20 minute read
Health
When someone you love suffers with an addiction
This time of year usually evokes images of family bliss - the sharing of food, gift giving and gathering of extended families and friends.
The reality is that it can be a time of great anguish, strife, and overindulgent behaviour that is later regretted. The stress can be particularly severe for families of active substance abusers or recovering addicts. For these families, the thought of managing substance abuse issues, whilst maintaining peace and unity, can be overwhelming. Mishandling these issues can lead to further estrangement from the addict or a relapse for the recovering person. For families of active substance abusers and people in recovery, they may need extra support during the festive holiday season. Dr Stan Theodorou, Northside Group Consultant Psychiatrist in Addiction Services, has some helpful advice for what to do when someone close to you suffers with an addiction. It’s never easy to see someone you love in distress. When it comes to alcohol dependence, substance abuse, or another debilitating addiction, the person with the addiction often does not recognise that they are suffering. It is in these situations that family and friends can have a significant, positive impact. While it’s never your responsibility to ‘heal’ a loved one, the support and encouragement you offer can make all the difference in the world.
So how do you manage when someone you love suffers with an addiction?
Take action in an emergency When a family or friend is in the throes of substance abuse or alcohol addiction, it’s common to encounter them in many troubling situations. These can range from moderate to extreme. For those around the individual, it can be a tough call as to how much to get involved. In the majority of circumstances, if you’ve tried to be a positive influence on a friend who hasn’t stopped their self-destructive habits, it’s not your responsibility to involve yourself (as often this can easily turn into enabling behaviour). The exception is in an emergency or crisis situation. In such a time, take action by calling Triple Zero for assistance or contacting the appropriate services. In these instances, the health and safety of your loved one may be at stake, and it is vital to get them the immediate help they need. Understand the addiction Realising your loved one suffers from an addiction can be a painful discovery. Seek advice from well-reputed sources so that you can better understand what addiction means and how best to support your loved one. Investigate treatment options You can provide active assistance to your relative or friend by exploring treatment options. Depending on the severity of the situation, you may want to investigate a range of potential solutions. Speak up, state the facts Perhaps your friend or family member does not believe that they need treatment. Maybe they cannot even admit they have a problem or that they require help. To be most effective, don’t be afraid to speak the truth and speak your mind. It can be difficult to confront a loved one with this information, but doing so in a way that states the facts (and avoids blame or attack) can be the catalyst for your friend to seek real help. Recognise that treatment is an ongoing process It’s important to recognise that healing from substance abuse or alcohol addiction is not a quick fix or an overnight process. Instead, it is an often lengthy journey requiring patience, fortitude, and compassion. Looking at addiction treatment from this point of view is helpful for both you and your loved one. Find a support system for yourself While you’ve been worrying about your family member or friend and hopefully ensuring they find a quality mental health clinic, you deserve to look after your own needs. Finding a support system is a vital part of being there for those you love. Make sure you aren’t neglecting your own personal wellbeing and invest time in self-care and self-love. This will keep you best equipped to be a strong support.
Words by
Dr Stan Theodorou
MBBS FRANZCP FAChAM MRCPsych Addiction Psychiatrist, Northside Group 9433 3555 I northsidegroup.com.au
CROHN’S DISEASE
Is natural help available?
Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD) is cited by medical texts as having no known cause. With many ‘associations’ of foods and events associated with IBD, we are able to address some root causes that can and do worsen the condition.
Such causes include over-refined foods; a decline of our microbiome; eating a calorie-rich, nutrient-poor diet; cooking less fresh-picked food; and eating takeaway foods more often. Many people commence symptoms at puberty, indicating that low nutrient reserve may be an issue. The Australian Health Survey shows that up to 93% of people are officially deficient in at least one mineral, and that this will lead to a specific illness. Many people say that they are ‘never well’ following glandular fever episodes, indicating that Epstein Barr virus may be a player. Add to that, our intestines are always in social ‘danger’ mode due to our increasingly high-pressure lifestyles.
CAD/CAM DENTISTRY
An acronym for ComputerAided-Design/ Computer-AidedManufacturing, in dental terms CAD/CAM means that we use software to design dental crowns, bridges, fillings and veneers.
Using precision milling devices driven by that software, we produce dental restorations from all manner of dental materials.
At Apple Dental, we use the CEREC system, which was the first commercially available method of producing porcelain dental restorations at the chairside.
The main advantages of CEREC are that everything is done in the one appointment, with no need for impressions to be taken and no temporary crowns and fillings. As a result of the immediacy of the treatment, adhesive bond strengths of porcelain restorations to teeth are maximised. “The whole thing can be summarised as ‘MacBurnout’,” says Phil Wade of Wade’s Wellness Chemist. Here are a few tips from naturopath Phil Wade and medical nutritionist, Kirsty Wade, that may help to alleviate your condition. 1) Improve your gut microbiome with an orderly regime of targeted probiotics. 2) Eat freshly picked foods that are free of pesticides and growth stimulants. 3) Do a drop-in Urinary Indicans check for causative gut parasites and microbes. 4) Ask our naturopath and/or our nutritionist for a list of low-reactive foods. 5) The Australian Health Survey indicates you need to use a food supplement that contains all 74 minerals and 12 vitamins, balanced according to your body’s actual needs. 6) BD patients absorb less nutrient than normal, so those people need better balanced nutrition even more. 7) Reduce your exposure to pesticides. See our nutritionist for guides to eating better. 8) Avoid genetically modified foods where necessary. 9) Avoid artificially coloured confectionery including some breakfast cereals.
Research studies of 10-year survival rates (the common benchmark used to evaluate filling materials) have shown that CEREC porcelain inlays are the longest lasting dental filling method of all.
In early 1980, Professor Werner Mormann from the Dental School of the University of Zurich, began to wonder how it would be possible to break away from mercury-based dental amalgam as the mainstay filling material for back teeth, in favour of something toothcoloured yet durable. Back then, composite resins (the white fillings that are bonded directly onto teeth) were not well developed and quite unreliable for use in molars. Professor Mormann wondered whether ceramic materials could be produced chairside and bonded into teeth as high-strength alternatives to composite resin. He approached his friend, electrical engineer Marco Brandestini, and through the various trials and tribulations of setting something of this magnitude up, eventually invented the world’s first CAD/CAM dental restorative system. In essence, they combined an optical camera or scanner (to capture a 3D impression of the tooth being treated), together with a milling device to carve the restoration from a block of porcelain. By 1983 they had the prototype, which they named CEREC, as an abbreviation of ‘Computer-assisted CERamic REConstruction’. In collaboration with the German company Siemens and their dental division Sirona, the software was developed and refined over the years. I acquired my first CEREC unit in 2008. I’m currently using my third optical scanner as the technology keeps improving, and I now have two milling units for faster turnaround of multiple restorations. I also have two furnaces which allow hardening and glazing of porcelain crowns, bridges and veneers, to temperatures around 1000 degrees Celsius. I have now milled over 5,000 porcelain dental restorations out of a variety of different materials, each having their strengths in different applications.
At Wade’s Wellness Chemist, we can show you how to: a. Test for inflamed gut, and resultant liver and kidneys. b. Improve the condition of your gut and resultant discomfort. c. Support liver detoxification and foreign chemicals by conjugation. d. Restore microbiomes systematically in your gut and also in your biological systems with researched strains. e. Remove Irritant and foods that may set up an auto-immune self-on-self attack. f. Find out the common geneticallymodified foods. g. Avoid the 70-odd nicotinoid pesticides that may compromise your nervous system. h. Remove the 87,000 man-made chemicals from your body that can enter human cells and act as hormone disruptors.
Words by
Phil Wade
Lane Cove Wellness Centre I 9420 4959 www.internationalwellnesscentre.info
Words by
Dr Mark Casiglia Apple Dental 9420 5050 I www.appledental.com.au
Give hope for a brighter future
SUPPORT THE KOLLING INSTITUTE’S CHRISTMAS APPEAL TO ASSIST PANCREATIC CANCER RESEARCH
SANDY’S STORY
In October 2014, Sandy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It was devastating news, especially after beating breast cancer six months earlier. Treated by medical oncologist Dr Nick Pavlakis at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sandy had an operation to remove the head of her pancreas in November 2014. She then completed six months of chemotherapy. Sandy’s main goal was to be in remission, which she achieved for 18 months. However in 2017, tests revealed that the cancer had returned and spread to her lung and spine. Now with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, Sandy has experienced various infections and other complications. Sandy’s husband Kim says that it’s the gift that keeps on giving! Despite the grim statistics, Sandy remains quietly confident. Throughout her journey, Sandy has been frustrated by the fact that pancreatic cancer research doesn’t get the profile or funding that it deserves. As a result, Sandy and her daughter Maddy, have tirelessly campaigned for more funding. In August this year, Sandy was thrilled to visit the Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory at the Royal North Shore Hospital. Seeing first hand the incredible work these brilliant researchers are achieving was absolutely breathtaking for her. There is no doubt in Sandy’s mind that if it wasn’t for the researchers, she wouldn’t be here. They give her - and thousands of others living with pancreatic cancer - hope for a brighter future.
