Oct 26
National Sleep Awareness Week, October 28 to November 3, coincides with the change to daylight saving throughout much of Australia. So, if we haven’t already done so, most of us will have to adjust our sleep patterns, even if just a little. Of course, we have all encountered occasional sleep problems; but having sleeping problems on a regular basis can have significant adverse affect on our ability to lead a normal productive life.
If you have trouble getting off to sleep, or toss and turn and your sleep is generally disturbed, or you feel more weary than wide awake each morning, then you’re not alone. Around 30% of Australians suffer sleep problems.
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Oct 18
There’s increasing evidence of a link between gum disease and heart disease. And a French study, reported just last month at the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology, has shown that the more severe the periodontal (gum) disease, the more widespread the damage to the arteries.
It’s not yet known how gum disease might trigger heart disease, but there’s a suggestion that bacteria released from infected gums may enter the bloodstream where they activate the immune system causing inflammation and narrowing of the blood vessels.
Bacteria also cause tooth decay. They collect on and between the teeth as dental plaque, and react with sugars in our diet to destroy the tooth enamel. The result: is inflammation, cavities, root canal infection and gum disease.
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Oct 11
World Osteoporosis Day (October 20) is a reminder that osteoporosis is a global problem. Each year approximately 1.6 million hip fractures occur worldwide. This number could reach 5 million within the next 40 years.
In Australia one in two women and one in three men over the age of 60 will suffer a fracture due to osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis literally means porous bones. It’s a disease that occurs when our bones lose minerals – principally calcium; and the body can’t replace these minerals fast enough to keep the bones healthy. The bones become fragile and brittle. They break and crack more easily. All bones are at risk, but the most common fractures occur in the spine, the hip and the wrist.
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Oct 11
A generation ago the word Alzheimer’s was hardly known. Today Alzheimer’s disease and its consequences are known first hand by almost every family in Australia.
Alzheimer’s disease is a particular form of dementia. Indeed, it is the most common form of dementia; accounting for between 50% and 70% of all cases.
However, dementia is not really a disease at all. It’s a term used to describe the range of symptoms that occur when the brain is affected by certain conditions or illnesses.
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Oct 11
Hayfever, known medically as allergic rhinitis is a common condition in Australia affecting about 40% of the population at least to some degree.
Despite this fact, or maybe even because of it, hayfever is thought to be a comparatively trivial condition – just a minor inconvenience.
However, if you suffer from hayfever and are forced to endure the sniffles and sneezes, the running nose and watery eyes, the frequently blocked nose and occasional sinus headache, you’ll know that it’s anything but a trivial complaint.
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