One of our areas of expertise is skin cancer checks. Getting you skin checked by a professional is very important for Australians and especially those at high risk of skin cancer. I’ve attached our latest flyer below. Now that summer is over, it’s the perfect time to have your annual skin cancer checkup. Call us for an appointment.

Around 3% to 4% of people suffer from epilepsy at some stage of their life, making it a fairly common condition. Epilepsy is a neurological condition that is characterised by recurrent, unprovoked epileptic seizures. These seizures are signs of abnormal or excessive neuronal activity in the brain. An epileptic seizure can cause changes in sensation, awareness, and behaviour, or sometimes convulsions, muscle spasms or loss of consciousness, depending on where the seizure starts and spreads in the brain. Seizures can last a few seconds to a few minutes. Most seizures are over in less than three minutes.

There are many causes of epileptic seizures and a recent study suggests that the repetitive nature of teeth brushing can be a cause:

Tooth brushing can induce seizures in people with epilepsy, a new case study of three people with the condition has found.

“Brushing your teeth is very rhythmic. Our idea is that it causes a rhythmic over-activity in the brain, which feeds back on itself – similar to the effect of strobe lighting on people with photosensitive epilepsy,” says neurologist Wendyl D’Souza of St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne

Thankfully, seizures brought on by teeth brushing are very rare:

Seizures bought on by a benign stimulus such as tooth brushing, reading or strobe lighting – called “reflex” seizures – are rare, D’Souza notes.

Tooth brushing seizures can last up to 90 seconds:

The tooth-brushing seizures were smaller and included jerking of the mouth, eyes, and face; tongue cramping; and excessive salivation, lasting for up to 90 seconds.

Although epilepsy is not curable, it can can generally be treated with medication or in some circumstances, with surgery.

The Japanese encephalitis virus is one of the most common travel related diseases with around 50,000 cases per year. It is spread by infected mosquitos found primarily in South East Asia and the Far East. There is a vaccine available to prevent this potentially fatal disease, so it is advised to see your travel doctor well before travel to high risk countries.

Infection

Japanese encephalitis is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. The incubation period is generally between 6 and 16 days so it’s important to see a doctor as soon as possible after a suspected infection. Japanese encephalitis can not be transmitted from person to person.

Symptoms

Symptoms of Japanese encephalitis vary depending on the severity of the infection but may include:

• lethargy
• neck rigidity
• high fever
• headache
• disorientation
• tremors
• gastrointestinal symptoms

Treatment

There is no specific therapy to treat Japanese encephalitis. Patient care focuses on treating the symptoms displayed.

Prevention

There are two methods of prevention of Japanese encephalitis:

1. Vaccination
   Immunisation against Japanese encephalitis involves a course of vaccinations over a 30 day period. The vaccine is given on days 0, 7, and 28. A booster vaccine is required every 3 years.
   
2. Mosquito Avoidance
   If you find yourself in a high risk area and you haven’t been vaccinated, then you can follow these tips for mosquito avoidance:
   
   • Use an insect repellent.
   • Stay indoors between dawn and dusk.
   • Cover up with light coloured, loose fitting clothing.
   • Avoid strong scented soaps and perfumes.
   • When sleeping, use a mosquito net impregnated with insecticide.

High Risk Destinations

Your travel doctor can give you specifics about prevention of this virus and whether vaccination is required or advised in your case, however, the broad regions where your are most likely to find the infected mosquitos are:

• South East Asia
• Far East

Specific high risk countries vary depending on recent outbreaks. These countries may include:

• Bali
• Bangladesh
• Cambodia
• China
• India
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Myanmar
• Nepal
• Pakistan
• Papua New Guinea
• Thailand
• Timor
• Torres Strait islands
• Vietnam

Visit your doctor to determine the best method of prevention or treatment for you.

Approximately 23% of Australians are smokers which equates to around 3.5 million people. These people are seriously risking their health and possibly shaving years off their life:

According to studies on smokers, if you smoke1 pack of cigarettes a day for 10 years you lose 2 years of your life. If you smoke2 packs in 10 years time you lose 4 years. If you have smoked one pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years you lose 4 years off of your life and if you smoke2 packs a day in 20 years you lose 9 years off of your life.

Smoking damages most organs in the human body and is linked to at least 10 different cancers. Smoking accounts for nearly 30 percent of all cancer deaths.

A few smoking facts:

• Tobacco smoking is the largest single preventable cause of death and disease in Australia (Cancer Council 2006).
• Smoking is a key risk factor for the three diseases that cause most deaths in Australia: ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and lung cancer. Smokers are also at increased risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and reduced lung function.
• Smoking in pregnancy increases the risk of health problems for both mother and child.
• Smoking is responsible for around 80% of all lung cancer deaths and 20% of all cancer deaths (smoking has been linked to cancers of the mouth, bladder, kidney, stomach and cervix, among others).
• The 2003 Australian Burden of Disease Study indicates that tobacco smoking was second behind overweight among the leading causes of burden of disease in Australia. It was estimated that tobacco smoking was responsible for about 8% of the total burden of disease and injury for allAustralians (9.5% of total for males and 6.1% of total for females).

How to Quit Smoking

The first thing to do if you want to quit smoking and don’t know how is to speak to your doctor who can recommend a plan of action and then monitor your progress. Other useful information can be found at the Quit campaign website.

Coffee is often considered to be unhealthy due to some of the negative effects of caffeine on the body:

Drinking too much coffee can have adverse side effects, like restlessness, anxiety, and headaches, but limiting yourself to one to four brewed cups perdayseems to be a safe practice. Although for those with high blood pressure, consuming between two to four cups perdaymaybe a bit risky because coffee causes blood pressure to rise immediately after consumption. And all coffee drinkers should fight the urge to add sugar, flavored syrup, and whole milk to to their beverages.

 However, recent studies suggest that it’s not all that bad:

Studies show drinking coffee may reduce your risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, and colon cancer. It’s even been linked to a decreased risk of inflammatory and cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women.

So should you be drinking coffee? Well, as usual, moderation is the key. A couple of cups of coffee per day should be fine for most healthy people.