Good Health Blog

Have you had a fall recently? If so it is important to discuss it with your Doctor if the reason was not apparent or you have some risk factors which could mean a fall having ongoing consequences.

Falls can be very serious if you are elderly or are at risk of low-trauma fractures (osteoporosis, Vitamin D or calcium deficient). They may not be due to just being clumsy – sometimes falls can be due to medical conditions such as inappropriate blood pressure drop, balance disorders, vision issues, muscle weakness or delayed reflexes.

To help prevent falls, older people need to be encouraged to undertake regular exercise (especially balance training), have regular vision assessments, consider having an in home occupational therapist do a home safety assessment and ensure their Doctor is aware of the problem.

A fall a day will not keep the Doctor away. Hasten for a check up.

Take the time to look around you home, your work, your travel. Consider what is keeping you healthy and what might be adding a health risk. Sometimes you can improve you health by opening a window, or screening one! The much used dust mask might need an update or maybe you should consider buying that good hat with a wide brim. Have a think about the following:

• Air pollution – for example, smog, wood smoke and mould.
• Water quality – for example, grey water, tank water, fluoridation and drought.
• Food quality – for example, contamination and nutrition.
• Chemicals – for example, pesticides, farm chemicals, arsenic and CCA treated timber.
• Metals – for example, exposure to lead, mercury and cadmium.
• Diseases from animals and insects (vector borne) – for example, dengue fever, hendra virus, lyssavirus, Ross River fever and malaria.
• Infectious diseases – for example, viral infections like swine flu.
• Natural hazards – for example, solar radiation and extreme weather events.
• Man-made structures – for example, exposure to asbestos or electromagnetic radiation sources like mobile phones.
• Occupational health – for example, safety issues relating to the workplace such as noise pollution and hazardous waste.
• Climate change – for example, higher sea levels, increased soil salinity and increased temperatures.

this project started in 2008 with a concept to bring quality health advice direct to the public. After a year of reviewing preventative health recommendations and trying to design a format that is patient friendly and undertandable, eDoc.net is now ready to go onto the web. Many of the preventative health and screening protocols are designed in ‘doctor-speak’ and thus make little sense to patients. I am writing the explanations and getting my 16 year old daughter and local tradesman friends to read them before I post them. If they cannot understand what is needed then I re-work the explanation until it is useful.