Clinic News

Blood pressure is a measurement of the force placed on the walls of the blood vessels as blood is pumped around the body. It naturally varies throughout the day, depending on what your body is doing.

This year’s influenza season is well and truly underway, with many thousands of confirmed reports of flu virus being made early as March. As at 24th June 2019, there were over 21,500 lab-confirmed, reported cases of flu. This figure represents only cases where a test was performed, so the true number is likely significantly higher.

Autumn has arrived, and with it – I’m afraid – the barrage of mischievous little microbes to wreck havoc on our bodies! Most upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are viral in origin, so antibiotics make no diddly squat of a difference. But the common cold is by no means a trivial issue – ask any man beleaguered by ‘man flu’, and he will no doubt bemoan his suffering and sorrow.

‘Tennis elbow’ is the common terminology for a painful condition that affects the elbow(s). The medical name for this condition is lateral epicondylitis.

Mastitis is an inflammatory condition of the breast tissue that commonly affects mothers within the first four to six weeks following birth. It affects around 1 in 5 mothers in Australia and can be very painful and distressing.

Every year, thousands of Australians are hospitalised with influenza. It is a major cause of illness in our community and was attributed to around 57 deaths last year. The 2018 flu season was very mild compared to previous years. There were just under 50,000 laboratory confirmed cased, which is less than half of the annual average. The burden placed on hospitals and time off work was significantly lower than in previous years.

A colonoscopy is a procedure performed to visually examine the bowel. It is performed using a long, thin plastic tube with a light and camera at one end. The tube is flexible, allowing the Doctor to examine the inside the large intestine (colon) from all angles. The images from the camera are projected onto a screen for the Doctor to view. The tube is inserted into the rectum, under sedation so the patient does not feel anything. It is then manoeuvered through the colon to examine the health and appearance of the tissues that line the large intestine.

It is with a great deal of love and respect, that we announce the retirement of Dr Diana Rattray at the end of May this year.

As we age, our susceptibility to a whole variety of medical conditions increases.

Definition

‘A secure, legislated, patient-controlled, electronic summary of an individual’s key health information, able to be accessed by authorised individuals and registered healthcare providers involved in a person’s care anywhere in Australia at any time.’