Health and illness

Life and Death in Australia

Australians are lucky enough to enjoy one of the highest life expectancies in the world, with an average life expectancy of 83.09 years. However, life expectancy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is 8.6 years lower for males and 7.8 years lower for females than the Australian average. Life expectancy varies substantially around the world, and the differences between developed and developing nations can be stark

External Causes

• deaths resulting from external causes are deaths caused by factors external to the body, such as transport accidents, poisoning, injury and suicide

• according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, as of 2020, males are more likely to die from external causes than females, accounting for over 65 per cent of deaths

• intentional self-harm accounted for 27.6 per cent of deaths resulting from external causes in 2020, with males three times more likely to die from this cause than females

• young people today are identified as having higher levels of depression than previous generations. They tend to seek more emotional independence from their parents at an earlier age. This an mean that they are not as well-equipped to deal with certain circumstances, such as relationship breakdowns, unemployment, homelessness, poverty and abuse, and can struggle to form positive relationships

Cardiovascular disease

• cardiovascular disease (CVD) relates to diseases of the heart and blood vessels

• coronary heart disease is the most common form of this disease

• other major conditions are stroke, heart attack, angina, heart failure and peripheral vascular disease

• The major factor leading to CVD is a build-up of fatty tissues (from fatty foods) on the inside lining of arteries, which interferes with the supply of blood around the body

• according to The Heart Foundation, CVD affects 4.2 million Australians, and coronary heart disease affects 2.4 per cent of the population

• Heart disease is mostly caused by lifestyle factors, such as

  • smoking (people who smoke are five times more likely to develop CVD)

  • high blood pressure resulting from a high salt diet and/or being overweight

  • lack of physical activity, which leads to an inefficient heart and circulatory system

  • social factors (eg low socio economic status, which can be linked with increased likelihood of smoking and alcohol abuse)

  • environmental factors (eg inadequate access to exercise facilities or health services)

Cancer

• cancer is a group of diseases that occur when the process of cell division becomes uncontrolled

• these cells multiply in a random manner and might grow into a tumour

• malignant tumours can spread (metastasise) to form secondary cancers elsewhere

• tumours can also be benign (non-cancerous)

• by the age of 85, one in two Australians will be diagnosed with cancer

• Cancer is not necessarily the death sentence that it once was - 70 percent of cancer patients will survive longer than five years after diagnosis, and the mortality rate has decreased by more than 29 per cent since 1982

Personal and community actions that affect health

in Australia, we tend to eat many unhealthy foods and not enough healthy foods. The majority of us do not exercise regularly. Many of us smoke or have friends who smoke around us. Most of us live in cities crowded with cars and factories, and many of our workplaces produce chemical pollutants. Speeding drivers are the leading cause of death on our roads. All of these factors combine to account for most of our ill health and injury in Australia

Obesity

• in 2017-18, 31.3 per cent of the Australian population was classified as obese and 35.6 per cent overweight

• these figures have gained Australia a ranking position as one of the fattest nations in the world, and those numbers are still climbing

• obesity is a disaster for personal health, and is a public health crisis

• according to the national health and medical research council, obesity cost Australians roughly $56.6 billion in health expenditures

• it is not just cardiovascular disease that obese people are at risk of; being overweight is a significant risk factor in a long list of diseases

Childhood obesity

• the number of overweight children has doubled in recent years, and one in four Australian children is now overweight or obese

• causes of obesity in children basically come down to eating unhealthy food that is high in fat and sugar, and not getting enough physical activity

• being overweight or obese has a significant negative impact on a child’s health, both in the long- and short-term

• overweight or obese children are likely to remain obese as adolescents and when they become adults

• as well as health problems, obesity can lead to social problems for children

Smoking

everyone knows by now how dangerous it is to smoke cigarettes - the links between smoking and heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, emphysema and asthma are common knowledge

lesser known health problems:

• eyes - smoking is a risk factor for macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness

• ears - smokers may lose their hearing earlier

• nose - smoking affects the sense of smell and causes cancer of the nose

• bowel - smoking increases the risk for crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammation of the bowel

• fat - smoking can alter women’s fat distribution so that fat deposits on the stomach rather than hips (a risk factor for CVD)

• back - heavier smoking causes greater back pain

• reproductive organs - smoking affects fertility

• bones - smoking reduces bone density, leading to hip fractures in later life

Promoting health

Diabetes

• diabetes is a hereditary or developmental disease caused by the improper functioning of the pancreas resulting in the disturbance of sugar levels in the blood

• there are two main types of diabetes: type 1 (insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus) and type 2 (non-insulin-dependent-diabetes-mellitus)

• in addition to these, gestational diabetes is a temporary form of diabetes that can occur during pregnancy

• people with diabetes are at a high risk of developing cardiovascular disease. In 2020, 82 per cent of Australians who died with diabetes also had CVD

• diabetes that is not managed properly can also lead to impaired kidney function, retinopathy and peripheral nerve disease

