On 1^st November 2006, GP Mental Health Care items became available on the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS). These items are improving access to mental health services provided by General Practitioners and were developed in consultation with GP organisations. The items provide a structured framework for GPs to undertake early intervention, assessment and management of patients with mental health issues, and provide referral pathways to clinical psychologists and other allied mental health service providers.

Avoiding known allergic triggers is an important part of allergy and asthma management. Allergy testing (using Skin Prick tests or RAST blood tests) helps your doctor to confirm which allergens you are sensitive to, so that appropriate avoidance advice can be given.

50% of children have had an episode of acute OM by their first birthday and 70% by their third birthday. About 30% of children will have multiple infections. This high incidence in children is due to their relatively higher incidence of upper respiratory infections and immaturity of the tubes that connect the middle ear to the back of the nose.

In February, 30 local business men took up the challenge to lose 20 kilos in 20 weeks while raising funds for two local charities. The countdown to the final weigh-in is now on!

The event will take place this Thursday at the Sunshine Coast Turf Club in conjunction with the Calcutta Sportsmans Lunch.

At this point in the competition Seven Queensland's Sales Director Hamish Thompson is in the lead losing more than 17 kilos.

Queensland Health claims that Queenslanders have the worst teeth in Australia, with the highest rates of tooth decay. This situation is leading to high personal and community costs, as well as reducing our health and wellbeing. Queensland Health states correctly that tooth decay is totally preventable by eating a healthy diet, regular and effective brushing and flossing, and having regular dental check-ups. Fluoridation of local water supplies is also a proven effective and safe way to maximise dental health in communities.

The word “arthritis” literally means – inflammation of a joint. Arthritis is characterised by pain, swelling, loss of function, and eventual joint deformity.

What is Iodine ?

The goal at Medicine on Second is to improve the quality of service given in general health care. Practice manager Nicky Jardine said the company believes that customer service can make the difference between a satisfactory doctor’s visit and an enjoyable one.

A Maroochydore medical practice was officially recognised as the finest in Queensland at an awards ceremony last night.

It could be a case of thirdtime lucky for Maroochydore businesswoman and mum Yvette Adams, a shortlisted finalist in two categories of the 2007 Queensland Small Business Champions awards.

•Unsettled infants are predominately <6mths of age
•Crying is a normal response
•Crying increases from birth and peaks at 6-8 weeks
•Average duration 30-180mins per day, concentrated in evenings
•Usually subsides by 3-4 months

Persistent crying = more than 3 hours/day, 3 days a week for 3 consecutive weeks

Often classified as ‘colic' – occurs in 20% of babies

Falls are the most common cause of injury in children presenting to an emergency department. Children with their relatively large heads, flexible bones and limited ability to protect themselves during a fall, frequently suffer from bone fractures and minor head injuries. Common fractures in children involve the clavicle (collar bone), humerus (upper arm bone), radius/ulna (forearm bones) and tibia/fibula (lower leg/ankle). Because children's bones are more pliable than adult bone, an incomplete or ‘greenstick' fracture may occur. This is where only one side of the fracture is broken and the other side is bent or buckled, like trying to snap a green stick.

Having children with recurrent head lice can be frustrating for parents and can, quite literally, have parents scratching their own heads as to how to rid themselves and their children of the problem. Head lice are tiny insects that live on the human scalp and lay their eggs on hair shafts near the scalp. They are very common is school age children and very easy to catch. The head louse feed on human blood and need the warmth of a human scalp to live. They cannot live for long away from the human head. Head lice are harmless and they do not spread diseases in Australia. However, itching from their bite can very irritating and the skin can become infected from scratching.

Abuse and maltreatment of children is one of the most significant public health problems, with major implications for the mental and physical health of the abused child. Psychological or emotional abuse refers to a pattern of relationship with the child that involves damaging attitudes, feelings and responses to a child's emotional needs. Neglect, also a form of abuse, is the failure to provide physical and emotional requirements for healthy development. Chronic neglect reflects a repeated failure to meet the child's basic needs, and can have physical, developmental and emotional consequences.

Infant Colic = recurrent episodes of irritability, fussing, or excessive crying lasting for a total of more than 3 hours a day, on more than 3 days a week, for more than 3 weeks.

>more likely afternoon/evening
>in infant between 2 weeks old and 4 months old

Preschoolers can be just as challenging with regards to their behaviour as toddlers, but often in different ways, relating to pushing limits, challenging authority and consideration of others. This is the age when children must learn to recognize and respect parental authority (and from this the authority of others in later years). The discipline strategies you as the parent employ in these scenarios play a vital role in building a cooperative attitude and respect for your authority.

A recent RACQ survey showed that parents were putting their children at risk by incorrectly using child restraints in cars. The survey showed almost half of four to seven-year-olds are being transported dangerously. And many parents – more than one in three – are mistakenly using adult seatbelts alone to restrain toddlers – a practice which can cause severe injuries to young children in a crash. Forty-five percent of children surveyed were being driven around in unsuitably fitted restraints, the incorrect type of car seat and, worst of all, without any specific child restraint at all. Most alarming to the organisers of the survey was that 1 in 10 toddlers were traveling in the front seat, a practice considered negligent to safety advocates, given front seatbelts and airbags are only designed to restrain adult passengers.

