first aid training. As well as riding alone, we’re often out together for photo shoots and product testing, and we need to be able to look out for each other.
It’s a very useful skill to have, and wouldn’t you want to know how to help friends, family or a stranger if they injured themselves?
I’ve had the experience of encountering the aftermath of an accident. There’s the initial cold fear, raised heartbeat and rising panic. Your head is full of questions and worry: what’s happened? Is someone hurt? Is it bad? What do I do? Can I get help? It’s a rush of intense thoughts, emotions and animal instinct, and it’s hard to manage — along with a feeling of helplessness and panic if you don’t know what to do.
First aid training helps you manage this. It gives you a clear set of actions that focus the mind and cut through the panic to help you take control of the situation and help the individuals involved, without endangering yourself and ensuring that help comes quickly for those who need it.
I’m not going to go through first aid on here — the best advice comes from the experts and they’re better placed than I give you the techniques and answer your questions — but having learned it myself, and had the need to use it several times, I can tell you that you’ll always be glad you took the time to get the knowledge.
A mini first aid kit will be small enough to stow in a trail rucksack easily
Get some training
If you want to learn first aid, there are plenty of organisations out there who provide training.
Canberra First Aid and Training is renowned for there quality sessions running every week.
Your workplace may offer training, so it’s worth asking, and there are many companies who specialise in outdoor and activity specific first aid, which will help you evaluate what to do in circumstances where there may not be help quickly available.
Allens Training also offer a downloadable first aid app, so you can have guidance at your fingertips.
If you’re out on a road ride or just commuting to work, the chances are you’ll be in an area where getting medical attention will be fairly quick and easy. So you may not need to bring a first aid kit, particularly if you’ve only got small pockets to store things in.
Trail riders with a rucksack have a bit more space to play with, and are also more likely to find themselves away from immediate help, so a basic first aid kit is a good idea.
If you’re heading out for a bigger ride, either out in the mountains or touring, a good first aid kit may be worth its weight in gold. Pack some dressings, a triangular bandage, gauze bandage, antiseptic wipes, micropore tape, protective gloves and an emergency blanket which is good for keeping the casualty warm while you’re waiting for help.
Seal it in a waterproof bag or a ziplock sandwich bag to keep it all dry.
Not strictly for first aid, tick removal tweezers or a tick removal card is a very good idea if you’re riding somewhere where you might pick one up.
There are plenty of pre-assembled first aid kits out there, some of which come in a compact waterproof bag or pouch so they can be tucked in the bottom of your bag or pocket until you need it, come rain or shine. Ortlieb and Lifesystems both have suitable ones.
Why you should bother
Wouldn’t you want to know how to help friends, family or a stranger if they injured themselves?
The thing is, first aid is simple enough to learn and while the chances are you’ll spend most of your first aid career washing gravel out of a graze and adding a dressing, being able to help if something more serious comes up will mean a shorter recovery time and better comfort for the injured person in the first instance and could quite possibly be a life saver at the other extreme.
The training doesn’t just give you the skills to help someone directly, it also gives you knowledge about how to handle a situation and the confidence to do it efficiently.
Luckily, bar the occasional cut, scrape or sprain, I haven’t had to use my training in a cycling context, and ‘touch wood’ it’ll stay that way.
But if the occasion ever arises, I’ll be relieved to know that I’d be able to do something to help, and that should something happen to me my colleagues would be able to do the same.
That’s reassuring knowledge and it means I can focus my attention on having fun on my bike, which is the way things should be.
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While you never want to need a first aid kit, should that need arise, you’ll be glad you planned ahead and kept some high-quality medical supplies on hand. The First Aid Only All-Purpose First Aid Kit is our top choice because it’s compact, carefully curated, and affordable, too.
First, permit me to share a few words on my relationship with the first aid kit. I keep a stocked first aid kit in both of our cars, in the home, at the ready for travel, and packed and ready to go with my hiking gear. I also have a few bandages tucked into my wallet. Now, I’m not a disaster prepper or anything like that. In fact, I’m pretty confident that society will be just fine in the long run, and I’d generally recommend people spend more time managing their retirement portfolio than stocking their fallout shelters.
