-
Scabies
Scabies is an infectious disease in which tiny insects or parasitic mites called scabies fester under the skin. The wingless female burrows under the skin and lays up to three eggs per day. This causes zigzag marks to appear on the skin that become extremely irritated and itchy, and look like a red rash. The […]
-
Good Nutrition
Nutrition is the science of food. All foods are made up of chemical compounds. When we eat various foods our body breaks them down into chemicals that we can then use. There are five groups of chemicals present in the various foods we eat: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals. Proteins Proteins are found in […]
-
Don’t Blow It (Smoking)
Your smoking doesn’t just hurt you ” it hurts your family too. When you’re smoking, other people around you are also exposed to your cigarette smoke. When other people breathe that smoke in, this is called passive smoking. There are three types of passive smoke produced by cigarette smoking. They are: Mainstream smoke ” this […]
-
Tell Your Cancer Story Through Art
Indigenous Australian artists of all ages and ability are being encouraged to use their skills in artistry and story telling in this year’s Cancer Council Victoria Arts Awards. The Cancer Council is calling for entries in the Indigenous Visual Art category of the Arts Awards, an annual event that provides an opportunity for people to […]
-
Belly Busters (Stomach Ulcers)
They can be painful, but stomach ulcers are easy to treat. A stomach ulcer is a break in or damage to the protective lining of the stomach. This lining is there to protect your stomach from the strong acid and gastric juices that are used to digest your food. Up until recently, it was believed […]
-
Puff Bunny (Asthma)
Having asthma shouldn’t mean that you can’t reach your goals. Just ask Joe. Joe Williams is 23 years old, a father of two and one of the NRL’s rising stars. He also has asthma. But Joe hasn’t let asthma stand in the way of his success with the South Sydney Rabbitohs ” he’s learned how […]
-
Standard Drinks and You
A standard drink is any drink that contains 10 grams of alcohol. It can be hard to work out standard drinks because different types of drinks contain different amounts of alcohol, are mixed with different ingredients and come in different sized containers. Sometimes you can tell how many standard drinks your drink contains by looking […]
-
Happy Families
What can you do to make your family a happier one? The word “family” can mean pretty much anything these days, from the traditional family structure of two parents and their children living together to single parents, step-parents and extended families. But whatever type of family you belong to, there are certain things that can […]
-
Nurture your body
Our bodies are continually changing. We grow and change from a baby girl to a big girl to a young teenage girl, then into a woman and into old age. Throughout these phases, our body goes through many different changes and faces many challenges. To best cope with our ever-changing bodies and to be strong […]
-
Just Kickin’ It! (Smoking)
Wanna ditch the durries? You don’t have to do it alone. Cigarette smoking is responsible for more deaths in the Indigenous population than either alcohol or petrol sniffing. More than 50 per cent of our mob smoke, and this is having a serious impact on our health and life expectancies. Dr Rowena Ivers, from the […]
-
Diabetes
Diabetes is a condition that causes high levels of sugar in the blood stream. It is caused by problems with the hormone “insulin” which is produced by the pancreas. There are two types: non-insulin diabetes, which is treated by weight reduction, diet and use of drugs to increase insulin in your body; and insulin dependant […]
-
What to eat during pregnancy
Pregnancy is something many women experience at some stage in their lives. It’s one of the most exhilarating, frustrating, scary, thrilling and confusing times ever. There’ll be days when you’re miserable and days when you’re over the moon. There’ll be days when the thought of caring for a baby frightens you and days when you […]
-
All About Gout (Foot Health)
Despite the fact that many have never heard of it, gout is one of the world’s oldest-known diseases. Soccer fans would have read about Socceroos’ star Harry Kewell being stuck down with a case of gout during the recent World Cup, leading him to miss out on Australia’s second round match against Italy, which saw […]
-
Battle of the booze (Alcohol)
A shocking new report reveals just how much the grog is hurting us. Alcohol kills an average of one Indigenous Australian every 38 hours. This is the horrifying finding of a National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) report into alcohol-attributable deaths among Indigenous Australians. Researchers found that alcohol killed1145 Indigenous Australians between 2000 and 2004. The […]
-
Rubella
Rubella, or German measles as it is commonly known, is an infectious disease characterised by a rash, fever and enlarged neck glands. The rash looks a bit like normal measles and spreads all over the body, most noticeably on the face, neck and upper chest. The disease is usually very mild, especially in children, and […]
-
Moon Walker (Sleepwalking)
Some of us go walking in our sleep ” but why? Sleepwalking is a fascinating, but often misunderstood condition that is more common in children ” around 15 per cent of children sleepwalk regularly compared to around two per cent of adults. Sleepwalking can be anything from sitting up in bed to getting up and […]
Read previous Physical Health stories from our archives: