Chronic disease and comorbidities

Chronic disease and comorbidities

Chronic Disease Statistics

Chronic diseases tend to be long lasting and have persistent effects. They affect people's quality of life and also have social and economic effects. This new web release from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare presents comorbidity data for eight selected chronic diseases. It seems that 1 in 5 Australians have two or more of these diseases: 

• arthritis
• asthma
• back problems
• cancer
• COPD 
• CVD 
• diabetes
• mental health conditions

 

Chronic disease indicators and targets for Australia

Chronic disease indicators and targets for Australia

Chronic Disease

The Australian Health Policy Collaboration has published two papers on this topic for Australia.

Development of Australian chronic disease targets and indicators is a discussion paper by Penny Tolhurst analysing baseline information for chronic diseases as a starting point for target and indicator consideration. 

Suitability of the WHO 25 x 25 chronic disease targets and indicators for Australia is a report by Jason Leung and Penny Tolhurst, which reviews the nationally available data relevant to the World Health Organisation's 25 x 25 targets and indicator with a view to identifying any existing gaps. 

Renal Care in Children

Renal Care in Children

Children Chronic Disease Kidney disease

This virtual issue focuses on “Renal care in children” highlighting previously published papers from the Journal of Renal Care on this topic. Three of the original articles explore how young adults experienced the child-to-adulthood transition, how children cope with a chronic illness, and whether the application of a specific tool can support children with CKD in achieving autonomy in the management of their disease.                                                  

Journal of Renal Care Virtual Issue: Renal Care in Children

Young Australians, illness and education

Young Australians, illness and education

Children Chronic Disease Education Youth

Chronically-ill children who need to take extended absences from school are neither officially acknowledged nor assisted to keep up, according to this report from Julie White and Karen Roauer at the Victoria Institute: Young Australians, illness and education: report on the national database project.

Advances in medicine mean that many children are surviving diseases, but are struggling to keep abreast of their education. This report provides a detailed summary of education, health and demographic information about 2360 Australian children and young people who live with significant health conditions.  The study aims to provide an empirical base for policy recommendation and further investigation and to contribute to the growing body of evidence about pressing educational issues related to these children and young people. 

Transport to treatment for people with chronic disease

Transport to treatment for people with chronic disease

Cancer Chronic Disease Kidney disease Transport

The Council of Social Service of NSW has published Staying alive: transport to treatment for people living with a chronic disease.  This report focuses on the unmet health transport needs associated with two of the most prevalent chronic diseases, cancer and chronic kidney disease. 

Gaps in the current system result in inequities in access to these services for those who need it most. This includes people with limited financial means and fewer public transport options. The extent of this unmet need in NSW is unknown, but the findings of this report are based on a national survey of health professionals engaged in cancer and kidney disease care in 2014. The report reveals that:

• 77% of respondents in dialysis units, and 81% of respondents in cancer centres, reported some level of difficulty accessing transport to and from treatment
• 66% indicated that there were not enough parking spaces to meet demand at dialysis units
• The greatest burden of unmet non-emergency transport needs was borne by older people (77%) people on low incomes (74%), people living in rural and regional areas (66%), people with a disability (44%), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (29%), and people from culturally diverse backgrounds (21%).

Young Australians, Illness and Education

Young Australians, Illness and Education

Adolescents Children Chronic Disease Education

This report by Julie White and Karen Rosauer of the Victoria Institute, provides a detailed summary of education, health and demographic information about Australian children and young people who live with significant health conditions. This study closely examined a national database of 2360 such individuals through the socio-economic indexes developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.The major purpose of this study was to provide an empirical base for policy recommendation and further investigation. An important secondary aim of the study was to contribute to the growing body of evidence about pressing educational issues related to these children and young people.
Click here to access the report for free.

The role of emulsifiers in chronic disease risk

The role of emulsifiers in chronic disease risk

Chronic Disease Diet Nutrition

wikipedia.com

A recent article in The Conversation, by nutrition and dietetics experts Melinda Coughlan and Nicole Kellow, looks at the results of a recent study on mice which found that emulsifiers have the potential to damage the intestinal barrier, leading to inflammation and increasing our risk of chronic disease. 

Food additives and chronic disease risk: what role do emulsifiers play? is a very readable explanation of the effects of emulsifiers on the digestive system and connections with metabolic disease.  The authors are clear that the study (published in Nature Immunology) was only on mice and the results may not transfer to humans, but they conclude with the sensible advice, "these studies drive home the importance of cooking using fresh ingredients and avoiding or minimising the use of processed foods".