I do very much like being prepared, though. It’s just that my preparation is for cuts, scrapes, and burns around the home, a twisted (or broken) ankle or painful insect bite sustained out in the field, or even a car accident that requires more serious and expedient medical attention. As a frequent camper and hiker, I know that having a first aid kit is at times not simply a good idea, but an absolute necessity. When you’re a three-day hike from the nearest hospital, you’d better be able to count on your own supplies in the event of injury or illness.
When I first started heading out into the woodlands and mountains, I carried a homemade first aid kit tucked into an old Altoids tin. It had all the basics, like bandages, antiseptic wipes, medical tape, anti-itch and burn relief gels, and so forth. In fact, I think I assembled a pretty solid little kit, and it served me well over the years. But there were a few problems: The ointments and gels would almost invariably dry out over time, the tape and bandages would grow brittle and lose their adhesion, and every time I used this or that component, I had to be sure to later re-stock it, and it was often hard to keep track of what I needed on an ad hoc basis. When I switched to a professionally assembled kit, I spent a few more dollars but got a lot more peace of mind.
How to choose the right first aid kit for you
A good first aid kit isn’t a mobile trauma center, but it will provide the basic supplies you need to mitigate the ill effects of an accident, injury, or sudden illness. Remember, it’s first aid, not final, comprehensive aid. When choosing a first aid kit, you need to think about who might depend on it (in terms of the sheer number of people and the age and disposition of the user), where it will be stored and/or carried, and in what situations the likely users might endure an injury or illness.
Any first aid kit worth considering will have the supplies needed to treat minor cuts, punctures, burns, and other such common injuries. Beyond that, the suitability of a given kit depends on a careful consideration of factors ranging from weight to packaging to redundancy of the supplies included. You know where you’ll be when you might need first aid and/or who might be depending on your help.
Choose the kit that best suits the people and the situations in which they’ll be, and then hope you never have to use it. With those tips in mind, read on to see which of our top picks is best for your needs.
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Alarming number of parents cant identify mental health struggles in children
The majority of parents cannot confidently identify whether their child may be suffering from mental health issues, according to a new study.
The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne polled 2000 Australian parents, and found only one in three could confidently identify and respond to signs of mental health issues in their kids.
One quarter of parents don’t realise persistent complaints like headaches or tummy aches could be the sign of a mental health problem.
While one of the most frightening statistics revealed a third of parents believe a child’s mental health problems are best left alone to work themselves out over time.
Doctors say this is alarming, and could make mental health issues worse.
“They can become embedded and entrenched and it makes it more difficult to turn those problems around,” Doctor Anthea Rhodes from The Royal Children’s Hospital said.
Mother of three, Cathie Beven, recently found out one of her young daughters suffers anxiety.
Unlike the majority of parents, Mrs Beven was one of the 33 percent able to identify her daughter’s mental health struggle, after the young girl suffered symptoms including poor sleep, headaches and a lack of enthusiasm.
“Children live in quite a rushed world and can have different expectations and pressures on them so I probably wasn’t surprised to be honest,” Mrs Beven said.
“It’s not a big unknown anymore, it’s not a taboo.”
But identifying the issue is only half of the problem.
Fewer than half of the 2000 parents surveyed were confident about knowing where to get professional help.
“It’s about putting away the distractions, which are so present in life, and taking just a few moments to focus on and interact with your child,” Dr Rhodes said.
Experts also suggest GPs, school teachers and counsellors are vital resources to turn to, if you suspect your child may need help.
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As the number of mass shootings continues to climb across the United States, emergency medical workers in central Ohio are among those nationwide seeking to arm bystanders with the knowledge, equipment and confidence needed to save lives during bleeding emergencies.
“A person with a severe enough injury to an artery can bleed to death in three to five minutes, so the regular public needs to know how to stop bleeding, whether it’s by applying pressure or a tourniquet” said Jodi Keller, who oversees disaster preparedness for the Central Ohio Area Trauma System.
The network of health-care professionals has been participating in the national Stop the Bleed campaign for about a year, she said. The campaign was launched by the White House in October 2015.
