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Health and Life Style.

Veterans and Veterans Families Counselling Service (VVCS) can be reached 24 hours a day across Australia

for crisis support and free and confidential counselling. Phone 1800 011 046.

VVCS is a service founded by Vietnam veterans.

Prostate cancer prevention:

Ways to reduce your risk.

If you're concerned about your risk of prostate cancer, you may be interested in prostate cancer prevention.

There's no sure way to prevent prostate cancer. Study results often conflict with each other and most studies aren't designed to definitively prove whether or not something prevents prostate cancer. As a result, no clear ways to prevent prostate cancer have emerged.

In general, doctors recommend that men with an average risk of prostate cancer make choices that benefit their overall health if they're interested in prostate cancer prevention.

There is some evidence that choosing a healthy diet that's low in fat and full of fruits and vegetables may contribute to a lower risk of prostate cancer, though this hasn't been proven concretely. If you want to reduce your risk of prostate cancer, consider trying to:

• Choose a low-fat diet. Foods that contain fats include meats, nuts, oils and dairy products, such as milk and cheese.

In some studies, men who ate the highest amount of fat each day had an increased risk of prostate cancer. While this association doesn't prove that excess fat causes prostate cancer, reducing the amount of fat you eat each day has other proven benefits, such as helping you control your weight and helping your heart.

To reduce the amount of fat you eat each day, limit fatty foods or choose low-fat varieties. For instance, reduce the amount of fat you add to foods when cooking, select leaner cuts of meat, and choose low-fat or reduced-fat dairy products.

• Eat more fat from plants than from animals. In studies that looked at fat consumption and prostate cancer risk, fats from animals were most likely to be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. Animal products that contain fats include meat, lard and butter.

You might consider using plant-based fats instead of animal fats. For instance, cook with olive oil rather than butter. Sprinkle nuts or seeds on your salad rather than cheese.

• Increase the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat each day. Fruits and vegetables are full of vitamins and nutrients that are thought to reduce the risk of prostate cancer, though research hasn't proved that any particular nutrient is guaranteed to reduce your risk.

• Eating more fruits and vegetables also tends to make you have less room for other foods, such as high-fat foods.

You might consider increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat each day by adding an additional serving of a fruit or vegetable to each meal. Consider eating fruits and vegetables for snacks.

• Eat fish. Fatty fish — such as salmon, tuna and herring — contain omega-3 fatty acids, a type of fatty acid that has been linked to a reduced risk of prostate cancer. If you don't currently eat fish, you might consider adding it to your diet.

Another way to add omega-3s to your diet is by eating flaxseed.

• Reduce the amount of dairy products you eat each day. In studies, men who ate the most dairy products, such as milk, cheese and yogurt, each day had the highest risk of prostate cancer. But study results have been mixed, and the risk associated with dairy products is thought to be small.

Maintain a healthy weight.

Men who are obese, a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, may have an increased risk of prostate cancer. If you are overweight or obese, work on losing weight. You can do this by reducing the number of calories you eat each day and increasing the amount of exercise you do.

If you have a healthy weight, work to maintain it by exercising most days of the week and choosing a healthy diet that's rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

Studies of exercise and prostate cancer risk have mostly shown that men who exercise may have a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Exercise has many other health benefits and may reduce your risk of heart disease and other cancers. Exercise can help you maintain your weight, or it can help you lose weight.

If you don't already exercise, make an appointment with your doctor to make sure it's OK for you to get started. When you begin exercising, go slowly. Add physical activity to your day by parking your car farther away from where you're going, and try taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

Aim for 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week.

Pumpkin Facts.

You either love them or hate them, there’s no in-between. Pumpkin is like that. Some people love them cooked any way, boiled or baked or even mashed up into a soup. A lot of people can’t stand them boiled or baked but love the soup and there’s others that can’t stand them done anyway. I don’t think there is a vegetable that is so divisive. But like them or hate them, there are some facts about pumpkins that not many lovers or loathers know. For instance:

• The word pumpkin comes from the Greek word "pepon," which means large melon. Pumpkins are native to the Americas.

• More than 589,700 kg of pumpkins were produced in the U.S. in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This crop was valued at more than $145 million.

• A single pumpkin vine can grow up to 9 meters in length and contains both male and female blossoms. The male blossoms attract bees, which are necessary for pollination of the female blooms.

• According to Guinness World Records, the record for the heaviest pumpkin was set in 2010 with a pumpkin that weighed 1,054 kilograms. The record for the largest pumpkin pie, also set in 2010, was 1,678 kilograms.

Pumpkin is low in calories (about 80 in 1 cup puree). It's a very good source of fibre, vitamins A and C and the minerals iron, potassium and manganese. Pumpkin seeds are also a source of omega-3 fatty acids.

