“My pharmacist asked whether I would like the generic
version of the medicine my doctor prescribed. Should I buy the cheaper generic
brand or stick to the original (more expensive) medication?”
Many common medications have cheaper brands known as generic
drugs. For example, the drug paracetamol might be sold as the original brand “panadol”
but is also available as other brands including “panamax” and “herron
paracetamol”.
In many places, generic medicines must have the same active
ingredient in the same amount as the original brand. Before you purchase
generic medicines, ask your doctor if they are safe and effective. You may
notice they differ in size, colour and taste to the original brand. They may
also have some different fillers so they are not 100% the same tablet – it
should be the drug content that is the same.
You may wonder why the generic versions are cheaper, does
this mean they are not as good? The company that invented the original
medication will have spent considerable money on creating the medication,
testing its safety and applying for patents. Once the patent runs out, other
drug companies are free to make the equivalent medication (the generic drugs)
without the costs associated with creating the original version. Hence generic
versions are cheaper.
In general, most people can safely take generic drugs.
However, the generic version may contain inactive substances that you may be
allergic to. Not all drugs have cheaper generic versions. Drugs that are not
commonly prescribed are unlikely to nor will those drugs with the original
patent still active.
As always, talk to your doctor or pharmacist to see if
generic brands are right for you.
The most common way of tracking sleep is using the data from
our watch, but is it reliable and should we be tracking it?
Are sleep trackers accurate?
Sleep trackers claim to measure the total amount of sleep we
have each night; the time spent in different stages of sleep (light, deep and
REM); our sleep schedule and provide an overall sleep score.
Sleep trackers rely largely on movement to detect if we are
asleep. Most trackers overestimate the duration of sleep because if you lie in
bed, it thinks you are asleep. Newer watches have additional technology to
measure heart rate, breathing and heart rate variability to estimate sleep
stages. A study in 2021 examined 7 sleep trackers and found the devices were
fairly accurate at detecting whether we are awake or asleep but not accurate at
detecting the different stages of sleep. Another study in 2023 looking at 11 sleep
trackers had similar findings – the accuracy of sleep stages falls well short
of data from sleep studies conducted in a sleep lab.
So, are sleep trackers helpful or harmful?
For most people, sleep trackers provide some interesting
sleep data with minimal effort on our part. Trackers certainly have the
capacity to be very helpful if they lead to consistent behavioural change that
means we sleep longer and wake up feeling rested and refreshed.
The downside to sleep trackers is that for some people they
create a new anxiety about sleep that was not previously there. For example,
you wake up in the morning feeling pretty good, reach for your phone and check
your sleep data from last night. Your app tells you that your sleep quality was
poor and you did not have enough REM sleep. You are now worried about being
tired at work. You worry at night time that you might have another poor night’s
sleep and so it takes you longer than usual to drift off. And so, begins the
worry cycle about sleep. Checking data too often and feeling anxious about
sleep is the potentially harmful impact of sleep trackers. If you notice this
happening, it is time to take your watch off when you go to bed and rely on how
you feel in the morning to know whether you got a good night’s sleep.
June 7th is World Food Safety Day – let us take a look at
leftovers in the fridge.
- Total Food Waste: In 2022,
the world wasted 1.05 billion tonnes of food. That is a billion meals a day.
- Economic Cost: According
to the UN World Food Programme, global food waste has an estimated economic
cost of about $1 trillion annually.
- Edible Food Wasted: 70% of
the food waste is perfectly edible.
- Household Waste: Most of
the world’s food waste comes from households. Out of the total food wasted in
2022, households were responsible for 631 million tonnes.
Eating leftovers is a great way to save time and money – and
fight food waste.
To make this a safe option, follow these simple steps to
reduce your risk of food poisoning and make the most of your meals.
Keep it cool
- Cool and cover leftovers and put
them in a fridge or freezer within 2 hours (see the 2-hour/4-hour rule below).
- Splitting leftovers into smaller
portions aids faster cooling, which prevent bacteria growth. It also helps with
portion control and meal planning.
- Always store leftovers at less
than 5 degrees Celsius and keep them separate from uncooked foods, such as raw
meat.
