Monat: September 2023

Always wanted a bigger cup size. Missing the volume that gravity and children robbed. Recovering post-mastectomy. Sick of pokey push-up bras. Chicken fillets belong on a plate. Whatever the reason, an estimated 20,000 Aussie women elect to have breast-enhancement surgery each year.

So it’s easy to assume the millions of implants that have happened around the globe over the past century, along with advances in technology, mean the side effects and risks have been whittled down to a bare minimum.

But experts now suspect the opposite is true. In fact, aside from very obvious complications like rupture and infection, evidence suggests a far greater number of recipients experience a vague but crippling condition called breast implant illness (BII). And as medical and community awareness grows, so are the number of women wanting their implants out.

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Television host and bestselling author, Andi Lew, is one such woman. She experienced BII – which presents as a constellation of symptoms including fatigue, joint and muscle pain, headaches and brain fog – due to an undetected rupture. Six surgeons and an MRI told her there was no issue before she found a doctor who took her concerns seriously.

“I didn’t know how deep the suffering was until I started joining the dots,” says Lew of the symptoms, which can occur either immediately after implant surgery or many years later. “It impacted my ability to earn, to concentrate, my ability to have any kind of relationship, and my relationship with myself was terrible because I thought that I was going crazy.”

Lew had explant surgery earlier this year and is thrilled with the results. “After my removal, I felt instantly better. The weight was literally off my chest,” she says. “The inflammation started to decrease within days.” She’s now written a book about nurturing women through their explant journey, which will be available in October in bookstores across Australia.

“The exact causes of BII are still unknown and being investigated,” says Dr Alia Kaderbhai, a GP and chair of the RACGP Specific Interests Breast Medicine network.

“We know it can occur with any type of implant, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that it has ruptured. We’re even seeing this illness in implants that are intact.”

So what’s going on? The strongest hypothesis is that some patients are predisposed to an immune reaction to the implant materials, with the body then reacting to the consequent inflammation.

Treatment generally involves having an explant and capsulectomy, the removal of the thickened scar tissue that’s formed around the implant. However, getting to that point can be a long road of inconclusive tests and ruling out other causes.

Professor Anand Deva is the head of cosmetic, plastic and reconstructive surgery at Macquarie University in Sydney. He and a team of researchers have been studying the symptoms of BII to better understand the condition.

“There are no specific diagnostic criteria, as BII is yet to be officially recognised as a medical condition,” the surgeon notes. It’s also important to rule out other conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid issues, or iron and vitamin D deficiency, he says.

Personal stylist and health coach, Elisha Casagrande, was in the dark about BII when she began to experience symptoms four years after her implant surgery. “I heard the term roughly two years after my explant,” she says. “I was never informed about the risks of BII, not before my implants, nor during the years when my symptoms were at their worst.”

For Casagrande, implant removal has been life-changing. “My immune system has drastically improved, and I no longer have any auto-immune type symptoms. Coincidentally, clothes look better now than they ever did with implants, I have far greater upper body strength, and I can now lie comfortably in bed at night, which has improved my sleep quality and energy levels throughout the day.”

Something more women are reporting as awareness around this silent health issue (and the explant movement) continues to rise.

Five health red flags

Dr Kaderbhai suggests speaking to your GP – and asking to be thoroughly checked out with BII in mind – if you have implants and experience any of these symptoms:

• Brain fog
• Poor concentration
• Unusual rashes
• Joint aches
• New-onset respiratory illness

It seems like every second story in the news cycle is about the latest trending weight loss method. And while mankind has been transfixed on achieving peak physical condition since the dawn of time, we’ve entered a brand new age of pursuit. 

With weight loss injections, such as Ozempic and Wegovy,  dominating the market, more people are turning to quick and easy fixes when it comes to slimming down for their health. 

But researchers behind a new study diving into the impact fresh fruit and vegetables have on our overall health have released their latest findings, proving once and for all the power of healthy, unprocessed nutrition.

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What the study entailed

Facilitated by the American Heart Association, the study followed several groups of adults with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Doctors authorised ‘produce’ prescriptions to the participants, encouraging an increase in their daily consumption of fruits and vegetables. 

“Patients received electronic cards or vouchers to access free or discounted produce of their choice at retail grocery or farmers‘ markets,” says study lead author Kurt Hager, Ph.D., M.S.

Receiving a median monthly allowance of $63.00 USD, participants purchased fresh produce from local food stores and farmers markets.

At the commencement of the study, participants were asked to complete questionnaires about their fruit and vegetable consumption, health status, and food security, as well as undergo testing of their general health stats. At the study’s conclusion, all questionnaires and physiological tests were repeated for comparison.

