Healthcare Matters
Bowel Cancer Awareness
New Zealand has the highest rate of bowel cancer in the developed world. 100 people per month die of bowel cancer. Go to www.nsu.govt.nz/other-screening-areas/818.asp to read about the screening programme that will be piloted later this year - finishing in 2015 once the information has been analysed.
7 June 2011
Healthcare
As a Healthcare organisation, our philosophy of 'A Legacy of Care and Future of Wellbeing' means a lot to us and the way we care for our Contributors. In order to ensure our wellbing is maintained, we would like to remind you of the screening processes in place in order to identify any potential life-threatening illnesses. New Zealand's free national breast screening programme checks women for signs of early breast cancer. If found early enough, breast cancer can be treated with positive results. Regular mammograms are available for women aged between 45 and 69 to reduce their risk of dying of breast cancer. To contact BreastScreen Aoteroa in your region, phone 0800 270 200 or click on the link below to enrol.
www.nsu.govt.nz
Healthcare Grant
The Healthcare Grant was introduced on 1 December 2009 and replaced the Sickness Assistance. This was done to reflect trends in the healthcare environment and the circumstances of our contributors. We aim to optimise returns to contributors.
What does the 'Healthcare Grant' offer?
1. Where the contributor, contributor's partner or dependant is diagnosed with a terminal illness, a grant of $1,000 is payable.
2. A payment of $1,000 to assist with funeral costs for a contributor or a contributor's partner or dependant.
3. Where the contributor or a member of the contributor's immediate family requires treatment that is not available in their home town, then they would be eligible for a distance treatment grant of $500. Minimum stay in hospital is 7 days.
4. The contributor is entitled to one week's holiday home rental subject to availability while or after recovering from a long term illness. Benefits will only be considered for illness involving at least 4 calendar weeks of absence from work. Maximum $275 per convalescent holiday and must be taken within 3 months of the illness
The maximum a contributor may claim in for a Healthcare Grant is $2,775.
Swine Flu
(published 19 June 2009)
Follow this link to read all about Swine Flu on the Ministry of Health's website.
Molemapping
(taken from Outlook, Winter 2009)
The sun's rays might be weaker during winter months but this doesn't mean your chances of developing skin cancer have also been reduced. The trouble is skin cancer, and in particular melanoma, isn't the result of yesterday's sun but an accumulation of UV radiation damage over the years.
Summer sun does most of the damage but its potentially cancerous effects take months or even years to present. And the longer a melanoma is left, the more problematic it can become.
So winter is no time for complacency. In fact, it should be the time to look for changes in your skin. Medical data from Australia indicates that while fewer melanomas were discovered in winter, those that were detected were 7% thicker and potentially more deadly than melanomas discovered in summer.
If you have a mole that is itchy, changing in size shape or colour, or is just generally worrying you, then you should get it checked.
What makes my nose go red?
(taken from Outlook, April 2008)
When you're skiing down a snowy slope, or walking on a cold winter's day, a red nose gives you that "I'm-having-healthy-fun" look. However a red nose can be embarrassing when it suddenly appears after you simply enter a chilly room, drink hot coffee or alcohol or give a speech in front of a crowd.
This is all caused by oversensitive blood vessels, where the blood vessels clamp down as tight as a vice. This diverts blood away from the skin's surface. When the body warms up, however, the blood vessels open super wide. This brings a rush of blood to the nose, turning it rosy red.
A red nose can also be triggered by emotional stress. This causes a surge of adrenaline, which over dilates the blood vessels. Sudden redness on the nose and face can also be caused by medications used to treat high blood pressure, alcohol, spicy foods and spending too much time in the sun.
But if your nose turns red frequently or the redness persists, you could have rosacea - a common skin disorder in which the blood vessels in the nose become enlarged. This usually becomes noticeable around age 30 to 40. Rosacea's exact cause remains a mystery, but women are more likely to have it than men, which may point to a hormonal link.
Is sunshine good for you?
(taken from Outlook, April 2008)
For years now we have been told to stay out of the sun, but is it doing us any good? Most scientists these days admit there is good and bad in the sun. So what is the good?
- Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun is our main source of vitamin D, important for your bones, muscles and immune system. Ten minutes of daily exposure to sunlight will supply us with all the vitamin D that we need.
- Scientists believe sunlight and vitamin D has the ability to combat the development and spread of cancerous tumours. The principal function of this vitamin is to promote calcium absorption in the gut which may reduce the risk of several types of cancer i.e. breast, colon, ovary, bladder, womb, stomach, prostate gland.
- Apart from the obvious positive associations with a sunny day, the sun can alter your mood chemically and even prevent depression. The onset of spring gives thousands of people relief from 'seasonal affective disorder' or SAD. This miserable condition is a suppression of serotonin experienced by many who are deprived of sunlight during the dreary winter months.
- Sunlight stimulates the pineal gland in the brain. This produces certain chemicals called 'tryptamines' which improve our mood.
And the bad?
- Exposure to solar and artificial UV radiation is widely recognized as a leading and preventable cause of skin cancer.
- Exposure to high levels of sunlight makes you four times more likely to develop cataracts in your eyes.
- Sunburn can change the distribution and function of disease-fighting white blood cells and damage our DNA.