How do I talk to health professionals?
Talking to doctors, nurses and others can be daunting. The most important thing to know is that you have a right to talk to them. You have the right to tell health professionals what you think is important for the person you care for and to ask questions. It's OK. They don't Know everything...
https://vimeo.com/552641410
Choosing Wisely: What makes a good conversation with a health professional?
More
SCHHS-Engagement PLUS
Sunshine Coast health consumers talk about what makes a good conversation with a health professional.
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Factsheet: Capacity and Consent to Medical Treatment
A person may consent to or refuse medical treatment if they have decision-making capacity. This factsheet explains the key legal principles on decision-making capacity, and consent to medical treatment.
Clarifying the law
This factsheet explains:
Storage: All medicines Advise patients and their carers that, to ensure medicine safety and effectiveness, appropriate storage is important. Medicines should be stored according to the instructions on the label. Generally, medicines are stored in their original container in a cool, dry place. The stability and effectiveness of some medicines depends on correct storage temperature – for example, those medicines requiring refrigeration. Patients and carers who require assistance with medicine management may also need help to store medicines in a safe manner – for example, out of reach of children.
https://www.caringathomeproject.com.au/Portals/13/Documents/NPS-Palliative-Care-Guidelines-v25-jg260620-ACC.pdf
page 8.
Decision Making Capacity in Queensland:
https://end-of-life.qut.edu.au/capacity
Capacity and Consent to Medical Treatment
https://www.eldac.com.au/Portals/12/Documents/Factsheet/Legal/Toolkit-Capacity%20and%20Consent.pdf
Adults with decision-making capacity have the right to decide what can be done to their bodies. This means they can consent to medical treatment or refuse it. An adult who has capacity is said to be 'competent'.
This webpage explores the law relating to consent to treatment, including in an emergency situation, and when an adult will have capacity to make decisions about medical treatment. Information about the law in each State and Territory is discussed.
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Bulk Billed Telehealth:
People in isolation or quarantine for COVID-19 can see any eligible health provider through new telehealth items. Patients in vulnerable groups can additionally see a health provider via telehealth for a non-COVID-19 matter if they have seen that provider, or another provider within the same practice, face-to-face at least once in the previous 12 months. Additional guides to these services for providers are available via MBS Online. All services provided using the new MBS items must be bulk billed. The services will be available until end of 2021.
Contact your GP doctor, mental health practitioner or midwife by phone, especially if you have cold or flu symptoms and explain your situation.
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY AND THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE
Aging, Cell Senescence, and Chronic Disease Emerging Therapeutic Strategies
click to read the whole article. Well worth the read...
"Age is the leading predictive factor for most of the chronic diseases that account for the majority of morbidity, hospitalizations, health costs,and mortality worldwide. These diseases include
Chronological age is also the main risk factor for the geriatric syndromes, including:
These aging processes are frequently evident at etiologic sites of chronic diseases, for example, in the brain of patients with Alzheimer disease or in the adipose tissue of patients with type 2 diabetes. Activation of any single fundamental aging process tends to influence the others. In laboratory animals, genetic or other interventions that target a particular aging process often also target others. Thus, fundamental aging processes are an attractive target for developing interventions to delay, prevent, or alleviate age-related disorders as a group."
This is Very Well Written, Many thanks from those of us who are ageing ourselves/looking after ageing loved ones. J
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Xanax prescription that should have been rejected
CHRISTY HUFF, MD | MEDS | FEBRUARY 27, 2019
In hindsight, I should have never accepted a Xanax prescription from my doctor. What followed was catastrophic — rapidly developing tolerance and physical dependence on the drug and a prolonged illness. Three-and-a-half years later, I am still slowly tapering off Valium (having transitioned to a longer-acting benzodiazepine to aid in tapering) and experiencing debilitating symptoms daily.
I was unprepared for what happened to me by my medical training, my physician, and the drug sheet I was given at the pharmacy. Later I would find that some of the most serious risks are not mentioned in the FDA Label — specifically that patients can suffer disabling neurological damage from benzodiazepines, which in some cases may be permanent. Had I known about this possibility, I would have never filled the prescription. But because I was never truly informed of the risks, my health and life as I knew it have been destroyed.
https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2019/02/a-xanax-prescription-that-should-have-been-rejected.html
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QUALITY USE OF MEDICINES TO OPTIMISE AGEING IN OLDER AUSTRALIANS:
Recommendations for a National Strategic Action Plan to Reduce Inappropriate Polypharmacy.
As our population ages, more people are living with multiple chronic diseases with an associated increase in polypharmacy (multiple medicines use). Medicines use in older people is a complex balance between managing disease and avoiding medicines related problems. Supervised withdrawal of unnecessary medicines (deprescribing) is safe and may improve quality of life in older people.
World Antibiotic Awareness
It’s time to take antibiotic resistance seriously:
The World Health Organization has warned that antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to human health today.
Information for consumers
Patients face return trips to doctor under proposed ban on antibiotic repeat prescriptions
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-09/push-to-cut-repeat-prescriptions-to-prevent-superbugs/11585508
A ban on repeat prescriptions for antibiotics could be just weeks away, according to Australia's chief medical officer.
Currently, when you are prescribed an antibiotic like Keflex or Amoxicillin by your doctor, they routinely come with an automatic repeat prescription.
But the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) has recommended removing those repeat options when they are not medically necessary.
That would mean patients would have to see their doctor again, and potentially face additional consultation fees, if they required a repeat script.
