Posted in Family GP

Is hypertension the same as high blood pressure?  Yes

Why is it important? Because if we don't treat it, it puts us at risk of damaging our internal blood vessels and risking them bursting.

The outcome of this is commonly a stroke or aneurysm. It is also a major risk factor for heart disease and micro-vascular dementia.

If you are over the age of 50 years, it is important to get your blood pressure checked yearly at the very least. The reason why you need to check it, is that high blood pressure is often associated with no symptoms. So you won't know if you have it.

It is also one of the easiest risk factors to treat.  If your are concerned about your blood pressure, or it fluctuates from time to time or you have a strong family history why not talk to Nurse - Heather about having a 24 hour blood pressure check up 03 5986-4229. This can be done if you are wanting a more accurate diagnosis or if you are on medication and want to make sure it is effective - day and night.

Talk to your GP or nurse today about your blood pressure and they can help you be pro-active about your most important gift - your health.

• MHR is Australia's national electronic health record system. 
• It provides online storage for documents and data containing information about your health.
• The information can be uploaded by you, your healthcare providers, or by Medicare.
• It is you who will decide whether to make your information available to healthcare organisations and health care practitioners.

The My Health Record system has been running for several years. In the past it required you to opt-in, the change is that you will now be automatically registered unless you 'opt-out' before 31st January, 2019.

What are the benefits of having a My Health Record?

• Your- "My Health Record" may provide an additional source of information for your doctor that was previously not available.
• A doctor that you don't see regularly will be able to access your past medical history.
• In the event of an emergency, if you are unable to provide information about your medical history, healthcare providers will be able to access your My Health Record to see your health information such as allergies, medicines and immunizations.
• It enables you to better track and manage your own health

What about your privacy?

• Your My Health Record is personally controlled by you; it's your choice who sees the information.
• You are able to track who have accessed and updated your My Health Record
• The uploaded documents in the My Health Record are set to general access for healthcare providers by default, however, you can change your access controls at any time.
• Your My Health Record can be used by The Department of Health for secondary purposes such as research, policy and planning. However, you can elect for your information not to be used for such purposes.
• Your information cannot be used non-health related purposes, this includes commercially.
• Your information cannot be provided to insurance agencies.
• You can nominate whether you wish to give access to other people such as carer's, friends or other family members.

Note: You are NOT able:

1. Alter the content of clinical documents created by a healthcare provider
2. Restrict particular healthcare providers access to your record (only able to restrict access to the health organisation as a whole)

So what next?

1. You can choose not to have a My Health Record at all (by opting out by 31st January 2019 or cancelling an existing record at any time)
2. If you choose to opt-out, you can still register for a My Health Record at a later date.
3. You have the power to instruct your healthcare provider/GP to not add particular information into your My Health Record.
4. You can set a record access code to give access only to selected health organisations.
5. You can choose to give access to a nominated representative such as a family member, close friend or carer.
6. You can remove particular documents from the record.
7. You can set up automatic notifications via an email or text to alert you when a new healthcare provider accesses your record.
8. Feel free to discuss your decision regarding your My Health Record with your GP

For further information: https://www.myhealthrecord.gov.au/

If you wish to opt-out of My Health Record: https://www.myhealthrecord.gov.au/for-you-your-family/opt-out-my-health-record

Meet the Rosebud GPs with time for your whole health story

If you're proactive about your health, you might like to meet Whole Medicine's integrative GPs.

Dr Michelle Woolhouse
MBBS, FRACGP, FACNEM, FASLM
Dr Woolhouse founded the clinic in 2009 to provide Mornington Peninsula residents with a holistic medicine option. After completing her medical degree in 1996, she became a fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioner's (RACGP), and of the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (ACNEM) and the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (ASLM). Dr Woolhouse also has post graduate training in hypnotherapy, acupuncture and mind-body medicine.

Dr Preveena Nair
MBBS, FRACGP
After completing her medical and surgical training in 2008, Dr Nair undertook post graduate training in nutritional medicine and mind-body medicine. Her special interests include women's, sexual and mental health, prevention and paediatrics.

Dr Caitlin O'Mahony
MBBS, DRANZCOG, FRACGP
Dr O'Mahony is an integrative GP and shared care practitioner who focuses on nutrition, mental health, sexual health, chronic illness and stress management. She was the inaugural Deputy Chair of The Water Well Project for refugees and asylum seekers.

Dr Angela Tallarida
MBBS, FRACGP
A Mornington Peninsula local, Dr Tallarida is passionate about how modern science is revealing the evidence behind ancient wisdom and practices like meditation and yoga. She specialises in mental health, chronic pain, stress management, gut health and travel medicine.

Medicare rebates apply for all services.

• Hot flushes, forgetfulness, joint aches and palpitations?
• Sweet or chocolate cravings?
• Afternoon fatigue?
• Waking through the night?
• PMT?
• Lowered mood?
• Excessive bloating, swelling or weight gain?

If so, your hormones may be playing a role.

Healthy hormones are one of the cornerstones of good health and well-being. Did you know that hormones affect every living cellular being? Good hormonal health is associated with good mental health, optimal performance, good energy and sleep to name a few, they are even associated with regulating our cravings and helping us find the perfect partner.

The other beautiful thing about hormones is that they all love talking to each other, so the health of one system affects the health of the other, for good and for bad.

Names such insulin, progesterone, melatonin, gherelin, thyroxine and cortisol are but a few of the crucial hormones that are at play when considering our optimal health.

But how do we affect our hormones, what can we do to make sure they are working as well as they can? Well this is where lifestyle, food choices, mental health, sleep, relaxation and other factors come into play.

Because hormones played a role in cellular health since time began, nature has evolved with nutrients, herbs and other vital things to help us along our way.

If you would like more information, why not come along to an intimate night with Dr Michelle Woolhouse and her colleagues. She will talk you through all the inter-connection that you need to know to understand and optimise your hormonal balance and your well-being.

Date:Thursday 11th October 2018
Time: 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Location: Frankston Library, 60 Playne Street Frankston
Cost: $30

Only 20 tickets left! Click here to secure your tickets.

Did you know that sleep is one of the most important factor for long term mental and physical health?

Even short-term sleep deprivation is associated with a poorer productivity and poorer mental health. Sleep is a vital time for rest, rejuvenation and cellular repair. It is during sleep that our immune system does it's finest work, alongside the liver detoxification, hormonal balance, emotional regulation and gut function.

Alarmingly teenagers and even small children are getting into bad sleep habits and are recurrently suffering from sleep deprivation affecting their learning, social functioning and mental health. In fact, sleep apnea is one of the most significant inter-relational factors in Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

Sleep apnea is one of Australia's most under diagnosed chronic health issues. The reason being apart from fatigue, most sufferers don't know that they have interrupted sleep, because the waking last only seconds but can be as frequent as 60 times an hour. This is called micro-wakings. Micro-wakings are not recalled and the sufferer often wakes fatigues, has increased daytime sleepiness and lower production.

Sometimes sleep disturbance when it happens over a long period of time can be an underlying cause of chronic fatigue, chronic depression, difficulty losing weight and treatment resistant high blood pressure.

Sleep apnea is also associated with an increased risk of sudden death, heart attacks and strokes.

At Whole Medicine we have invested in the latest sleep diagnostic machine and are offering home sleep tests for as little as $180.00.

If you are interested, please talk to your GP or simply make an appointment with our practice Nurse, Heather 03 5986-4229.