How can you help support Pancreatic Cancer research?
The Kolling Institute of Medical Research (the research arm of the Medical Oncology Department at Royal North Shore Hospital), focuses on improving cancer treatment for patients. Through its Christmas Appeal, it hopes to raise $300,000 for investment in innovative research to continue the fight against pancreatic cancer and change the odds. Money raised will go directly to the Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory and will be used to: 1. Buy software needed to convert images to data that will provide insights into cancer cell behaviour and how they respond to new drugs. 2. Progress the development of a blood test for early prognosis. 3. Buy an automated system to collect the images needed to see immune responses within a patient’s tumour. This will help save time. Where pancreatic cancer is concerned, time is always of the essence.
Why Pancreatic Cancer?
While pancreatic cancer is not common, it is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths in NSW. It has the lowest survival rate of all cancers, with only 6% of patients living five years after diagnosis. With our population ageing, the number of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is on the rise.
Please help the Kolling Institute continue their tremendous work in pancreatic cancer surgery, treatment and research. To assist, go to:
www.kolling.com.au/donate
BURNS BAY PHYSIOTHERAPY WELCOME ANDREW
Burns Bay Physiotherapy welcomes Andrew Wang to our practice. Andrew previously worked at the Royal North Shore Hospital and has been consulting between Sydney and Canberra. He has also provided sports coverage for various soccer and rugby clubs. Andrew has strong interests and extensive experience in assessing and treating musculoskeletal, orthopaedic and sports injuries for the neck, back, upper and lower limbs. He is also qualified in advanced dry needling. Andrew is experienced in treating a wide variety of clientele from elite athletes, diplomats, public servants / office workers to the young and elderly. Andrew has worked extensively with Orthopaedic specialists treating complex hip, knee and ankle injuries. He also has wide experience with post-surgical rehabilitation in sports people and the older population. He is passionate about delivering high quality care to his patients, and Andrew liaises closely with referring GPs, surgeons and allied health professionals. At Burns Bay Physiotherapy we understand pain and movement. We use a systematic whole-body assessment to efficiently find and treat the cause of your pain as well as teach you how to manage yourself for the long term.
Ann Jill Kirsty Andrew
BURNS BAY PHYSIOTHERAPY I 9427 8333 161 Burns Bay Rd, Lane Cove I burnsbayphysiotherapy.com.au A little Ray of giving
Over 898,000 children across Australia and New Zealand won’t receive a gift this Christmas.
Drop a present into our office from 1st December and we’ll make sure it gets to a deserving family in our community.
Ray White Lane Cove is working together with the Rotary Club Lane Cove for this wonderful cause.
Please donate by the 17th of December.
Everybody deserves to smile this Christmas!
Ray White Lane Cove
LANE COVE'S BEST PLUMBER
FOR OVER 25 YEARS
FRIENDLY FAST SERVICE. ALL PLUMBING & MAINTENANCE. Blocked Drain Specialist. Gasfitting. L.P.G. Hot Water Systems. Roofing. Gutters. Stormwater. Drainage. A proud record of excellence and good value
ALL WORK GUARANTEED PMB PLUMBING LICENCE L13508 0418 863 554 I 9428 4041
PROFESSIONAL GROOMING FOR CATS AND DOGS
DOG GROOMING: CAT GROOMING:
All breeds of dogs are bathed and clipped by our highly trained groomers.
Professionally groomed by Jenny Kent. The owner staying with the cat, completed within 30 minutes with no sedation.
Providing a friendly, professional and compassionate service.
FOR INFORMATION: www.groomer.com.auLane Cove 9428 1333 Epping 9876 3336
www.groomer.com.au
LEND ME YOUR EARS!
Words by Damian O'Connor, Audiologist WHAT the hearing centre I 9420 2300 I thehearingcentre.com.au
New innovations are making living with a hearing loss easier as technology keeps advancing.
Phonak is currently launching its Marvel rechargeable hearing aids. These devices can be used with any Bluetooth enabled smart phone to stream phone calls to each ear like a discreet wireless headset. The associated phone App will also convert the incoming voice to a text seen on your phone's screen. It is like subtitles for your phone calls! Another supplier Resound has launched its Quattro rechargeable hearing aids and claim that they offer the best sound quality for music, together with impact protection to make cutlery and other sudden loud noises more tolerable. There are also a number of hearing aids that will connect to a TV transmitter, so that the TV sound can be sent wirelessly in stereo to your ears. Our clients love this feature. Another feature is that some of the latest hearing aids can be adjusted by your Audiologist remotely, so we can make changes to the settings from our office. Sound clarity now means close to 10kHz amplification, so that the ability to hear soft, more distant speech has improved. Performance in social situations has also improved with better speech processing. The Starkey Muse IQ models and the Halo models continue to get great responses from wearers regarding sound quality, and their tiny ‘invisible’ SoundLens 2400 which have wireless capabilities. You can even place your home phone to one ear and you will immediately hear the call in both ears. With so many great brands available, the best option is to have a hearing assessment to determine your needs and budget. Our aim is to make listening easier for you.
DON’T MISS OUT ON THE THINGS YOU LOVE
Hearing loss can affect people of all ages, impacting conversations, your enjoyment of your favourite music and taking part in everyday interactions.
Improve your confidence by hearing better
WHAT
the hearing centre
9420 2300
174 Longueville Rd, Lane Cove thehearingcentre.com.au
Your local EXPERT independent Audiologist. Most hearing aid brands and prices.
Nutritional help
WADES We don’t just deal in sickness, we deal in health too!
Phil’s Green Smoothi meal supplement - Dozens of case studies from clients suffering with Leaky Gut (which is highly associated with Irritable Bowel Disease) return improvements in their Indicans parasite tests after consistently taking Smoothi and Supasmoothi Plus. Blended in our own lab, the unique proportions of the 105 core elements just keep on making you healthier. Supasmoothi Plus meal replacement has a boosted formula that is designed to help normalise weight naturally, which is an important component of our clinic’s anti-obesity strategy. It gives even better clinical outcomes when used as recommended. Wade’s Winter Mix: This is designed to soothe inflamed membrane in the gut and to hose down the fire in your immune system. It is handy for IBD as well as reducing Spring allergy reactions. Phil’s Oil: In order to build healthy tissue in cells everywhere, including the gut membrane, you need an abundance of dietary omega-3 fatty acids, stabilised with vitamin E. Our unique blend fills the bill. Herbs help: Ask our pharmacist/naturopath to make you a soothing blend of gentle herbs. Literature and actual case studies show that they help ‘put out the fire’.
Wade’s Compounding Chemist and Naturopath 152 Burns Bay Road, Lane Cove. Tel: 9420 4959 http://internationalwellnesscentre.info
Wades - your family chemist proudly serving Lane Cove for over 30 years.
WALK. MOVE. LIVE
Just arrived in store at Lane Cove Podiatry is our range of Vionic podiatrist recommended men’s and women’s thongs, slides, sandals and joggers. Be quick
to get your free beach towel with each shoe purchase!*
We also stock Dr’s Remedy chemical free, organic, anti-fungal nail polish. This special formula nourishes and hydrates dry brittle nails, improving the wear time of your nail colour whilst keeping the nasty bugs away. With no harsh chemicals, the range includes luxurious colours, nail care solutions, nail treatments and nail polish remover.
* While stocks last
GIFT VOUCHERS ARE AVAILABLE FOR ALL OUR PRODUCTS AND PODIATRY TREATMENTS.
57 Tambourine Bay Road, Riverview. Phone 9420 4673
www.lanecovepodiatry.com.au
NEW Community Wellness Workshops
Northside Group St Leonards Clinic
2 Frederick Street, St Leonards NSW 2065 02 9433 3555 northsidegroup.com.au
Northside Group is now offering a selection of Community Wellness Workshops, with the first of the series due to commence in February 2019 at the new state-of-the-art St Leonards Clinic.