Australia's chief medical officer, Professor Brendan Murphy, said the change could be the best way to crack down on the spread of superbugs.
"Antimicrobial resistance is a serious problem around the world, and also in Australia, and we do face the risk of increasingly unavailable antibiotics in the future, such that we might even see infections that are impossible to treat," he told AM. "This potential ban on repeat prescriptions is part of our strategy to deal with this problem, and it's directly addressing the overuse of antibiotics where they're not necessary."
Each year in Australia, more than 30 million prescriptions for antibiotics are handed over through the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS), while nearly half of Australians are given at least one course of antibiotics.
They are commonly prescribed for things like upper respiratory tract infections, although seasonal fluctuations in prescribing rates suggest a link with the treatment of viral infections such as colds and the flu.
The problem with overprescribing antibiotics is the bacteria the drugs are designed to kill can become resistant to the treatment.
This resistance can spread and mutate — forming a superbug.
09 October 2019
https://www.nps.org.au/news/if-not-opioids-then-what
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Tests, treatments, and procedures for healthcare providers and consumers to question.
An important conversation about unnecessary tests, treatments and procedures led by Australia’s medical colleges & societies & facilitated by NPS MedicineWise, Choosing Wisely Australia* challenges the way we think about health care.
Why do we go to the doctor?
According to the reason for encounter recorded in GP notes, the top five reasons that Australians went to see their GPs in 2016–17 were:
Overdiagnosis occurs when commonly-used diagnoses in health and medical care, diagnoses that relevant health professionals would consider correct, do more harm than good. Overtreatment, which generally follows overdiagnosis, occurs when people get treatment they don’t need. Because they don’t need the treatment, they are unlikely to get any benefits from it, but may experience side effects or other harms. http://wiserhealthcare.org.au/what-is-overdiagnosis/
Scientists make breakthrough in understanding how blood pressure affects the brain
By: Conor Burke February 10, 2020
Scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding the way brain blood flow affects certain serious illnesses such as high blood pressure, migraines and even dementia.
The academics from the University of Auckland, University College London, and Bristol University, have discovered that the brain has its own blood pressure sensors that monitor and regulate its own blood flow, separate from the body-wide blood pressure control system.
The brain needs more blood than any other organ and disturbances to brain blood flow are a known cause in many diseases. For example, sustained reduction in brain blood flow is said to be a likely cause of cognitive decline, dementia, and neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s Disease.
https://www.agedcareinsite.com.au/2020/02/scientists-make-breakthrough-in-understanding-how-blood-pressure-affects-the-brain/
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Also see "Five Questions to ask your Doctor".
Understanding interactions: Sometimes one medicine can mix badly with another in your body, and this can change how strongly the medicine works or change its side effects. This is called an interaction, and it can also happen when medicines mix with certain foods or drink (including alcohol). Read what you can do to avoid interactions. http://www.nps.org.au/topics/how-to-be-medicinewise/side-effects-interactions/understanding-interactions
Interactions are most likely to cause problems when you:
Question Builder:
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/question-builder
Prepare for your medical appointment by creating a list of questions to ask your doctor. Print or email the list so that it is handy to take to your appointment. This preparation will help you get more out of the time with your doctor and help you to remember everything you want to ask.
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia: tests, treatments and procedures consumers and clinicians should question
Do not initiate medications to treat symptoms, adverse events, or side effects (unless in an emergency) without determining if an existing therapy or lack of adherence is the cause, and whether a dosage reduction, discontinuation of a medication, or another treatment is warranted.
Continue reading at: http://www.choosingwisely.org.au/recommendations/pharmaceutical-society-of-australia
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My Health Record legislation changes
On Monday 26 November 2018, The Australian Digital Health Agency announced that the Australian Parliament passed legislation to strengthen privacy protections in My Heath Records Act 2012. The changes include:
A My Health Record will be created for all Australians after 31 January 2019 unless they tell the Australian Digital Health Agency that they do not want one.
Your My Health Record is an online summary of your health information, such as your medicines, any allergies you may have, and your medical history. Once your My Health Record is created your doctor, hospitals and other healthcare providers involved in your care can automatically access your health information, unless you set up your privacy controls.
Using these privacy controls lets you decide which healthcare providers can access your My Health Record and what they can view. You can also ask a provider not to upload certain information. If you decide you don’t want a My Health Record you can cancel it at any time.
Click on Frequently Asked Questions: https://www.oaic.gov.au/myhealthrecord/privacy/
By default, when an individual registers for a My Health Record they give standing consent for all registered healthcare provider organisations to access and upload information to their My Health Record. Learn more here.
My Health Record and pathology request forms
Over the past few months you may have noticed pathology request forms now have a check box with the wording ‘do not send to My Health Record’. If a patient has a My Health Record and does not wish for their pathology results to be uploaded, this check box will need to be ticked by either the health provider or patient. If you have older forms that do not have this check box, hand writing ‘do not send to My Health Record’ is accepted. When the check box is ticked or consent is withdrawn through writing, this is applied to all tests requested on the form. A patient will need to withdraw consent for each instance they do not want their results uploaded.
If the check box is left unticked and the patient has a My Health Record, the results will be uploaded. The upload of results to a patient's My Health Record will not replace current forms of communication or correspondence. Please also note that some Queensland Health facilities are now uploading pathology results to the My Health Record system. For more information, you can also visit the My Health Record website.
This is the final week for Australians to opt-out of having a secure My Health Record created for them by the end of 2018. Any Australian that doesn’t want a record has the opportunity to register their choice by visiting MyHealthRecord.gov.au or calling 1800 723 471 by 15 November 2018.
Every time your My Health Record is accessed, it is recorded in an audit log which you can view by logging into your My Health Record. The System Operator cyber security team constantly monitors system access. There are strict penalties for unlawful access.
If you have concerns about who has accessed your My Health Record, contact 1800 723 471.
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https://vimeo.com/124597870
A 90 second online video showing what happens behind the scenes after your Pathology sample is taken - at the Doctors, or in the hospital setting.
Check also with your Doctor, and particularly with your Pharmacist, as your medicine labels are changing.
Labels on prescription and over-the-counter medicines in Australia have been updated. This includes the labels on complementary medicines such as vitamins and supplements. The changes will gradually start taking place from 31 August 2016 in response to new requirements from the Therapeutic Goods Administration. However, you may not notice much difference to your medicine labels straight away, as manufacturers and suppliers have up to four years to make the changes needed.
http://www.nps.org.au/publications/consumer/medicinewise-living/2016/medicine-labels-changing
The updates will depend on the medicine. For some it is a single letter change in the spelling. For other medicines, the active ingredient name will change a lot and may not look anything like the old name. A full list of the affected medicines is provided on the TGA website.
Published in Medicinewise Living
01 September 2016
Adverse Medicine Events Line 1300 134 237 from anywhere in Australia. Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm AEST (excluding public holidays). You can call to discuss any side effects that might be due to your:
Australia's peak colleges, societies and associations have developed lists of recommendations of the tests, treatments, and procedures that healthcare providers and consumers should question. Each recommendation is based on the best available evidence.
Importantly, they are not prescriptive but are intended as guidance to start a conversation about what is appropriate and necessary.
As each situation is unique, healthcare providers and consumers should use the recommendations to collaboratively formulate their own appropriate healthcare plan together.
Find out what you Don't Know about Your Condition
These pages will give you the confidence to "Ask Your Doctor".
What happens now?
What does this mean for ME?
These pages are set out very clearly and are of immense help to YOU and your loved one. Often all you need is the confidence to Actually be able to discuss your concerns with your Doctor.
Click here Medical Test
click on these:
Allergy tests
Blood culture
Blood glucose test
Blood tests
Bone marrow biopsy
Bowel cancer tests
Cardiovascular risk assessment
Carotid artery ultrasound
Chest x-ray
Cholesterol and lipid tests
Clinical decision rules
Coagulation studies
Colonoscopy
Computed tomography (CT) scan
Coronary artery calcium score
D-Dimer
Diabetes tests
Diagnostic imaging
Echocardiography
Electrocardiogram (ECG)
Endoscopy
Eye examination
Faecal occult blood test
Faecal pathogen tests
Glucose tolerance test
HbA1c test
Hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp
IgE (immunoglobulin E) test
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Medication review
Microbiological techniques
Optical imaging
Pap tests
Pelvic examination
Platelet count test
Prostate cancer tests
Serologic tests
Stool tests
Stress tests
Testosterone test
Thrombophilia tests
Thyroid function tests
Tumour marker test
Tympanometry
Ultrasound
Urine culture test
Vision tests
Vitamin D tests
X-rays
Condition or Symptom:
http://www.choosingwisely.org.au/recommendations?displayby=ConditionOrSymptom
Acne
Adhesive capsulitis of shoulder
Adverse drug reactions
Alcohol addiction
Allergies
Anaemia
Anaphylaxis
Ankle injury
Appendicitis
Back pain
Bacterial infection
Bacteruria
Bleeding and coagulation
Bowel cancer
Bronchitis
Cancer
Cardiovascular disorders
Cataracts
Cellulitis
Cervical spine injuries
Cholesterol and lipid problems
Colorectal cancer
Common cold
Cough
Craniocerebral trauma
Deep vein thrombosis
Dementia
Diabetes, type 1
Diabetes, type 2
Diarrhoea
Drug dependence
Dyspnoea
Ear infection
Epidermal cysts
Eye disorders
Fatigue
Fever
Foot injury
Frozen shoulder
Fungal nail infection
Gastroenteritis
Gastro-oesophageal reflux
Head injuries
Healthcare-associated infections
Heart disease
Heartburn and reflux
Hepatic disorders
Hernias
High blood pressure
Hyperlipidaemia
Hypertension
Hypogonadism
Infant nutritional problems
Insulin sensitivity
Kidney disorders
Lattice degeneration
Leg cellulitis
Leg ulcers
Leukaemia
Liver disorders
Low back pain
Lymphoma
Macular degeneration
Neck injuries
Obesity
Otitis media
Ovarian cancer
Pain
Peptic ulcers
Postoperative complications
Prostate cancer
Prostate disorders
Pulmonary embolism
Pyrexia
Renal disorders
Respiratory tract infection
Skin cysts
Snake bites
Sore throat
Stroke
Substance abuse
Terminal illness
Testosterone deficiency
Thrombocytopenic purpura
Thrombophilia
Thyroid disorders
Toenail deformities
Urinary incontinence
Urinary tract infections
Urticaria
Venous thromboembolism
Vitamin D deficiency
Medicine or Treatment:
http://www.choosingwisely.org.au/recommendations?displayby=MedicineOrTreatment
Adrenaline
Allergen immunotherapy
Alpha-adrenergic antagonists
Alternative medicine
Analgesics
Antibiotics
Anticoagulants
Antifungal drugs
Antihistamines
Antihypertensive drugs
Antipsychotic drugs
Antipyretic drugs
Bariatric surgery
Benzodiazepines
Blood transfusion
Codeine
Complementary therapies
Cryotherapy
Electrotherapy
End of life care
Feeding tubes
Fever medicines
Gastric banding
Heartburn and reflux medicines
Hypoglycemic drugs
Incentive spirometry
Intravascular lines
Intravitreal injections
Laser therapy
Manual therapy
Mechanical ventilation
NSAIDs
Nutritional support
Oxygen therapy
Pain medicines
Palliative care
Peripheral venous catheterisation
Polypharmacy
Primary prevention
Proton pump inhibitors
Sedation
Sedatives and medicines for sleep problems
Statins
Surgery
Testosterone
Thyroxine
Urinary catheterisation
Urological agents
Vascular access devices
Vitamin supplements
Medicine Branch:
http://www.choosingwisely.org.au/recommendations?displayby=MedicineBranch
Addiction medicine
Cardiology
Dermatology
Emergency medicine
Endocrinology
Gastroenterology and hepatology
General practice
Geriatrics
Gynaecology
Haematology
Immunology and allergy
Infectious diseases
Intensive care medicine
Nephrology
Neurology
Nursing
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Otolaryngology
Paediatrics
Pain medicine
Palliative medicine
Pathology
Pharmacology
Physiotherapy
Psychiatry
Radiology
Rheumatology
Sexual health medicine
Surgery
Urology
*What is Choosing Wisely Australia?