Hundreds of people, including nurses, teachers, police officers, social workers and the general public, have been trained in a 15-county region, Keller said.
The campaign has made bleeding-control kits containing tourniquets available at places where crowds gather, including the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, local malls, Greater Columbus Convention Center, Hollywood Casino Columbus and John Glenn Columbus International Airport. Tourniquets also are more commonly being stocked in schools and churches.
The Stop the Bleed campaign grew out of the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, said Dr. Lenworth Jacobs, a member of the American College of Surgeons’ board of regents and director of the Trauma Institute at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut.
Following the tragedy, the American College of Surgeons convened a committee with members of the medical community, emergency response groups, government agencies and others with a goal of increasing survivors in mass-casualty events involving a shooter.
The committee recommended that police be trained and equipped to provide hemorrhage control, and emergency medical services be brought closer to mass casualty scenes so responders can more quickly attend to the injured once scenes are secured. It also urged that the public be trained as immediate responders who can control bleeding.
“The person who is going to be helpful is the person right beside you,” Jacobs said. “If you can keep the blood in the body until they get to the hospital, they have a very good chance of survival.”
People who want to equip themselves can purchase tourniquets on Amazon.com, Keller said. Training is available through the trauma system or any number of videos on YouTube, she said.
People also can learn about bleeding control in first-aid courses provided by the Red Cross, said Jordan Tetting, spokeswoman for the organization’s Ohio Buckeye Region. Mass shootings always lead to increased inquiries about how people can brush up on lifesaving skills, she said.
“Our goal at the Red Cross is to prevent communities from having to go through that suffering and prepare our communities for instances where emergency strikes,” she said. “We encourage people to be as ready as possible, to have all the appropriate tools in their back pocket.”
Most of the people who die in mass shootings die from bleeding out, often as emergency workers wait until a scene is secure before they can respond, said Lt. Matt Parrish of the Columbus Division of Fire’s EMS bureau. That could take 20 or 30 minutes. Bystanders, he said, have the power to respond immediately. But it’s crucial that any potential helpers secure their own safety first.
He said Stop the Bleed is akin to “see something, say something,” a national campaign to aid law enforcement’s anti-crime and anti-terrorism efforts, because it asks citizens to be engaged.
“When you put that many people in a large venue you can’t put enough EMS and law enforcement providers in that same area to manage everybody. People who are willing and able to get involved, they’re going to make a difference,” he said.
More people, especially law-enforcement officers and medical professionals, are carrying commercial tourniquets as a way of being prepared, Parrish said. “Right next to their Narcan kit, they should have a tourniquet. I think that’s where we’re at right now.”
Advocates hope to raise awareness about bleeding control to the level of awareness surrounding CPR and have tourniquet kits as readily available as automated external defibrillators. Jacobs said he’d like to see tourniquets everywhere, right down to every glove compartment.
Giving people power to save lives could also have an impact on the nation’s psyche amid mass shootings, he said.
“This is a huge country. There are 250 million people you want to get trained and empowered,” Jacobs said. “It’s simple to do it. It’s important to do it. It saves limbs and lives.”
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A NEW and injectable ‘stretchy’ glue that eliminates the need for staples or stitches and heals wounds in 60 seconds could save lives, its creators say.
AAPOCTOBER 5, 20179:19PM
AUSTRALIAN and American biomedical engineers have developed a stretchy surgical glue that rapidly heals wounds, a “breakthrough” that has the potential to save lives in emergencies, its designers say.
The injectable glue, MeTro, is based on a naturally occurring protein called tropaelastin. It is applied directly to the wound and is then activated with UV light to form a complete seal, eliminating the need for staples or stitches. Its elasticity means it’s designed to work well on shape-changing internal organs like the lungs and heart.
A study published in journal Science Translational Medicine showed the glue quickly and successfully sealed incisions in the arteries and lungs of rodents and the lungs of pigs.
“The beauty of the MeTro formulation is that, as soon as it comes in contact with tissue surfaces, it solidifies into a gel-like phase without running away,” said lead author Assistant Professor Nasim Annabi from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University.