The results speak for themselves 

At the conclusion of the study, an overwhelming majority of the participants recorded measurable reductions in their blood pressure, body mass index and blood sugar levels.

Adult participants reported their average intake of fruits and vegetables increased by almost one cup per day, and children involved in the study recorded an average increase of a quarter cup per day.

When initial readings of systolic blood pressure were compared with data at the conclusion of the research, the participants were found to have experienced a decrease of more than 8 mm of mercury. Of the participants who entered the study with high blood pressure, a decrease of nearly 5 mm in diastolic blood pressure was recorded.

Blood sugar amongst the participants was found to have decreased by 0.29 to 0.58 percentage points among adults with diabetes.

BMI also significantly improved across the board, with adults categorised as obese recording a reduction of 0.52 kgs per square metre among adults with obesity.

„This analysis of produce prescription programs illustrates the potential of subsidised produce prescriptions to increase consumption of nutritious fruits and vegetables, reduce food insecurity and, hopefully, improve subjective and objective health measures,” says Dr Mitchell Elkind, chief clinical science officer of the American Heart Association. 

More than just nutritional benefits

Not only did the study prove its measurable success through physiological factors, the research team found additional socioeconomic benefits, such as an increase in food security. 

„We know that food insecurity impacts health through several important pathways, including overall dietary quality,” said Hager. “But also through stress and anxiety, mental health and tradeoffs between paying for food and other basic needs such as housing costs, utilities and medications.”

Despite only lasting several months, participants attended nutrition classes throughout the study period, promoting and instilling long-term healthy habits.

While the study was conducted in a controlled setting, it still offers great news for anyone looking to naturally support their heart health. Outside of the study, you don’t actually need a prescription for fresh fruits and vegetables. They’re easily accessible, an economical alternative to other forms of nutrition,  and promote sustainability. 

Experts are calling for more investments to be made into the air we breathe, after experts discovered in some countries, air pollution is a greater risk to our health than smoking and alcohol.

This is a staggering discovery, given air is essential to human existence.

According to the annual Air Quality Life Index report, air pollution reduces the average lifespan globally by 2.3 years. In some of the most polluted countries, it’s reduced by almost 7 years.

The report has labelled this environmental crisis the “greatest external threat to human life expectancy.”

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The effects of inhaling unclean air are comparable to smoking, the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago found, adding that it causes three times the damage of alcohol use, and five times the damage of injuries sustained in a car crash.

In the US alone, polluted areas of California showed residents who were exposed to high levels of fine matriculate matter presented symptoms of health distress on the brain and lungs.

So, if this is the impact air pollution is having in America alone, what about the worst affected continents? According to the report, as noted in the New York Post, Africa and Asia contribute to more than 92 per cent of the global life expectancy loss. 

The publication noted that air pollution is now a greater threat to public health than HIV/AIDS and malaria.

“Three-quarters of air pollution’s impact on global life expectancy occurs in just six countries, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria and Indonesia, where people lose one to more than six years off their lives because of the air they breathe,” said Michael Greenstone, Air Quality Life Index creator and Milton Friedman distinguished service professor in economics.

In 2023, the World Health Organization estimated that 99 per cent of the world was breathing potentially toxic air, meaning Australians are suffering, too.

“After surviving a pandemic, it is unacceptable to still have seven million preventable deaths and countless preventable lost years of good health due to air pollution,” says Dr María Neira, the director of the WHO’s Department of Public Health and Environment.

Now experts like Greenstone, Neira and Christa Hasenkopf, director of the Energy Policy Institute air quality programs and AQLI, are urging the higher powers to invest in infrastructure to help with air quality, something that’s lacking in these countries.

Researchers see this as an opportunity for further funding to “collaboratively build the infrastructure that is missing today.”

“Timely, reliable, open-air quality data, in particular, can be the backbone of civil society and government clean air efforts – providing the information that people and governments lack and that allows for more informed policy decisions,” Hasenkopf told the New York Post.

Here in Australia, we do far better than most countries on the pollution index. According to the Australia Air Quality Index, Katherine in Western Australia is the most heavily polluted city in Oz, followed by Cooma in NSW and Wangaratta in Victoria. 

As for the cleanest air Down Under? In real-time, Kalgoorlie in Western Australia is the safest spot, followed by Ivanhoe in Victoria and Andamooka in South Australia.

But unless pollution on a global scale is significantly reduced, we’ll all be suffering the consequences for years to come.

Have you ever consented to a drunken hookup with someone you thought was super-attractive, only to regret locking lips with them the next morning?

Did you blame the party pash on being intoxicated? Well, you might need to refrain from using ‚beer goggles‘ as an excuse, because researchers have discovered that it’s actually not true at all.

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The study enlisted 18 pairs of men in their 20s to test the effect of „alcohol-induced mirage“, and found that the participants didn’t budge on how attractive they found people regardless of their state.

