Are you a young Aussie completely confused about which vaccine to get? Both vaccines are bloody good options, which means you need to feel educated and capable of making the best decision for you. It’s all about informed consent! Wowsers Australia. If the Sydney outbreak takes hold – we’re all in trouble. It’s almost mid July, and the Delta strain is spreading like wildfire…well, it’s certainly starting to. The coming days and weeks see Sydney
Dear Mums, I’ve been seeing you with your little one pretty consistently since they were born, making sure they’re well and you’re coping. But I must say, we do seem to be spending a lot more time together at this time of year. My appointment book each day is filled with names of mums and babies of different ages. You’ve all got different jobs, have different family situations, and come from different cultures; but ultimately,
Reaching the age of four is like climbing the first ladder of life. Kids are moving, talking, and living as little people, and at the top of this ladder they seem to take a big breath before tackling the next one that’s in their way. So just what should we be expecting from our four to five-year-olds? Turning four means they get a check-up with me, plus a few pesky (yet vital) needles. Visits at
Utter the words “meningococcal disease” and you’re sure to put the fear of God into any parent. Listen in at any mothers group in the cafe, or scroll through facebook feeds and news outlets, and you’re sure to be left confused. Just what is all the fuss about? Dr Sam discusses meningococcal disease and explains exactly what we need to know about the vaccines out there. Firstly, lets discuss the facts about the disease itself.
The sh%t gets real theory! I’ve got this theory, everything gets real roughly around the time we turn 40. It certainly did for me. There’s no great science to it, rather an observation of life. Our 20’s and 30’s seem pretty bloody simple. We’ve generally got one decision or one issue at a time. Will I or won’t I go to uni, get married, take that job, have a baby. It’s not common for a
Being a parent is tough, especially when our kids get sick. It’s hard to know when to relax, and when to panic. When to rush to the doctor, or even the hospital. Parents see fever as the troublesome disease, urgently seeking reassurance and treatment from their doctors. “Fever is not an illness. It is a natural response of the body,” Dr Sam explains. “It’s an indicator that something is going on inside our bodies, an
As parents, you probably worked out very early on, that your little one didn’t come with a manual. If they did, it would make everything so much easier, especially when they’re sick. Imagine being able to flick to the “troubleshooting” page and, after one quick squiz, work out exactly what’s wrong, and if it’s serious enough to go to hospital. Read more here at Kidspot.
It’s Murphy’s Law. You’re never going to be right next to a petrol station when you run out of fuel. You’re never near a loo when you’ve really ‘gotta go’. And your little one is never going to be sick in normal waking hours, when you are prepared for anything and a trip to the local GP is easy. So what do you do if your precious bundle is sick in the middle of the
Aussie blokes wake up – you’re letting the team down! A recent report has confirmed that male fertility is on the decline, and I’m sorry men, but it’s largely your fault. Researchers studying trends in sperm counts over the last 40 years, have found a dramatic plummet in sperm counts – there’s 60% less sperm! And it’s not just Aussie blokes who are in trouble. Across the ditch in New Zealand the numbers are also
In Australia, as with the rest of the world, food allergies are becoming increasingly more common in our kids. And no one really knows why. Dr Sam sifts through the facts to discuss what all parents really need to know about food allergies. Food allergy can develop at any age, but is most common in babies under one, affecting one in ten. Most childhood allergies are ‘outgrown’, only affecting about one in twenty by age
I have a six month old, and WITHOUT doubt, the single, most frequent topic of conversation is poo – dissecting the daily passings of baby Clancy. And it’s no different everyday in my surgery looking after young families. The one issue that causes the most amount of angst is constipation. So for baby Clancy’s mum and all the other new mummies, here are your common questions answered. Read the full article here at Kidspot.
Melanoma explained and exposed.
Dr Sam writes regularly for the popular lifestyle and parenting website Kidspot, and many of his articles can be found here.