Choosing Wisely Australia® is an initiative that brings the medical community together to improve the quality of healthcare through considering tests, treatments, and procedures where evidence shows they provide no benefit or, in some cases, lead to harm.
Led by Australia’s medical colleges and professional societies and facilitated by NPS MedicineWise, Choosing Wisely Australia challenges the way we think about health care, questioning the notion 'more is always better'.
As the catalyst for public discussion, Choosing Wisely Australia is encouraging clinicians and consumers to start a conversation about what care is truly needed – identifying which practices are helpful and which are not.
With the complexity of tests, treatments, and procedures available to modern medicine, the challenge is that not all add value. Some are rendered redundant as others take their place. Unnecessary practices are a diversion away from effective care. They often lead to more frequent and invasive investigations that can expose the consumer to undue risk of harm, emotional stress, or financial cost.
A cross-section of medical colleges and societies have come together to identify practices that warrant scrutiny, examining the evidence and drawing on the expert opinion of their members to develop a list of recommendations: "Tests, treatments and procedures to question."
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http://wiserhealthcare.org.au/
Wiser Healthcare is a research collaboration involving The University of Sydney, Bond University, Monash University and international colleagues. It is funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, through both its Centres for Research Excellence scheme and its Program Grant scheme.
It aims to conduct research that will reduce overdiagnosis and overtreatment in Australia and around the world. Overdiagnosis and overtreatment occur when routine medical tests and treatments do more harm than good. Wiser Healthcare will investigate the cause and size of the problem and test new solutions, in the areas of cancer, cardiovascular disease and musculoskeletal disorders.
We will particularly focus on overdiagnosis caused by imaging (like CT scans and MRI scans), testing biomarkers (for example, blood tests like the Prostate Specific Antigen test), and genetic tests. Here you can find out about our plans, read our work, see the evidence about overdiagnosis, and get help to make decisions, whether you are a clinician, a policymaker, or a citizen considering your own healthcare.
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The sharing of information among peers is a key to reducing these problematic practices that have become ingrained in the system. Importantly, it sets the scene for wider community involvement.
with many grateful thanks to NPS MedicineWise for facilitating "Choosing Wisely Australia". This initiative is Exactly what Carers and their Loved Ones have been searching for... It is laid out clearly and precisely, and empowers us all so that WE truly understand what is being proposed by our Doctor.
24 February 2021
Talking to doctors, nurses and others can be daunting. The most important thing to know is that you have a right to talk to them. You have the right to tell health professionals what you think is important for the person you care for and to ask questions. It's OK. They don't Know everything...
- like your loved one's reaction to the latest medication change,
- the worsening of their heart, bowel, lung, back pain... symptoms, and
- how you were up most of the last night calming,
- changing pads and the bedclothes,
- soothing to sleep...
- all the while juggling their low mood,
- tendency to isolate themselves,
- meals,
- medications,
- doctor appointments,
- exercise regimes...
- their Other health aliments...
- This is Exhausting!!!
https://vimeo.com/552641410
Choosing Wisely: What makes a good conversation with a health professional?
More
SCHHS-Engagement PLUS
Sunshine Coast health consumers talk about what makes a good conversation with a health professional.
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Factsheet: Capacity and Consent to Medical Treatment
A person may consent to or refuse medical treatment if they have decision-making capacity. This factsheet explains the key legal principles on decision-making capacity, and consent to medical treatment.
Clarifying the law
This factsheet explains:
- When consent to treatment is required, and when it will be valid
- When a person will have capacity to make decisions about medical treatment
- Whether a person with capacity can make a decision that others disagree with
- Whether a person’s capacity can change over time
Storage: All medicines Advise patients and their carers that, to ensure medicine safety and effectiveness, appropriate storage is important. Medicines should be stored according to the instructions on the label. Generally, medicines are stored in their original container in a cool, dry place. The stability and effectiveness of some medicines depends on correct storage temperature – for example, those medicines requiring refrigeration. Patients and carers who require assistance with medicine management may also need help to store medicines in a safe manner – for example, out of reach of children.
https://www.caringathomeproject.com.au/Portals/13/Documents/NPS-Palliative-Care-Guidelines-v25-jg260620-ACC.pdf
page 8.
Decision Making Capacity in Queensland:
https://end-of-life.qut.edu.au/capacity
Capacity and Consent to Medical Treatment
https://www.eldac.com.au/Portals/12/Documents/Factsheet/Legal/Toolkit-Capacity%20and%20Consent.pdf
Adults with decision-making capacity have the right to decide what can be done to their bodies. This means they can consent to medical treatment or refuse it. An adult who has capacity is said to be 'competent'.
This webpage explores the law relating to consent to treatment, including in an emergency situation, and when an adult will have capacity to make decisions about medical treatment. Information about the law in each State and Territory is discussed.
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Bulk Billed Telehealth:
People in isolation or quarantine for COVID-19 can see any eligible health provider through new telehealth items. Patients in vulnerable groups can additionally see a health provider via telehealth for a non-COVID-19 matter if they have seen that provider, or another provider within the same practice, face-to-face at least once in the previous 12 months. Additional guides to these services for providers are available via MBS Online. All services provided using the new MBS items must be bulk billed. The services will be available until end of 2021.
Contact your GP doctor, mental health practitioner or midwife by phone, especially if you have cold or flu symptoms and explain your situation.
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY AND THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE
Aging, Cell Senescence, and Chronic Disease Emerging Therapeutic Strategies
click to read the whole article. Well worth the read...
"Age is the leading predictive factor for most of the chronic diseases that account for the majority of morbidity, hospitalizations, health costs,and mortality worldwide. These diseases include
- Alzheimer disease and
- other neurodegenerative diseases,
- cardiovascular disease,
- and most cancers.
Chronological age is also the main risk factor for the geriatric syndromes, including:
- frailty and immobility as well as
- decreased physical resilience, which is manifested by delayed or incomplete recovery from stressors, such as surgery, hip fracture,and pneumonia.
- The prevalence of these problems not only increases with age, but these conditions tend to cluster within older individuals, leading to multimorbidity. Therefore, if any single major age-related disease were cured, it would only be supplanted by others, adding little to quality or length of life and limiting the effectiveness of treating age-related chronic diseases one at a time.
- The fundamental aging processes that contribute to phenotypes characteristic of advanced old age, such as muscle weakness and loss of subcutaneous fat, also appear to underlie the major chronic diseases, geriatric syndromes, and loss of physical resilience. These aging processes can be broadly classified as follows:
- (1) chronic, low-grade inflammation that is “sterile” (occurring in the absence of known pathogens), together with fibrosis;
- (2) macromolecular and cell organelle dysfunction (such as DNA damage, dysfunctional telomeres, protein aggregation and misfolding, decreased removal of damaged proteins, or mitochondrial dysfunction);
- (3) changes in stem cells and progenitors that lead to reduced capacity to repair or replace tissues; and
- (4) cellular senescence.
These aging processes are frequently evident at etiologic sites of chronic diseases, for example, in the brain of patients with Alzheimer disease or in the adipose tissue of patients with type 2 diabetes. Activation of any single fundamental aging process tends to influence the others. In laboratory animals, genetic or other interventions that target a particular aging process often also target others. Thus, fundamental aging processes are an attractive target for developing interventions to delay, prevent, or alleviate age-related disorders as a group."
This is Very Well Written, Many thanks from those of us who are ageing ourselves/looking after ageing loved ones. J
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Xanax prescription that should have been rejected
CHRISTY HUFF, MD | MEDS | FEBRUARY 27, 2019
In hindsight, I should have never accepted a Xanax prescription from my doctor. What followed was catastrophic — rapidly developing tolerance and physical dependence on the drug and a prolonged illness. Three-and-a-half years later, I am still slowly tapering off Valium (having transitioned to a longer-acting benzodiazepine to aid in tapering) and experiencing debilitating symptoms daily.
I was unprepared for what happened to me by my medical training, my physician, and the drug sheet I was given at the pharmacy. Later I would find that some of the most serious risks are not mentioned in the FDA Label — specifically that patients can suffer disabling neurological damage from benzodiazepines, which in some cases may be permanent. Had I known about this possibility, I would have never filled the prescription. But because I was never truly informed of the risks, my health and life as I knew it have been destroyed.
https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2019/02/a-xanax-prescription-that-should-have-been-rejected.html
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QUALITY USE OF MEDICINES TO OPTIMISE AGEING IN OLDER AUSTRALIANS:
Recommendations for a National Strategic Action Plan to Reduce Inappropriate Polypharmacy.
As our population ages, more people are living with multiple chronic diseases with an associated increase in polypharmacy (multiple medicines use). Medicines use in older people is a complex balance between managing disease and avoiding medicines related problems. Supervised withdrawal of unnecessary medicines (deprescribing) is safe and may improve quality of life in older people.
World Antibiotic Awareness
It’s time to take antibiotic resistance seriously:
The World Health Organization has warned that antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest threats to human health today.
Information for consumers
- Antibiotics, explained
- Antibiotic resistance: the facts
- What every parent should know about coughs, colds, earaches and sore throats
Patients face return trips to doctor under proposed ban on antibiotic repeat prescriptions
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-09/push-to-cut-repeat-prescriptions-to-prevent-superbugs/11585508
A ban on repeat prescriptions for antibiotics could be just weeks away, according to Australia's chief medical officer.