Expressive Art Workshop Express and explore through painting and drawing
Promote confidence and well-being through the art process. Duration: 4 week workshop consisting of 4 x 3 hour Saturday afternoon sessions Cost: $160 (includes basic workshop materials)
Mindfulness Meditation Workshop
Regular meditation is proven to reduce anxiety, depression and stress and improve focus and general well-being. Duration: 5 week workshop consisting of 5 x 60 minute sessions Cost: $160
For more information regarding the new community workshops, please email: northsidegroup_community@ramsayhealth.com.au
FATTY LIVER
Coming to you just before Christmas, another Pandora’s Box is opened as we discuss Fatty Liver! But don’t let it destroy your celebrations and food and wine enjoyment. After all, it’s only a once a year celebration and we’ll all ‘shuffle off the mortal coil’ one day – either happy with celebration and joy of life or miserable with denial and negativity.
I’ll explore the two main manifestations of Fatty Liver called NAFLD and NASH. NAFLD is an acronym for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and NASH is one for Non-Alcoholic Steato Hepatitis.
What is NAFLD?
NAFLD is present in up to 30% of adults in Australia. Our 18-month tummy ‘pregnancies’, lack of exercise and fast food diets place a lot of us at risk. The diagnosis is made having ruled out alcohol; Hepatitis B and C; hemochromatosis; an iron deposition disorder; coeliac disease; certain medications, and auto-immune diseases as causes. In a nutshell, NAFLD leads to fat being deposited in a stippled or streaky manner in between liver cells. This change is easily seen on an ultrasound scan and reflected in disturbance of blood liver function tests. This deposition may go on to irritate and inflame the liver so that it develops scarring or cirrhosis as things worsen. This progression, with increasingly abnormal chemistry of liver function, can lead onto NASH. Cirrhosis is a fibrous scarring of the liver which inflames the liver and reduces functioning. Taken to its extreme, NASH can lead to liver failure and death from liver cancer.
NAFLD becoming NASH is more likely in the presence of diabetes, overweight, older age or inflammation from other causes. First described in 1980, NAFLD is now the most common cause of liver disease in Australia with some 30% of Australians affected. There are no symptoms of NAFLD - only chemical changes in liver tests. The Internet sites I consulted suggest the condition needs to be considered in the context of the Metabolic Syndrome as there is a very strong link between heart disease, diabetes and peripheral circulation disease and NAFLD. That makes NAFLD and its treatment important to reducing the increased incidence of heart disease. FYI, the Metabolic Syndrome is a devilish combination of obesity; high blood pressure; elevation of the blood fat triglyceride; a low reading of the good cholesterol HDL; and a resistance to Insulin - the hormone which moves glucose from our blood circulation into our cells for the cell’s nourishment and for their normal function. Surely this is not you – or is it?
What is NASH?
The difference between NAFLD and NASH is based on symptoms and the amount of liver damage from inflammation. A subset of NALFD, NASH has progressive damage which leads to abnormal changes in liver function. Worryingly, NASH can lead to liver failure and liver cancer. No one knows what triggers the inflammatory changes that may occur in one person with NAFLD, but not another.
What should I do?
See your Doctor for regular checkups to measure bodily changes - physical and chemical - which might dispose you to NAFLD or NASH. A dietician’s assessment will assist greatly. Gently increasing exercise - walking is the best - weight loss and developing a good diet, together with awareness of the above is the best defense.
For more information
When I went to the Internet, I was met with an avalanche of good and reliable information sites on the subject. For example, you can look up the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney disease, the Cedars Sinai site, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners site, the Australian Family Physician, the MDS Manual and the Mayo Clinic website for more information.
FATTY LIVER DISEASE
Words by
Dr Tim David
Burns Bay Medical Centre I 9427 4855 www.burnsbaymedicalcentre.com.au
Lane Cove Remembers
New Remembrance Artwork
A new artwork adorns the signal box on the corner of Burns Bay Road and Centennial Avenue. The piece reflects the community’s connection to wars, conflict and peace operations. For details visit www.lanecove.nsw.gov.au/streetsidegallery.
Artist: Matt McLarty