Does your child have selective hearing? Well it might just not be the dulcet fatherly tones causing your child to ignore you, but a common middle ear problem called Otitis Media with Effusion – or “glue ear”. (As discussed with Deborah Knight on The Today Show – Sunday 02AUG15) It is estimated 9 in 10 kids will get glue ear at least once by the time they are 4 years old – that’s astounding! Think
The last thing Italian cyclist Ivan Basso expected when he competed in the Tour de France this year was a cancer diagnosis. But after a pile up in the fifth stage – he got checked out – and in that check up – was found to have a lump on his nut, now diagnosed as testicular cancer. He’s not alone. When people discover I’ve been involved with Embarrassing Bodies, I see wide eyes, grimaces, and
Righto, today I have something to say. You see, there are a bunch of flog-bags out their bitching and moaning that Monday is not a public holiday. Because ANZAC Day falls on Saturday, these fools think it’s our RIGHT to have an extra day off. For what? Right about now some of you might be asking how I’m qualified to comment on such a sacred Aussie tradition as the “public-holiday-for-the-sake-of-it“. Perhaps I’m not. But I
Could the rise of online ‘fast food’ sex be fueling a rise in chlamydia? Online social hook-up applications such as Tinder are revolutionising dating. But the fallout is an increasing acceptance of risky sex. The speed with which horny adults link together is frightening, as is the decline in their rational decision making – the thrill of a fast f%$k outweighs the realities of risk. And its the older ones, those in their thirties and
I’m proud of my university degree at UTAS. The Medical School is small, a mere 70 students a year, with some years dropping to 60 (illness, pot smoking, or tree hugging dependent – hey, don’t judge, it was Tassie remember!). But one aspect of my training has influenced me permanently. What UTAS did well, was foster our ability to critique medical information. To expose fact from fiction, enabling us to form robust treatment opinions based
Michael Schumacher is one of those blokes you can’t help but admire. This guy has it all. Immense skill, unrivaled competitive edge, extreme sporting prowess, rugged good looks, and a clear gift with the ladies. When we were told he was severly injured skiing there was universal sorrow and support for his closest friends and family. Even from Mercedes drivers. What do we know? To be honest, we don’t know much. All credit and respect
Yesterday was certainly a busy day: my first appearance on the fast paced Channel Ten show The Project, culminating in making the ever stoic Carrie Bickmore blush. So what caused all the fuss? There are 7452 different pain tablets out there: big boxes, little boxes, fast, slow, and targeted. Is your money actually better spent on these fancy options? The main drugs in question are the trusty old paracetamol and ibuprofen. Both these drugs have
“Dr Sam, I have a runny nose, I swear I’m going to die!” It’s that time of year where my waiting room bursts with the dreary eyed fluey folk, the chorus of sniffles and coughs resonnating down the corridor. It doesn’t have to be like that, because there really is a lot you can do before you even make it to see me. The common cold is an infection of the upper respiratory passages, especially
A patient saw me this week for his check up, an annual sojourn into my luxurious and tranquil rooms for the ‘once over’, his ‘grease and oil change’. He’s overweight, cultivating a beer gut, and his blood pressure and blood fats are slowly rising. As my mate Leighton and I used to say: I ‘pulled the handle’ – calmly reciting a familiar diatribe about the risks of being a fatty poombah and Maccas muncher all
Ever wondered what happens to chewing gum? Whether TV really does make you go blind? What about the three second rule? Well these were just some of the medical myths we debunked on the Mornings show with Sonia and David this week. Can sitting too close to the TV make you blind? This myth originates from the sixties when a batch of faulty TVs came out that emitted too many xrays. It was widely believed
As temperatures soar in Melbourne the dangers of exercising in extreme conditions have been highlighted at the tennis. But what is all the fuss actually about? When we exercise our muscles burn energy with heat the natural byproduct. The more you exercise, the higher your body temperature gets, with up to 4 or 5 degrees added to our usual 36 degrees. Our bodies don’t like cooking from the inside, so we need to lose this
We all love a beer don’t we, and as I have been known to say, “it’s ok to drink as long as you drink less than your doctor”. But what does that really mean? The silly season is over, new years resolutions are fresh in our minds – I bet you all have this burning desire to FINALLY get fit, healthy, and manage your weight. But how does alcohol fit into that? Firstly, lets look
“Can you explain how poos are made Daddy?” Wow. What a question from a six year old on a Friday morning! But it did get me thinking. How is poo made and how do you describe such an intimate process to your kids? When do such topics transition from being the frustrating fuel of endless “toilet talk” to a golden chance to provide education? Come on mums, you know EXACTLY what I mean! “Mummy, you’re a poo head.”
Do you train and have you ever wondered why you can’t shift weight despite how much you workout? Or been curious if you really need that protein supplement they’re flogging at the gym door? As a sports focused GP, I’m constantly frustrated at how badly people eat when they are trying to exercise hard to lose weight. Here’s the drill – Eating is healthy. It’s important and gets you to your overall goals – even