• diabetes is the world’s fastest-growing disease. diabetes australia reports that around 1.8 million australians have diabetes, including an estimated 500,000 with undiagnosed type-2 diabetes

• approximately 85 per cent of all people with diabetes have the type 2 version, which usually develops in adults over 45 but is increasingly occurring in younger people

• it has very strong links with lifestyle factors - people classified as overweight are twice as likely to develop diabetes as those in the healthy weight range, and obese people are four times as likely to develop diabetes

• Diabetes Australia aims to educate and support people. The BEAT IT initiative is a program that enables people to improve their health and wellbeing through awareness and physical activity

National Drugs Campaign

• the national drugs campaign is an Australian government initiative that began in 2001. The campaign works in phases that are determined by current national drug trends

• the national drug strategy is aimed at reducing the use of illicit drugs by educating young Australians about the negative consequences and effects of drug use. It also encourages parents to talk with their children about drugs

• illicit drug use has serious social, health and economic impacts on Australian society

• a survey by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in 2019 found that 43 per cent of Australians had used an illicit drug of some type at least once in their life

• the intention of the campaign is to reinforce negative beliefs and attitudes held about illicit drug use

• other aspects of the campaign use positive messages from young people to other young people about the benefits of not using drugs and suggestions for alternate ways to experience excitement in their lives. Another component of the campaign encourages young people who need assistance and support to seek it, and to seek treatment if drug use is already a problem

• the campaign targets 15-21 year olds who are at risk of using illicit drugs and parents of children aged between 13 and 17 years.

• It includes advertising through print media and radio, online resources, public relations and promotions

Medicare

medicare is the public health system managed by the Australian government. It offers basic health care to all Australian residents, regardless of their income or social circumstances. The system works by paying benefits for medical expenses based on a schedule of fees set by the government. Some doctors or services may charge more than the schedule fee so patients may have some out-of-pocket costs

Benefits for in-hospital services are offered to public patients (patients who do not claim private health insurance for the service) at 100 per cent of the scheduled fees. For private patients, 75 per cent benefits are offered - some of the ‘gap’ may be covered by their health insurer. While private patients can choose their own doctor, public patients are assigned a doctor by the hospital, and may be place on long waiting lists for treatments

Benefits paid for out-of-hospital services include:

• consultation fees for doctors, including specialists

• tests and examinations by doctors needed to treat illnesses

• most surgical procedures performed by doctors

• some surgical procedures performed by approved dentists

• eye tests conducted by optometrists

• some services provided by psychologists for people diagnosed with mental health disorders

some medical services are not covered by Medicare. For example: physiotherapy and chiropractic services, alternative medicines, private patient hospital costs, glasses and contact lenses, and surgery solely for cosmetic reasons. Private health funds offer some packages that cover these types of services

Women’s Health

Violence against Women

• the two most common forms of violence against women are domestic violence and sexual assault

• it is believed that cultural factors linking violence and sex may increase the rates of domestic violence and sexual assault

• other forms of violence against women include economic violence, men controlling women’s lives, trafficking of women and girls and sexual harassment

• the physical and mental effects of experiencing violence can be numerous and varied

• violence against a woman breaches her basic human rights and breaks international law

• the World Health Organisation (WHO) holds violence prevention as a high priority - particularly the prevention of violence against women

• Amnesty International has a strong campaign to reduce violence against women in Australia and around the world

Domestic violence

• domestic violence is physical or mental abuse against someone in the abuser’s household or family, including their spouse or partner

• when referring to violence against a parter, the term ‘domestic violence’ is increasingly being replaced with the term ‘intimate partner violence’

• slapping, shoving, kicking and burning are examples of the many actions classified as physical domestic violence

• there are also different types of sexual domestic violence including

  • being physically forced to have sexual intercourse

  • having sexual intercourse due to fear

  • being forced to do a sexual act that a person finds degrading

• domestic violence significantly contributes to the poor health of women around the world

• it is estimated that one in four women who have been in relationships in Australia have experienced violence

• worldwide, 22-30 per cent of all women who have been in a relationship aged 15 years or older have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by their current or former male husband/intimate partner, while 6 per cent of women globally have experienced sexual violence by someone who was not their partner

• emotional abuse is another form of domestic violence

• it is often considered more damaging than physical violence

• emotional abuse can involve

  • making someone feel bad about themselves

  • behaving frighteningly

  • directly or indirectly threatening someone

Sexual harassment and assault

• sexual harassment is any unwanted sexual behaviour that has the intent or effect of offending, humiliating or intimidating the person being harassed

• sexual assault is a crime that occurs when one person intentionally touches another person in a sexual manner without that person’s consent

• sexual assault is a type of violence and an abuse of power

• according to the ABS, 17 per cent of women and 4.3 per cent of men in Australia will have experienced sexual assault since the age of 15

• sexual assault is an umbrella term for a range of crimes involving unwanted sexual contact

Victim blaming

• victim blaming is when a person ho has had a crime committed against them is blamed either implicitly or explicitly for the crime

• victim blaming is often seen in telling the person that they did not do enough to protect themselves, or that they somehow invited it