‘Food hypersensitivity' is defined as an adverse reaction to a food protein that results from an over-reaction of the immune system. Food hypersensitivity is different to ‘food intolerance' which refers to an adverse reaction to food caused by chemicals contained in the food, rather than an immune reaction. Examples of food intolerance would include lactose intolerance (reaction to milk sugar due to lack of an enzyme in the intestine.

A reader passed on an interesting home remedy for her 8 year old boy, whose bed-wetting resolved with a teaspoon of honey given in the evening. Bed-wetting, also known as ‘Nocturnal Enuresis' is a common problem and is considered normal up to the age of 5 years. Ten per cent of 5 year olds wet the bed and it is more common in boys than girls. There is often a strong family history of bed-wetting. Nocturnal enuresis is thought to be caused by a combination of factors, namely underdeveloped arousal response to a full bladder, excess urine production during sleep and reduced functional bladder capacity. Because it happens during sleep, the child has no conscious control over it. Bedwetting can also be associated with constipation and functional bladder problems, especially if daytime incontinence occurs simultaneously.

Some research on the internet reveals a couple of interesting references to honey as a remedy for bed-wetting. It seems that it is originally an African natural remedy and it is claimed to work by its sedative actions on the nervous system and fluid retention effects on the kidneys. Unfortunately, I could not find any placebo controlled trials to support this treatment, which is my preference before recommending a treatment.

FEVER is raised body temperature, generally defined as a temperature above 37.5 degrees Celsius (when taken by a thermometer in the mouth or under the arm).

Fever is a normal physiological response to infection and most fevers are caused by a large variety of viral infections, that will resolve with little or no intervention.

Hepatitis B is a serious disease that is caused by a blood-borne virus that infects the liver. The Hepatitis B virus is found in infected body fluids such as blood, saliva and semen. The virus can be transmitted by blood to blood contact (including contact with cuts or abrasions, contaminated needles/syringes, contaminated body piercings, needlestick injuries and sexual contact). Babies whose mothers have Hepatitis B are at very high risk of being infected with the virus at birth. Most young children, and about five per cent of adults, who catch the virus become carriers. Babies who contract Hep B may only have mild symptoms, or have no symptoms at all. However, many of these babies will go on to carry the virus in their bloodstream for many years and may then be able to pass it on to other people. As many as 25% of Hep B carriers may develop liver cancer or liver failure later in life.

What is male circumcision?

Circumcision in boys is an operation in which the foreskin or prepuce (the fold of skin that covers the tip of the penis) is removed. Few boys were circumcised before 1900, and most of these were done for religious or cultural reasons. In Western countries, circumcision rates gradually increased during the last century, reaching a peak in the 1950s when most boys were routinely circumcised. More recently, routine circumcision has fallen out of favour in the community and in medical circles, and now less than 10% of baby boys in Australia are circumcised.

Fever is a raised body temperature, generally defined as a temperature above 37.5 degrees Celsius (when taken by a thermometer in the mouth or under the arm). Fever is caused by chemicals and hormones produced by the immune system, and is considered to be a normal (‘physiological') response to infection. It is thought to assist the body in fighting the infection more effectively. Trying to lower a fever is not usually necessary and over-zealous treatment of fever may actually prolong an illness and reduce the immune response to the infection. A fever in itself is usually not dangerous, as long as it is not above 41 degC and the child is able to avoid dehydration. More importantly, it is necessary that the cause of the fever be identified, so that serious and potentially life threatening infections are not overlooked.

As winter approaches, certain respiratory infections in children become more prevalent. Some of these can be more serious than the common cold, especially in babies less than six months old.

CROUP is viral infection of the voice box (larynx) and large windpipe (trachea) causing swelling and narrowing of the upper airway, usually just below the voice box. It usually affects children under the age of five. Croup often begins like a normal cold followed by a harsh, barking cough, described as ‘croupy'. This often occurs at night when the air is cooler. Croup can get worse quickly.

Up to 40% of Australian children are affected by allergies at some time during their life. Allergic diseases have seemed to increase in prevalence in Western countries and their frequency has approximately doubled over the last 25 years. The most common allergic conditions in children are food allergies (which are much less common than many think), eczema, asthma and allergic rhinitis (hay fever). Allergies are caused by abnormal immune responses to otherwise harmless substances in the environment. These substances, called allergens, can enter the body through the respiratory system, gastrointestinal system, skin or eyes.

As a doctor and a bloke, I have observed many times the angst and guilt that breastfeeding (or the inability to breast feed) can evoke in women after childbirth. Any breastfeeding advocate can rattle off a list of the advantages of breastfeeding to infants, their mothers and society. The list of alleged benefits range from better emotional attachment to a lower risk of childhood leukaemia or crooked teeth. On pondering these many and varied claims, I was interested to find out how many supposed benefits had actually been confirmed by rigorous scientific research.

While there is not (and never will be) any such thing as a 100% safe vaccine or a 100% effective vaccine, when compared to the damage done every year to children from vaccine-preventable diseases, the risks of immunisation are fair less significant than many would have us believe. Let's clear up some commonly voiced myths about immunisation and vaccines: