Healthcare workers in the UK and around the world are rapidly adopting new information technology tools to assist them in their work. These range from vast national networks such as the UK’s Summary Care Record service to personalised mobile applications such as the “Epocrates” medication reference “app”.
Despite and perhaps because of the advances in biomedicine over the past few decades, chronic diseases, like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes are now rising in many places of the world and more worryingly they impose their heaviest burden on the poor and disadvantaged populations.
As I move towards 50, I think more about my age than I used to. And it’s not entirely encouraging.I hurtle around the sun, clock up the years and head unswervingly towards the inevitable. Or do I?
World Health Day celebrates the establishment of the World Health Organisation in 1948. This year the theme was health and ageing - two things that don’t obviously go together – but two things that now warrant much more of my attention than they used to!
From July this year all Australians will be able to register to have their personal health records made accessible online to the health care professionals they authorise. The promise is that for the first time, Australians will have easy access to information about their medical history, including medications, test results and allergies, and so will their health care providers.
Much is made in the Western media of the growing global political and economic importance of China and India. There is also much commentary about personal rights, financial inequalities and social dissidence.
But in contrast, we hear very little about the actual wellbeing of these populations despite the great impact they will have on the rest of the world in this, the “Asian century”.
The truth is that the health of Chinese and Indian populations is a major determinant of economic development in both countries, and, as a consequence, economic development globally.
When we seek medical attention or advice we expect our health providers to treat us based on the best science. After all, Australia spends about 9% of its entire GDP on healthcare, so we must be getting high-quality, science based care. Right?
Worldwide, more people die from cardiovascular disease than any other cause. Alongside smoking, this is predominantly due to high blood pressure, which alone claims more than seven million lives annually. Poor diets and insufficient physical activity are key drivers to the blood pressure problem – which is true not only for developed countries, but also for the great majority of developing countries including India and China.
Governments are spending record sums on health research, yet arguably much of what will be spent will have little immediate relevance to the health experiences of ordinary individuals. It will provide little benefit to our children and their children and have even less impact on our own health: neither during the life of current governments nor during the long line of governments to follow will the impact of that research be seen.
It's something most parents have to deal with at some stage - putting those learner plates on the car and taking off with your child at the wheel.
Young drivers are at very high risk of a crash in their first year of solo driving, and account for about 25 percent of fatal crashes due to risk factors such as inexperience, distractions, speed and fatigue. To help address this, all Australian States and Territories have a graduated licensing system.
We visit doctors for two main reasons: for help with issues that are causing us pain or discomfort, and less commonly, to prevent such conditions.
When we take a medicine, have a blood test, x-ray or a procedure, we expect that these will benefit us and that the benefits will outweigh any potential risks or dangers.
We naturally expect our doctors to guide us according to what is best for us, safest and most effective. But, how would we feel if there was no clear evidence that treatments we were given effective or truly safe?