- Australia's pharmaceutical expert body wants a ban on repeat prescriptions for antibiotics
- That would require patients to return to their GP to receive a repeat prescription
- The chief medical officer said it would help prevent the spread of deadly superbugs
Currently, when you are prescribed an antibiotic like Keflex or Amoxicillin by your doctor, they routinely come with an automatic repeat prescription.
But the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) has recommended removing those repeat options when they are not medically necessary.
That would mean patients would have to see their doctor again, and potentially face additional consultation fees, if they required a repeat script.
Australia's chief medical officer, Professor Brendan Murphy, said the change could be the best way to crack down on the spread of superbugs.
"Antimicrobial resistance is a serious problem around the world, and also in Australia, and we do face the risk of increasingly unavailable antibiotics in the future, such that we might even see infections that are impossible to treat," he told AM. "This potential ban on repeat prescriptions is part of our strategy to deal with this problem, and it's directly addressing the overuse of antibiotics where they're not necessary."
Each year in Australia, more than 30 million prescriptions for antibiotics are handed over through the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS), while nearly half of Australians are given at least one course of antibiotics.
They are commonly prescribed for things like upper respiratory tract infections, although seasonal fluctuations in prescribing rates suggest a link with the treatment of viral infections such as colds and the flu.
The problem with overprescribing antibiotics is the bacteria the drugs are designed to kill can become resistant to the treatment.
This resistance can spread and mutate — forming a superbug.
09 October 2019
https://www.nps.org.au/news/if-not-opioids-then-what
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Tests, treatments, and procedures for healthcare providers and consumers to question.
An important conversation about unnecessary tests, treatments and procedures led by Australia’s medical colleges & societies & facilitated by NPS MedicineWise, Choosing Wisely Australia* challenges the way we think about health care.
Why do we go to the doctor?
According to the reason for encounter recorded in GP notes, the top five reasons that Australians went to see their GPs in 2016–17 were:
- to obtain a prescription
- for review/follow-up purposes
- for an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI)
- for immunisation, and
- to discuss results.
Overdiagnosis occurs when commonly-used diagnoses in health and medical care, diagnoses that relevant health professionals would consider correct, do more harm than good. Overtreatment, which generally follows overdiagnosis, occurs when people get treatment they don’t need. Because they don’t need the treatment, they are unlikely to get any benefits from it, but may experience side effects or other harms. http://wiserhealthcare.org.au/what-is-overdiagnosis/
Scientists make breakthrough in understanding how blood pressure affects the brain
By: Conor Burke February 10, 2020
Scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding the way brain blood flow affects certain serious illnesses such as high blood pressure, migraines and even dementia.
The academics from the University of Auckland, University College London, and Bristol University, have discovered that the brain has its own blood pressure sensors that monitor and regulate its own blood flow, separate from the body-wide blood pressure control system.
The brain needs more blood than any other organ and disturbances to brain blood flow are a known cause in many diseases. For example, sustained reduction in brain blood flow is said to be a likely cause of cognitive decline, dementia, and neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s Disease.
https://www.agedcareinsite.com.au/2020/02/scientists-make-breakthrough-in-understanding-how-blood-pressure-affects-the-brain/
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Also see "Five Questions to ask your Doctor".
Understanding interactions: Sometimes one medicine can mix badly with another in your body, and this can change how strongly the medicine works or change its side effects. This is called an interaction, and it can also happen when medicines mix with certain foods or drink (including alcohol). Read what you can do to avoid interactions. http://www.nps.org.au/topics/how-to-be-medicinewise/side-effects-interactions/understanding-interactions
Interactions are most likely to cause problems when you:
- start taking a medicine
- stop taking a medicine
- increase the dose of a medicine
Question Builder:
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/question-builder
Prepare for your medical appointment by creating a list of questions to ask your doctor. Print or email the list so that it is handy to take to your appointment. This preparation will help you get more out of the time with your doctor and help you to remember everything you want to ask.
Pharmaceutical Society of Australia: tests, treatments and procedures consumers and clinicians should question
Do not initiate medications to treat symptoms, adverse events, or side effects (unless in an emergency) without determining if an existing therapy or lack of adherence is the cause, and whether a dosage reduction, discontinuation of a medication, or another treatment is warranted.
Continue reading at: http://www.choosingwisely.org.au/recommendations/pharmaceutical-society-of-australia
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My Health Record legislation changes
On Monday 26 November 2018, The Australian Digital Health Agency announced that the Australian Parliament passed legislation to strengthen privacy protections in My Heath Records Act 2012. The changes include:
- allow Australians to permanently delete their records, and any backups, at any time
- explicitly prohibit access to My Health Records by insurers and employers
- provide greater privacy for teenagers 14 years and over
- strengthen existing protections for people at risk of family and domestic violence
- clarify that only the Agency, the Department of Health and the Chief Executive of Medicare (and no other government agency) can access the My Health Record system
- explicitly require law enforcement and other agencies to produce a court order to access information in My Health Records
- make clear that the system cannot be privatised or used for commercial purposes.
A My Health Record will be created for all Australians after 31 January 2019 unless they tell the Australian Digital Health Agency that they do not want one.
Your My Health Record is an online summary of your health information, such as your medicines, any allergies you may have, and your medical history. Once your My Health Record is created your doctor, hospitals and other healthcare providers involved in your care can automatically access your health information, unless you set up your privacy controls.
Using these privacy controls lets you decide which healthcare providers can access your My Health Record and what they can view. You can also ask a provider not to upload certain information. If you decide you don’t want a My Health Record you can cancel it at any time.
Click on Frequently Asked Questions: https://www.oaic.gov.au/myhealthrecord/privacy/
By default, when an individual registers for a My Health Record they give standing consent for all registered healthcare provider organisations to access and upload information to their My Health Record. Learn more here.
My Health Record and pathology request forms
Over the past few months you may have noticed pathology request forms now have a check box with the wording ‘do not send to My Health Record’. If a patient has a My Health Record and does not wish for their pathology results to be uploaded, this check box will need to be ticked by either the health provider or patient. If you have older forms that do not have this check box, hand writing ‘do not send to My Health Record’ is accepted. When the check box is ticked or consent is withdrawn through writing, this is applied to all tests requested on the form. A patient will need to withdraw consent for each instance they do not want their results uploaded.
If the check box is left unticked and the patient has a My Health Record, the results will be uploaded. The upload of results to a patient's My Health Record will not replace current forms of communication or correspondence. Please also note that some Queensland Health facilities are now uploading pathology results to the My Health Record system. For more information, you can also visit the My Health Record website.
This is the final week for Australians to opt-out of having a secure My Health Record created for them by the end of 2018. Any Australian that doesn’t want a record has the opportunity to register their choice by visiting MyHealthRecord.gov.au or calling 1800 723 471 by 15 November 2018.
Every time your My Health Record is accessed, it is recorded in an audit log which you can view by logging into your My Health Record. The System Operator cyber security team constantly monitors system access. There are strict penalties for unlawful access.
If you have concerns about who has accessed your My Health Record, contact 1800 723 471.
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https://vimeo.com/124597870
A 90 second online video showing what happens behind the scenes after your Pathology sample is taken - at the Doctors, or in the hospital setting.
Check also with your Doctor, and particularly with your Pharmacist, as your medicine labels are changing.
Labels on prescription and over-the-counter medicines in Australia have been updated. This includes the labels on complementary medicines such as vitamins and supplements. The changes will gradually start taking place from 31 August 2016 in response to new requirements from the Therapeutic Goods Administration. However, you may not notice much difference to your medicine labels straight away, as manufacturers and suppliers have up to four years to make the changes needed.
http://www.nps.org.au/publications/consumer/medicinewise-living/2016/medicine-labels-changing
The updates will depend on the medicine. For some it is a single letter change in the spelling. For other medicines, the active ingredient name will change a lot and may not look anything like the old name. A full list of the affected medicines is provided on the TGA website.
Published in Medicinewise Living
01 September 2016
Adverse Medicine Events Line 1300 134 237 from anywhere in Australia. Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm AEST (excluding public holidays). You can call to discuss any side effects that might be due to your:
- prescription medicines
- over-the-counter medicines (eg pain relievers and cold medication)
- complementary medicines (vitamins, minerals, herbal or natural medicines)
- An overdose or suspected poisoning? Poisons Information Centre Phone 13 11 26 24/7.
Australia's peak colleges, societies and associations have developed lists of recommendations of the tests, treatments, and procedures that healthcare providers and consumers should question. Each recommendation is based on the best available evidence.
Importantly, they are not prescriptive but are intended as guidance to start a conversation about what is appropriate and necessary.
As each situation is unique, healthcare providers and consumers should use the recommendations to collaboratively formulate their own appropriate healthcare plan together.
Find out what you Don't Know about Your Condition
These pages will give you the confidence to "Ask Your Doctor".
What happens now?
What does this mean for ME?
These pages are set out very clearly and are of immense help to YOU and your loved one. Often all you need is the confidence to Actually be able to discuss your concerns with your Doctor.
Click here Medical Test
- choose what condition or symptom you are interested in – and click on it,
- then click again on “Recommendation” for a more in-depth explanation.
- on reading the 1. 2. 3. 4... recommendations; if you want a brief and clear explanation on any one of them, click on it.
click on these:
Allergy tests
Blood culture
Blood glucose test
Blood tests
Bone marrow biopsy
Bowel cancer tests
Cardiovascular risk assessment
Carotid artery ultrasound
Chest x-ray
Cholesterol and lipid tests
Clinical decision rules
Coagulation studies
Colonoscopy
Computed tomography (CT) scan
Coronary artery calcium score
D-Dimer
Diabetes tests
Diagnostic imaging
Echocardiography
Electrocardiogram (ECG)
Endoscopy
Eye examination
Faecal occult blood test
Faecal pathogen tests
Glucose tolerance test
HbA1c test
Hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp
IgE (immunoglobulin E) test
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Medication review
Microbiological techniques
Optical imaging
Pap tests
Pelvic examination
Platelet count test
Prostate cancer tests
Serologic tests
Stool tests
Stress tests
Testosterone test
Thrombophilia tests
Thyroid function tests
Tumour marker test
Tympanometry
Ultrasound
Urine culture test
Vision tests
Vitamin D tests
X-rays
Condition or Symptom:
http://www.choosingwisely.org.au/recommendations?displayby=ConditionOrSymptom
Acne
Adhesive capsulitis of shoulder
Adverse drug reactions
Alcohol addiction
Allergies
Anaemia
Anaphylaxis
Ankle injury
Appendicitis
Back pain
Bacterial infection
Bacteruria
Bleeding and coagulation
Bowel cancer
Bronchitis
Cancer
Cardiovascular disorders
Cataracts
Cellulitis
Cervical spine injuries
Cholesterol and lipid problems
Colorectal cancer
Common cold
Cough
Craniocerebral trauma
Deep vein thrombosis
Dementia
Diabetes, type 1
Diabetes, type 2
Diarrhoea
Drug dependence
Dyspnoea
Ear infection
Epidermal cysts
Eye disorders
Fatigue
Fever
Foot injury
Frozen shoulder
Fungal nail infection
Gastroenteritis
Gastro-oesophageal reflux
Head injuries
Healthcare-associated infections
Heart disease
Heartburn and reflux
Hepatic disorders
Hernias
High blood pressure
Hyperlipidaemia
Hypertension
Hypogonadism
Infant nutritional problems
Insulin sensitivity
Kidney disorders
Lattice degeneration
Leg cellulitis
Leg ulcers
Leukaemia
Liver disorders
Low back pain
Lymphoma
Macular degeneration
Neck injuries
Obesity
Otitis media
Ovarian cancer
Pain
Peptic ulcers
Postoperative complications
Prostate cancer
Prostate disorders
Pulmonary embolism
Pyrexia
Renal disorders
Respiratory tract infection
Skin cysts
Snake bites
Sore throat
Stroke
Substance abuse
Terminal illness
Testosterone deficiency
Thrombocytopenic purpura
Thrombophilia
Thyroid disorders
Toenail deformities
Urinary incontinence
Urinary tract infections
Urticaria
Venous thromboembolism
Vitamin D deficiency
Medicine or Treatment:
http://www.choosingwisely.org.au/recommendations?displayby=MedicineOrTreatment
Adrenaline
Allergen immunotherapy
Alpha-adrenergic antagonists
Alternative medicine
Analgesics
Antibiotics
Anticoagulants
Antifungal drugs
Antihistamines
Antihypertensive drugs
Antipsychotic drugs
Antipyretic drugs
Bariatric surgery
Benzodiazepines
Blood transfusion
Codeine
Complementary therapies
Cryotherapy
Electrotherapy
End of life care
Feeding tubes
Fever medicines
Gastric banding
Heartburn and reflux medicines
Hypoglycemic drugs
Incentive spirometry
Intravascular lines
Intravitreal injections
Laser therapy
Manual therapy
Mechanical ventilation
NSAIDs
Nutritional support
Oxygen therapy
Pain medicines
Palliative care
Peripheral venous catheterisation
Polypharmacy
Primary prevention
Proton pump inhibitors
Sedation
Sedatives and medicines for sleep problems
Statins
Surgery
Testosterone
Thyroxine
Urinary catheterisation
Urological agents
Vascular access devices
Vitamin supplements
Medicine Branch:
http://www.choosingwisely.org.au/recommendations?displayby=MedicineBranch
Addiction medicine
Cardiology
Dermatology
Emergency medicine
Endocrinology
Gastroenterology and hepatology
General practice
Geriatrics
Gynaecology
Haematology
Immunology and allergy
Infectious diseases
Intensive care medicine
Nephrology
Neurology
Nursing
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Otolaryngology
Paediatrics
Pain medicine
Palliative medicine
Pathology
Pharmacology
Physiotherapy
Psychiatry
Radiology
Rheumatology
Sexual health medicine
Surgery
Urology
*What is Choosing Wisely Australia?
Choosing Wisely Australia® is an initiative that brings the medical community together to improve the quality of healthcare through considering tests, treatments, and procedures where evidence shows they provide no benefit or, in some cases, lead to harm.
Led by Australia’s medical colleges and professional societies and facilitated by NPS MedicineWise, Choosing Wisely Australia challenges the way we think about health care, questioning the notion 'more is always better'.
As the catalyst for public discussion, Choosing Wisely Australia is encouraging clinicians and consumers to start a conversation about what care is truly needed – identifying which practices are helpful and which are not.
With the complexity of tests, treatments, and procedures available to modern medicine, the challenge is that not all add value. Some are rendered redundant as others take their place. Unnecessary practices are a diversion away from effective care. They often lead to more frequent and invasive investigations that can expose the consumer to undue risk of harm, emotional stress, or financial cost.
A cross-section of medical colleges and societies have come together to identify practices that warrant scrutiny, examining the evidence and drawing on the expert opinion of their members to develop a list of recommendations: "Tests, treatments and procedures to question."
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http://wiserhealthcare.org.au/
Wiser Healthcare is a research collaboration involving The University of Sydney, Bond University, Monash University and international colleagues. It is funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, through both its Centres for Research Excellence scheme and its Program Grant scheme.
It aims to conduct research that will reduce overdiagnosis and overtreatment in Australia and around the world. Overdiagnosis and overtreatment occur when routine medical tests and treatments do more harm than good. Wiser Healthcare will investigate the cause and size of the problem and test new solutions, in the areas of cancer, cardiovascular disease and musculoskeletal disorders.
We will particularly focus on overdiagnosis caused by imaging (like CT scans and MRI scans), testing biomarkers (for example, blood tests like the Prostate Specific Antigen test), and genetic tests. Here you can find out about our plans, read our work, see the evidence about overdiagnosis, and get help to make decisions, whether you are a clinician, a policymaker, or a citizen considering your own healthcare.
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The sharing of information among peers is a key to reducing these problematic practices that have become ingrained in the system. Importantly, it sets the scene for wider community involvement.
with many grateful thanks to NPS MedicineWise for facilitating "Choosing Wisely Australia". This initiative is Exactly what Carers and their Loved Ones have been searching for... It is laid out clearly and precisely, and empowers us all so that WE truly understand what is being proposed by our Doctor.
24 February 2021