The oil made from pumpkin seeds is possibly effective for symptoms caused by an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia). Pumpkin flowers, leaves and seeds are all edible. It is a versatile ingredient and can be made into a soup, sauce, puree, mash or pie filling and can be sautéed or roasted.

Calorie Calculator.

If you want to know how many calories your body needs to sustain itself on a day to day basis, click HERE. This is an American calculator and defaults to the old Lbs and feet and inches measurement system. Click the “International Units” tag before using.

Is sea salt healthier than table salt?

Despite the fact that sea salt is often promoted as being a healthier type of salt, it has the same basic nutritional value as table salt. In fact, by weight sea salt and table salt contain comparable amounts of sodium. The main differences between sea salt and table salt are in their taste, texture and processing.

Whichever type of salt you enjoy, do so in moderation.

Depression: Supporting a family member or friend.

Helping someone with depression can be a challenge. If someone in your life has depression, you may feel helpless and wonder what to do. Learn how to offer support and understanding and how to help your loved one get the resources to cope with depression. Here's what you can do.

Learn the symptoms of depression.

Depression signs and symptoms vary from person to person. They can include:

• Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness

• Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters

• Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports

• Insomnia or sleeping too much

• Tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort

• Changes in appetite — reduced appetite and weight loss or increased cravings for food and weight gain

• Anxiety, agitation or restlessness

• Slowed thinking, speaking or body movements

• Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or blaming yourself for things that aren't your responsibility

• Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things

• Frequent or recurrent mention of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts or suicide

• Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches

For many people with depression, symptoms usually are severe enough to cause noticeable problems in day-to-day activities, such as work, school, social activities or relationships with others. Other people may feel generally miserable or unhappy without knowing why. Children and teens may show depression by being irritable or cranky rather than sad.

Encourage treatment.

People with depression may not recognize or acknowledge that they're depressed. They may not be aware of signs and symptoms of depression, so they may think their feelings are normal. All too often, people feel ashamed about their depression and mistakenly believe they should be able to overcome it with willpower alone. But depression seldom gets better without treatment and may get worse. With the right treatment approach, the person you care about can get better.

Here's what you can do to help:

• Talk to the person about what you've noticed and why you're concerned.

• Explain that depression is a medical condition, not a personal flaw or weakness and that it usually gets better with treatment.

• Suggest seeking help from a professional, a medical doctor or a mental health provider, such as a licensed counsellor or psychologist.

• Offer to help prepare a list of questions to discuss in an initial appointment with a doctor or mental health provider.

• Express your willingness to help by setting up appointments, going along to them and attending family therapy sessions.

If your loved one's illness is severe or potentially life-threatening, contact a doctor, a hospital or emergency medical services.

Identify warning signs of worsening depression.

Everyone experiences depression differently. Observe your loved one. Learn how depression affects your family member or friend — and learn what to do when it gets worse.

Consider these issues:

• What are the typical signs and symptoms of depression in your relative or friend?

• What behaviours or language do you observe when depression is worse?

• What behaviours or language do you observe when he or she is doing well?

• What circumstances trigger episodes of more severe depression?

• What activities are most helpful when depression worsens?

Worsening depression needs to be treated as soon as possible. Encourage your loved one to work with his or her doctor or mental health provider to come up with a plan for what to do when signs and symptoms reach a certain point. As part of this plan, your loved one may need to:

• Contact the doctor to see about adjusting or changing medications

• See a psychotherapist, such as a licensed counselor or psychologist

• Take self-care steps, such as being sure to eat healthy meals, get an appropriate amount of sleep and be physically active

Understand suicide risk.

People with depression are at an increased risk of suicide. If your loved one is severely depressed, prepare yourself for the possibility that at some point he or she may feel suicidal. Take all signs of suicidal behaviour seriously and act immediately.

Take action if necessary:

• Talk to the person about your concern. Ask if he or she has been thinking about attempting suicide or has a plan for how to do it. Having an actual plan indicates a higher likelihood of attempting suicide.

• Seek help. Contact the person's doctor, or other health care professional. Let other family members or close friends know what's going on.

• Call Lifeline 131 114.

• Make sure the person is in a safe environment. If possible, eliminate things that could be used to attempt suicide. For example, remove weapons and medications.

• Call 000 immediately if the person is in danger of self-harm or suicide. Make sure someone stays with that person at all times.

Stay alert for warning signs of suicide.