MeTro combines the natural elastic protein technologies developed in collaboration with author and University of Sydney biochemist Professor Anthony Weiss, with light sensitive molecules developed in collaboration with author and director of the Biomaterials Innovation Research Center at Harvard Medical School Professor Ali Khademhosseini.
Prof Weiss likens the glue to that of silicone sealants used around bathroom and kitchen tiles.
“When you watch MeTro, you can see it act like a liquid, filling the gaps and conforming to the shape of the wound.” While much more research is needed — with clinical testing on humans still to occur, Prof Weiss is optimistic about the study findings and the glue’s future impact.
“The potential applications are powerful — from treating serious internal wounds at emergency sites such as following car accidents and in war zones, as well as improving hospital surgeries,” Prof Weiss said.
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The new review suggests that vitamin D supplementation may help to reduce severe asthma attacks.
Adding vitamin D supplements to standard medication could reduce the severity of asthma attacks for individuals with the respiratory condition, suggests a new review.
Researchers found that people with asthma who took vitamin D supplements alongside their usual medication were 50 percent less likely to visit the emergency department or require hospital admission as a result of an asthma attack.
What is more, the researchers found that vitamin D supplementation was linked to a reduction in the need for steroid injections or tablets following an asthma attack.
Lead researcher Prof. Adrian Martineau, from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) in the United Kingdom, and colleagues recently reported their findings in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
Asthma is one of the biggest health burdens across the globe, affecting approximately 300 millionchildren and adults. In the United States alone, around 25 million people have asthma, and this number rises every year.
Although there is currently no cure for asthma, there are medications that can help patients to manage the condition and reduce their risk of an asthma attack.
But these medications are not always effective; each year in the U.S., there are around 1.8 million visits to the emergency department for asthma attacks, and the condition causes 10 deaths in the country every day.
As such, researchers are searching for ways to further reduce asthma severity. Could vitamin D be one such strategy?
A review of vitamin D for asthma
Vitamin D is essential for human health. Not only does the vitamin aid calcium absorption, which is vital for healthy bones, but it also helps to strengthen the immune system. It is the latter function that has led researchers to investigate vitamin D as a possible treatment for asthma.
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Respiratory infections, such as the common cold or the flu, are known to trigger symptoms of asthma – including airway inflammation, which can bring on an asthma attack.
Some studies have suggested that vitamin D may help to lower the risk of respiratory infection-induced asthma attacks by boosting the immune system.
To gain a better understanding of this association, Prof. Martineau and colleagues conducted a review of seven randomized controlled trials that looked at the effects of vitamin D supplementation on asthma severity.
Asthma events, hospital visits reduced
The review included a total of 955 subjects with asthma, all of whom were receiving standard treatment for the condition.
It was found that vitamin D supplementation reduced the need for asthma-related emergency department visits and hospital admissions by 50 percent when compared with a placebo, with the rate of such events falling from 6 percent to 3 percent.
Also, among adults who did experience an asthma attack, vitamin D supplementation reduced the need for treatment with steroid tablets or injections by 30 percent, from 0.43 events per person per year to 0.30 events per person per year.
From a subgroup analysis, the researchers found that patients whose vitamin D levels were low at study baseline experienced the greatest benefit from vitamin D supplementation; their need for treatment with steroid tablets or injections fell by 55 percent.
Still, they note that the small number of participants in each subgroup makes it difficult to confirm whether or not initial vitamin D levels influence the effect of supplementation on asthma severity.
Further clinical trials underway
Importantly, it was also found that vitamin D supplementation was safe for participants at the doses used, and there were no differences in adverse effects between subjects who took vitamin D and those who took a placebo.
Overall, the researchers believe that their findings indicate that vitamin D supplementation may be an effective way to help reduce asthma severity.
“These results add to the ever growing body of evidence that vitamin D can support immune function as well as bone health.”
Prof. Adrian Martineau
“Vitamin D is safe to take and relatively inexpensive,” adds Prof. Martineau, “so supplementation represents a potentially cost-effective strategy to reduce this problem.”
First study author Dr. David Joliffe, also of QMUL, notes that because the majority of study subjects were adults with mild to moderate asthma, they are currently unable to generalize the findings to children or individuals with more severe asthma.
