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Kidney disease – Prevention is better than cure
The incidence of kidney failure in some Aboriginal communities is 30 times that of the national average. Don’t let it happen to you. Kidney disease in Indigenous communities is now been proclaimed as a “national tragedy”, according to Kidney Health Australia. The only way that this tragedy can be reversed is through early detection and […]
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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 […]
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Here Comes the Sun (Skin Cancer)
Keep your skin safe this summer ” protect yourself from the sun. Australians have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. And no matter what you might think, everyone ” no matter what their skin colour ” is at risk. “Although skin cancer rates among Indigenous Australians are lower, there’s no question that […]
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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 […]
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No Bones About It
Keep your bones healthy now and you’ll thank yourself later. Osteoporosis affects one in three women and one in eight men across the world. It is a condition that causes the bones to become brittle and fracture or break easily. Although it mostly affects older women, there are things you can do to keep you […]
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Body Talk (Allergies)
What’s bugging you? Allergies explained. An allergy is your body’s reaction to a food or substance that might not bother other people. It’s basically your boy’s way of telling you it doesn’t like something. Some of the most common allergies include pollen from flowers, dust, animal fur, nuts, eggs and milk. Allergies can show themselves […]
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Speaking in Tongues (Oral Health)
Beware the black hairy tongue, and other nasties. The tongue is an important part of our body. It not only helps us to chew and swallow our food, it also helps us to talk. The health and appearance of our tongue can also be an indicator of our overall health. The tongue consists predominately of […]
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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 […]
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Early Warning
The Pap smear – a simple test that can save your life. Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable and curable of all cancers. Despite this, each year in Australia more than 300 women die from it. But the good news is, up to 90 per cent of the most common type of cervical […]
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Nit Picking (Head Lice)
Ugh, head lice! So how do you stop these nasty critters from running riot? Head lice are itchy little buggers that can spread through a classroom like wildfire, unless you stop them in their tracks. What are head lice?Head lice are tiny little wingless insects that live, feed and breed on the human scalp. They’ve […]
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General Malaise
The results are in ” our health still lags behind. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the results of its 2004-05 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey. This survey is the largest ever study of the Indigenous population, and reveals that health problems in our own community still far outweigh those […]
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Safe Sex
There are a lot of things to think about when you spend the night with someone and have sex. In particular, you need to be careful about sexually transmitted diseases or STDs There are all sorts of STDs Things like chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and hepatitis. You might know them by other names like pox, crabs […]
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Tummy Troubles
Crohn’s disease is a chronic condition, but one that can be managed. Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory condition that affects the gastrointestinal tract – the part of your digestive system where your body processes food and gets rid of waste. It includes the oesophagus, stomach, liver, intestines, and rectum. It’s a long-term medical problem that […]
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Coming to a Head (Boils)
Most of us will develop a boil at some stage ” those unsightly and often painful sores on the skin. A boil is a localised infection deep in the skin that usually starts as a reddened, tender area that over time becomes firm and hard. Eventually, the centre of the boil fills up with pus, […]
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Asthma
ASTHMA Asthma is a condition that affects the breathing tubes (bronchioles) in the lungs. During an asthma attack the muscles in these tubes tighten, causing the bronchioles to contract and shrink. A person suffering from an asthma attack finds it very difficult to breathe, and this can often be accompanied by a wheezing noise and/or […]
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Smoking
When you smoke, you are doing damage to your entire body. The areas of your body that are worst affected by smoking cigarettes are your lungs, arteries and especially your heart. YOUR LUNGS Some people who smoke know the damage smoking is doing to their lungs. They know that they feel short of breath and […]
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