Keeping you in the Loop
Coronavirus update 23 March 2020
This is an unusual news post as it is both a news post and guidance for our staff.
It is being put here so that everyone knows what is going on and why, and also how to provide feedback - all ideas are very welcome in these trying times.
Through all of this our purpose is to ensure that you spend as little time in our waiting room, possibly being exposed to others as possible, to protect our staff without whom we cannot make this work, and to do our best to deliver the highest quality healthcare we can, circumstances be damned.
Read on to see how your team is going to be managing things in the coming days to weeks:
Flu and Coronavirus 1st March 2020
As we hear of the first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, covid-19 in New Zealand, we are receiving more and more enquiries about both this and the 'flu vaccine.
The 'Flu vaccine will not be available until 1st April this year. We will be letting you know as soon as it comes into stock. Having the whole family, especially children immunised is the best way to stop influenza spreading in our community. Although the 'Flu vaccine provides NO protection against Covid-19, it does reduce the risk of getting sick and this will help both to ease worries over what may be a stressful period and of course the more people who are immunised, the fewer sick people will need to be managed in hospital, freeing resources in case there are large numbers of coronavirus cases.
Despite what you might hear in the media, this is NOT the zombie apocalypse and we are NOT all going to die.
Coronavirus Update
We are receiving a few requests for information about how to manage the new virus that is making the news right now. Although the chances are good that this will be a non-issue, there is a lot of public concern so we thought to bring you some information you could use to navigate the muddy waters.
Resveratrol in Alzheimer's Disease
An interesting study soon to be published in Neurology journal has shown some promising biomarker changes which suggest that the popular supplement resveratrol is worthy of further study to see if it might slow progression in Alzheimer's disease.
Glucosamine in Knee Arthritis
A new study has shown that glucosamine and chondroitin can be as effective as the prescription only painkiller Celecoxib in moderate to severe knee arthritis, so is there something in this old favourite supplement?
E-Cigarette Safety Update
A new study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine casts doubts over the safety of some uses of e-Cigarettes, including those that do not contain nicotine.
Hei Hei Community Carols
Hei Hei Health Centre was proud to sponsor the Salvation Army community carols this year, bringing Sumner Silver Band to give the event a real sense of occasion. We all had a great time with music and traditional carols followed by a great morning tea in the Salvation Army Hall.
Look carefully, and you might spot Dr. Rob playing tenor horn...
Is Milk Not so Good After All?
Milk is heavily promoted by the Dairy industry as a source of Calcium and being good for bones but a new paper published in the British Medical Journal has found that higher intake of milk in women is not associated with a reduced fracture risk and may also be linked to increased risk of early death. As with all medical studies though, caution is needed in making changes on the basis of this new information.
Are Antibiotics Associated with Childhood Obesity?
A study published in JAMA pediatrics on 29/09/2014 has found further evidence for an association between the use of antibiotics in infancy and early childhood obesity.
The study, conducted in North America showed that children who received broad-spectrum antibiotics (these kill a very wide range of bacteria) were 1.11 times more likely to be obese than those who had not been exposed to antibiotics.
Turmeric Compound Stimulates Brain Stem Cell Proliferation
A recent article in the Daily Mail Newspaper (26/09/2014) suggested that 'Eating a Curry a Day Helps Beat Dementia' which was too good a claim not to be investigated further.
Turmeric is an interesting herb. A member of the Ginger family, it is widely used in Indian cooking and Ayurvedic medicine and is used in many supplements. It contains a number of compounds that are known to be bio-active and are currently under intense investigation in the hope that they will be found to be useful for health.