“Further clinical trials are ongoing internationally,” adds Dr. Joliffe, “and we hope to include data from them in a future analysis to determine whether the promise of today’s results is confirmed in an even larger and more diverse group of patients.”
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Brown snake caught after days of attempts
Jack Harbour, Gold Coast Bulletin
SNAKE catchers say they are dealing with a “tsunami” of reptiles as temperatures soar on the Queensland Gold Coast and males aggressively pursue a mate.
The warning comes after a person was hospitalised following a snake bite and footage surfaced of two male pythons locked in battle on the deck of a Mt Tamborine home on the weekend.
Snake catcher Tony Harrison said he was being called out 10 times a day on average as hot spring weather sent reptile activity into overdrive.
“The warmer it is, the more active they are,” he said.
“They only get one opportunity a year to meet.
“If two boys happen to run into each other they’ll wrestle.
“Another week or two and we shouldn’t see too much of the fighting and mating and carrying on.”
Tamborine local Margaret Macleod’s incredible footage of the moment two snakes fought ferociously on the deck of her family home as she and her cat Oscar watched on was shared numerous times on social media yesterday.
“The cat was absolutely terrified … the cat’s been scared stiff,” she said. “He deserves to be … he’s caught a number of little snakes over the years.”
Ms Macleod said she knew there was a python hanging around her home but said she was surprised to see the snakes going at it on her property.
The homeowner said the exchange lasted about five minutes before the snakes moved on.
Animal Emergency Service in Carrara principal veterinarian Dr Rod Meehan said he had treated two dogs who had been bitten by eastern brown snakes recently when during winter he would rarely see any.
“The eastern brown snake is the third most deadly snake in the world,” he said.
“While they’re not a snake that we find goes out of their way to attack … from our point of view, our patients are looking for them.
“They’re very vigilant, some of the dogs.
“This is our prime time of the year when snakes are more prevalent.”
Dr Meehan urged anyone who feared their animals might have been bitten to rush them to the vet.
POSSIBLE SNAKE BITE SYMPTOMS
EASTERN BROWN:
*Dog may collapse then seemingly recover
*Bleeding, usually from the mouth but potentially anywhere
*Weakness
*Tremors
*Inability to wa
TIGER SNAKE:
*Weakness
*Local pain at site of bite
*Trouble breathin
SMALL-EYED SNAKE:
*Profound weakness
*Pain
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Mental Health First Aid Australia (MHFA) now trains instructors to run the first-aid courses around the country, often in conjunction with organisations such as TAFE or the Red Cross.
Maxine Griffiths from Mental Health Carers Tasmania (MHCTas) said the more people who had mental health first-aid training, the more it would help break down stigmas.
“It’s a difficult topic [but] it’s not as hard as it sounds to provide support to a person,” she said.
“If we just had that little bit of knowledge about how to go about talking to someone and refer them on, I’m sure it’s going to help people feel a whole lot better than if they didn’t have that information.”
Mental Health First Aid Australia action plan
Approach, assess and assist with any crisis
Listen and communicate non-judgmentally
Give support and information
Encourage appropriate professional help
Encourage other supports
Many workplaces and community organisations require someone on the team to have a current physical first-aid certificate, and Ms Griffiths said this should be the case for mental health first aid as well.
“Mental health is everybody’s responsibility, and the more informed we are, the more we’re able to carry that responsibility,” she said.
“The course helps people work out what to say, what to do, how to refer the person on to more specialised support if that’s what the person wants.
“You’re not trained to diagnose, you’re not trained to be the expert, you’re just trained to know how to broach the subject with someone and how to refer them on.
“It also teaches you to stay calm, what to say and when to say it, and it also helps you get support for you.”
MHCTas offers free courses to people who are in caring roles supporting people with mental health issues to help get them up to speed with the best ways to help someone.
“The reality for many carers and families is that they don’t often get the right information,” Ms Griffiths said.
“There’s an assumption that they might know, but … if there’s a person with a mental illness in our care it doesn’t mean we know all the ins and outs about that particular illness, what to look for, how to provide good support.”
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