- Eat leftovers stored in the
fridge within 3 days. Cooked rice and pasta should be eaten within 2 days.
- Freeze leftovers for up to 3
months. Defrost in the fridge and use within 24 hours of defrosting.
- Throw away leftovers if they have
been out of the fridge for more than 4 hours.
- For opened canned food leftovers,
follow the manufacturer’s directions for storage and use and take the same
precautions as you would for fresh food.
Reheat to eat
- Always reheat leftovers to steaming hot (at least 60 degrees Celsius). Reheating leftovers kills harmful bacteria that may have grown since it was cooked.
- Stir microwaved food while heating to ensure it is hot all the way through.
- Never reheat rice and pasta more than once and make sure it is steaming hot.
- Take extra care with takeaway rice. It should be eaten soon after purchasing as some businesses may pre-cook rice and re-heat it before it is served.
The 2-hour/4-hour rule
Temperature control is very important to prevent harmful
bacteria from growing in certain types of food. Food poisoning bacteria grow
best between temperatures of 5 degrees Celsius and 60 degrees Celsius – also
known as the ‘temperature danger zone’.
To minimise your risk of food poisoning, follow the
2-hour/4-hour rule. If your leftover food has been out of the fridge for:
- less than 2 hours – use it now,
or put it back in the fridge for later
- between 2 and 4 hours – use it
now or throw it out, and
- after 4 hours, throw the food
out.
Been tempted to try a nicotine pouch during a work break?
Otherwise referred to as “lip pillows” or “popping an upper
decker”, nicotine pouches are a relatively newer way to consume nicotine. They
are illegal in some countries without a prescription. These flavoured pouches
are placed in between your gum and your lip. From there the nicotine is
absorbed into your bloodstream through your mouth where some report the same
rush of dopamine that cigarettes and vapes provide.
Some companies market them as the safer alternative to
smoking, but how safe are nicotine pouches?
Because they are still a newer product, research is still
ongoing into their long-term effects on the body. However, we do know the
short-term effects.
Concerningly, a 2024 study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health has revealed that when using nicotine pouches, 97% of
participants reported one or more side effects. This included 48% reporting
mouth lesions, 39% reporting upset stomachs and 9% reporting nausea.
And because the pouches are placed on the gum, it can cause
significant gum recession. This is when the gum tissue pulls away from your
teeth, revealing roots and raising the chances of cavities.
Although the nicotine in these pouches do not directly cause
cancer, research shows that nicotine is a tumour promoter which can make the
cancer more aggressive. On top of that, nicotine can also cause heart, lung and
stomach problems, create issues relating to fertility, raise your blood
pressure and weaken your immune system.
So if you are thinking of making the switch to nicotine
pouches, make sure you consider all the health risks and remember that it is
better to quit nicotine altogether.
31May is World No Tobacco Day
Insomnia is a common problem for adults, with at least one
third of adults worldwide experiencing symptoms. Over the counter sleep
supplements promise a deep refreshing sleep. Does the evidence support these
claims?
Most OTC supplements are a mixture of herbs
A browse along your pharmacy shelf will reveal a plethora of
sleep supplements available to buy without a prescription. The labels boast a
variety of specific benefits including “beauty sleep” “deep sleep” “fall
asleep” “sleep recovery”. However if you read the ingredients labels, most of
these preparations contain a mixture of similar herbs.
Common herbal preparations in sleep supplements include:
valerian, kava, wuling, hops, chamomile, passionflower and St. John’s wort.
Most claims are not backed up by science
Very few scientific studies have examined the effectiveness
of these herbal ingredients. The studies that have been done focus on a
specific herb rather than the combination you will find in a supplement.
Overall, the evidence that herbal supplements will actually help you sleep is
“low” (stronger ratings would be “moderate” or “high”). There is, however, some
promising research that three herbs may help reduce anxiety: kava,
passionflower and chamomile. Anxiety often contributes to poor sleep so these may
be of some benefit.
Magnesium supplements
In the last year, there has been an explosion in the
availability of supplements containing magnesium for sleep. Although magnesium
is crucial for muscle and nerve function, the studies report only a minimal
impact, if any, on sleep. A healthy balanced diet will provide you with the
recommended amount of magnesium and adding more is unlikely to be helpful. If
your diet is lacking vegetables and wholegrains then perhaps a magnesium
supplement would be beneficial. Remember it is always better to obtain vitamins
and minerals from food rather than a tablet.
Melatonin
Melatonin is not a herbal preparation. It is a natural
hormone produced by the brain that signals it is time to go to sleep. Levels of
melatonin increase at night, hence it is often referred to as the hormone of
darkness. Melatonin is useful for treating jet lag and specific sleep
syndromes.
Depending on your country, melatonin may be able to be purchased
over the counter as a supplement rather than as a pharmaceutical drug. These
supplements are available without a prescription, but they contain such a small
amount of melatonin they are very unlikely to help you sleep. It is important
to understand that the over the counter preparations are not considered “drugs”
and are therefore not subject to the same rigorous testing for quality and
effectiveness that prescription medications undergo.
In some countries, melatonin tablets are available by
prescriptions to treat certain sleep disorders and depending on your location,
may be available for people aged over 55 without a prescription. You should
discuss with your pharmacist and doctor if melatonin is likely to help you as
for many individuals it will not be effective. Focusing on lifestyle changes
can often have a more significant impact on your sleep.
Can sleep supplements be harmful?
Herbal supplements are not tested for safety. There have
been reports of serious liver disease from the use of kava while hops are known
to cause skin rashes and changes to the menstrual cycle. High doses of
magnesium are likely to cause gut side effects and may be dangerous. You should
always be cautious with any over the counter product – we often mistakenly
think they are safer because they are natural or herbal. They can also
interfere with any other medications you may be taking, so be sure to ask your
GP before starting to take a supplement.
Understand the real reason you cannot sleep
The first step to improving your sleep is to complete a
sleep diary. These are freely available on the internet. Complete the diary for
one week. You will observe connections between things you do during the day and
the quality of your sleep. For example, it took you a long time to fall asleep
when you spent several hours scrolling on your phone in bed; or you had a good
sleep on the night you did yoga after work. Noticing will allow you to make
specific changes to your daily routine.
Tinned fish
Are you getting your recommended 3 serves of fish a week?
Tinned fish is a cheap and easy way to boost your omega 3 and protein requirements.
Fish is an excellent source of healthy fat and protein and
is considered an essential part of a healthy diet. However most adults are not
eating the recommended amount. Tinned fish is extremely nutritious, has a long
shelf life and is much cheaper than buying fresh fish. A great addition to your
weekly shop!
We can obtain many types of fat from food, but most adults
consume too much red meat which contains unhealthy saturated fat and not enough
fish which contains healthy unsaturated fat. A specific type of unsaturated fat
that we must obtain from our diet is called Omega 3 fat. Omega 3 fats are
needed to build the cell membranes, produce hormones and are very important for
their anti-inflammatory properties – reducing the risk of heart attack and
stroke. Oily fish are the best source of Omega 3. Tinned salmon, mackerel and
sardines (and to a lesser extent tuna) are rich sources of this essential fat.
A recommended serve of fish is 100g - which is the size of most small cans on the
supermarket shelves. This makes a serving of fish a very budget friendly
option.
The healthiest tinned fish are those with the fewest
ingredients on the label.
We know how good walking is for us. It is a convenient and
relaxing aerobic exercise that strengthens our quadriceps, hamstrings and
calves, it improves the health of our cardiovascular system and it decreases
the risk of heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. But is walking by
itself enough to keep us fully fit?
Not quite, says Dr Jackson Fyfe, a sports scientist from
Deakin University. “Walking is of course better than no exercise at all, but to
maximise heath benefits, a combination of aerobic-type (running, cycling,
swimming) and strength-type exercise (lifting weights or bodyweight exercises)
should be performed regularly.”
While walking is a good aerobic exercise, without
strength-type exercises, we are susceptible to some serious health risks.
Our muscle mass naturally decreases with age. To compensate
for this, we need to have specific exercises to retain our muscle mass or risk
a decrease in function and a higher risk of injury. Although walking does
benefit bone health, it is not nearly as effective at increasing bone density
as strength training is. Without preserving our bone strength, we are at risk
of fractures and osteoporosis.
“People’s understanding of walking more and doing aerobic
activity, keeping up the heart rate, has grown”, says Louise Ansari, chief
executive at Healthwatch, “but the need for us to do two sessions of strength
and balance exercise a week has been the Cinderella of public health advice”.
It is recommended to do 2 sessions of muscle-strengthening activities such as
push ups or lifting weights a week.
However, this does not mean you have to go sign up to a gym
and get your bicep curls on. Instead, you could consider modifying your walking
routine.
One idea is to try Nordic walking, where you use ski-like
poles to support your body with every stride you take. When you use these poles
to utilise your upper body in walking, you actually stimulate your chest, back,
triceps, biceps, shoulders and core muscles as well as your lower body. It is
also been estimated as producing up to a 46% increase in energy consumption, compared
to normal walking.
A panel of experts has recommended a new method to diagnose
and treat obesity. A report published in The Lancet Diabetes &
Endocrinology recommends that patients are diagnosed as either clinically
obese or pre-clinically obese depending on a combination of factors including
their BMI, their fat distribution and whether they are suffering health
consequences as a result of their weight. It is hoped this new framework will
provide patients with better access to appropriate treatment.
Traditionally obesity has been defined as a BMI of more than
30. However, this does not take into account whether an individual has fat
distribution around their belly (high risk of heart disease) or around their
hips (lower risk). Nor does it assess the impact that weight is having on an
individual – do they have joint pain? Are they breathless? Do they have heart
failure?
“I have heard lemon water can help with weight loss, improve
my digestion, boost my metabolism, increase my energy levels and is a great way
to detox. Is this true?””
Unfortunately, the health claims of lemon water are not backed
up by science. These is no evidence that lemon water helps with weight loss or
has any impact on your metabolism or energy levels. There is no need to
“detox”. Your body has its own natural detoxification processes and lemon water
(or any other product claimed to assist detox) is not recommended.
The benefits of drinking lemon water are derived from the
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, that is found in lemons. One glass of
water with the juice of one lemon provides approximately 20% of your daily
Vitamin C requirement, but otherwise there is very little nutritional value.
Lemon juice is a natural flavour and is preferable to soft
drink and artificially flavoured waters. Adding a squeeze of lemon can be
helpful if you struggle to drink 1.5L of plain water each day.
The downside to lemon water is the potential for it to
damage to your teeth. Lemons are acidic and may damage the protective tooth
enamel, leading to cavities. Tips to protect your teeth include drinking
through a straw and rinsing your mouth afterwards.
So, should you drink lemon water? If you enjoy a squeeze of
lemon in your water, then keep drinking it. If you do not like it, do not worry
- you can easily get your daily Vitamin C from other citrus fruit, berries or a
red capsicum.
Most people will spend about a third of their life at work.
Work should be a place you feel safe and included. But what do you do if it
feels like you are being bullied?
Bullying is defined as a persistent pattern of behaviour
aimed at intimidating, humiliating or undermining a person or a team that has
an impact on health and safety. It might range from constant criticism or
unrealistic work demands to threatening comments or 
physical intimidation.
In most places, you have specific rights and protections when it comes to workplace bullying under local work health and safety laws. These will usually include such rights as:
- The right to a safe work environment
This does not just mean physical safety, it also means you have a right to a workplace free of bullying.
- The right to make a complaint
If you are being bullied, you can report it to your manager, human resources or a health and safety representative.
- The right to confidentiality
Your privacy should be respected, and no one should be told that you have made a complaint
- Protection from retaliation
Your complaint must be handled fairly, and you cannot be targeted unjustly for speaking up.
- The right to seek outside help
You can seek help from a union representative, lawyer or workplace advocate. The work health and safety regulator in your area will also be a good source of information and support.
- Compensation and legal support
You may be able to seek compensation if the bullying causes psychological or physical injury through a workers’ compensation scheme.
It can feel scary to speak up, but it is important to get help so you can feel safe and comfortable at work.
If you feel you are the target of a workplace bully, there are some steps you can take:
1. Gather evidence.
2. Speak up. Lodge a formal complaint.
3. Seek external support: If the issue is not resolved, go to the relevant work health and safety regulator.