“Conventional wisdom would suggest that alcohol leads people to perceive others as more physically attractive,” Dr Molly Bowdring, study author and Stanford University professor, told The New York Post.

Alcohol did, however, give participants a confident spring in their step. The study participants consumed around three standard drinks in a little over 30 minutes, and what happened was that they were more likely to approach people they found attractive as a result. 

“To our knowledge, this is the first study to look at whether people choose to interact with more attractive people after drinking,” Dr Bowdring explained, who noted that previous studies have explored similar notions, but participants were drinking alone. This time, participants were seeing people in real, social situations.

“Because physical attractiveness plays a pretty key role in our social experiences, we wanted to better understand how does alcohol influence that.”

On the plus side, alcohol can positively “alter our social motivations” in the sense that it can give us a dose of  Dutch courage, to take a leap of faith, something anxiety may stop us from doing in sober circumstances. 

However, it can also lead us to higher-risk situations as our ability to judge potential danger is severely lessened, and, as many of us know, it can also lead us to regret things we may have said thanks to that extra dose of confidence.– not to mention the plethora of health considerations. 

No one likes a moral hangover, so it’s always best to drink in moderation and remember to hydrate with some trusty water between each alcoholic bevvy. Your head and moral compass will thank you.

Regardless of whether you religiously scroll the top stories every morning on the bus, or instead spend that time immersed in your favourite playlist, there’s no doubt you’ve seen the latest parasite discovery. 

In a world-first this week, a neurosurgeon stumbled upon an 8cm live worm inside a woman‘s brain, and the discovery has enlivened Australia’s reputation as home to the world’s worst creepy crawlies. And while it seems this infamous parasite has rooted itself firmly in the world’s news cycle for the foreseeable future, there’s really no need for mass hysteria. 

Dr Tom Snelling, professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, breaks down exactly which parasites are worth taking up metaphorical space in our brains.

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Above all, the infectious diseases physician warns against unnecessary stress, saying despite recent headlines, critically serious parasite infections are incredibly rare in Australia. 

Even so, Dr Snelling says there’s plenty of common parasites that you’re bound to come across at some point in your lifetime, so it’s worth being aware of their impact. 

Common parasites in Australia

“There are a number of parasites that commonly infect people, but they only rarely cause serious infection,” he says, of well known parasites such pinworms, head lice and scabies, each infamous for causing itching in the anus, on the scalp, and on the skin respectively. 

In remote and tropical parts of Australia, we occasionally see other types of worm infections of the bowel, but these only occasionally cause serious problems.

“One worm, Strongyloides, may become a problem in people with very suppressed immune systems because of therapy for cancer or organ transplantation,” explains Dr Snelling. “Likewise, giardia and cryptosporidium are parasites that can occasionally cause severe diarrhoea, especially in people with weakened immune systems.” 

Like immuno-suppressed people, pregnant women can also face a greater risk of more severe symptoms, with a particular parasite infection, toxoplasma, causing serious harm to the developing foetus.

“Serious parasite infections occur more frequently in other parts of the world, and we sometimes see serious infections in people returning from overseas,” says Dr Snelling, explaining worm infections seen in other countries can be a common cause of anaemia and severe fatigue.

What can we do to avoid becoming a parasite’s new host?

According to Dr Snelling, parasites can be acquired from other people, form the environment, or by eating contaminated food. In the case of the headlining Australian brain parasite, the woman became an unsuspecting host after foraging, cooking and eating native greens containing traces of contaminated carpet Python droppings. 

“The best way to avoid infection is by washing hands with soap before eating, and thoroughly washing raw foods, including leafy vegetables.” Dr Snelling says. 

Aside from practising good food hygiene, the infectious diseases expert encourages us to be wary of animals, even our beloved cavoodles. 

“Animals can carry parasites and potentially harmful bacteria, so it is important to make sure you and your children wash your hands with soap after handling animals or their poo,” he says. “This includes things like snails and slugs.”

So are all parasites evil, hellbent on sucking us dry of our health and vitality? The answer isn’t quite as simple as you’d expect.

“It’s possible that some parasites might have a positive effect on the immune system,” Dr Snelling says. “ It’s theorised that the human immune system has evolved to handle parasitic infection to a certain extent, and that some exposure might reduce the risk, or even improve certain allergic and immune-related conditions.”

Now, in what seems to be a modern-day nod to mediaeval leech therapies, researchers have started investigating whether certain parasites could one day be used as a therapeutic strategy. 

But as Dr Snelling reiterates, these investigations are still in their early stages, and to date no medical or scientific expert is encouraging people to deliberately expose themselves to parasites– unless of course it’s the Oscar winning Korean thriller.