Learn and stay alert for common warning signs of suicide or suicidal thoughts:

• Talking about suicide — for example, making statements such as "I'm going to kill myself," "I wish I were dead," or "I wish I hadn't been born"

• Getting the means to attempt suicide, such as stockpiling pills

• Withdrawing from social contact and wanting to be left alone

• Having mood swings, such as being emotionally high one day and deeply discouraged the next

• Being preoccupied with death, dying or violence

• Feeling trapped or hopeless about a situation

• Increasing use of alcohol or drugs

• Changing normal routine, including eating or sleeping patterns

• Doing risky or self-destructive things, such as using drugs or driving recklessly

• Giving away belongings or getting affairs in order when there's no other logical explanation for why this is being done

• Saying goodbye to people as if they won't be seen again

• Developing personality changes or being severely anxious or agitated, particularly when experiencing some of the warning signs listed above

Provide support

Remember that your loved one's depression isn't anyone's fault. You can't fix the person's depression — but your support and understanding can help.

What you can do for your loved one:

• Encourage sticking with treatment. If your relative or friend is in treatment for depression, help him or her remember to take prescribed medications and to keep appointments.

• Be willing to listen. Let your loved one know that you want to understand how he or she feels. When the person wants to talk, listen carefully, but avoid giving advice or opinions or making judgments. Just listening and being understanding can be a powerful healing tool.

• Give positive reinforcement. People with depression may judge themselves harshly and find fault with everything they do. Remind your loved one about his or her positive qualities and how much the person means to you and others.

• Offer assistance. Your relative or friend may not be able to take care of certain tasks well. Give suggestions about specific tasks you'd be willing to do, or ask if there is a particular task that you could take on.

• Help create a low-stress environment. Creating a regular routine may help a person with depression feel more in control. Offer to make a schedule for meals, medication, physical activity and sleep, and help organize household chores.

• Locate helpful organizations. A number of organizations offer support groups, counseling and other resources for depression. For example, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, employee assistance programs and many faith-based organizations offer help for mental health concerns.

• Encourage participation in spiritual practice, if appropriate. For many people, faith is an important element in recovery from depression — whether it's involvement in an organized religious community or personal spiritual beliefs and practices.

• Make plans together. Ask your loved one to join you on a walk, see a movie with you, or work with you on a hobby or other activity he or she previously enjoyed. But don't try to force the person into doing something.

What you can do for yourself:

• Learn about depression. The better you understand what causes depression, how it affects people and how it can be treated, the better you'll be able to talk to and help the person you care about.

• Take care of yourself. Supporting someone with depression isn't easy. Ask other relatives or friends to help, and take steps to prevent becoming frustrated or burned out. Find your own time for hobbies, physical activity, friends and spiritual renewal.

• Finally, be patient. Depression symptoms do improve with treatment, but it can take time. Finding the best treatment may require trying more than one type of medication or treatment approach. For some people, symptoms quickly improve after starting treatment. For others, it will take longer.

ADSO Senate Submission - Inquiry into Veterans Suicides.

It has been quite a task but the ADSO Submission has been finalized and has been lodged with the Senate Committee’s Secretariat – copy attached HERE.

Although the first draft has been extensively reworked following numerous inputs from a good cross section of ADSO’s member Associations, the important core of what was originally drafted, together with its in-depth research, remains as the centre-piece of what was submitted.

ADSO took every relevant input and suggested inclusion into consideration and balanced it with what they agreed from the start would be their so-to-speak theme - namely, to not shy away from serious criticism nor from making comment on clear evidence that DVA’s service delivery to the veterans’ community in large part has been far from satisfactory. Many veterans had been left rightfully very grumpy, to put it mildly. But equally ADSO would acknowledge the positive advances DVA has made to date and the initiatives it has underway to overcome its sins of the past.

Nuts and your heart.

Mayo Clinic

Eating nuts helps your heart. Walnuts, almonds and other nuts can help lower your cholesterol when eaten as part of a balanced diet. Nuts contain unsaturated fatty acids and other nutrients and they're a great snack food, inexpensive, easy to store and easy to pack when you're on the go. One drawback to nuts is that they're high in calories, so it's important to limit portions. But choosing nuts instead of a less healthy snack may just help you stick to a heart-healthy diet.

Although a great deal of research suggests that nuts can benefit heart health and reduce the risks of dying early from heart disease and other causes, the evidence is still inconclusive. But, unless you're allergic to nuts, there's no real danger in eating nuts, so you can certainly include nuts as part of your heart-healthy diet. One way nuts may help your heart health is by lowering the low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or "bad") cholesterol levels. LDL plays a major role in the development of plaque that builds up on the blood vessels. Eating more nuts has also been linked to lower levels of inflammation linked to heart disease.

Eating nuts may also reduce your risk of developing blood clots that can cause a fatal heart attack. Nuts also appear to improve the health of the lining of your arteries.

So, what's in nuts that might make them heart healthy?

Besides being packed with protein, most nuts contain at least some of these heart-healthy substances:

• Unsaturated fats. It's not entirely clear why, but it's thought that the "good" fats in nuts,  both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, lower bad cholesterol levels.

• Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in many kinds of fish, but many nuts are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s are a healthy form of fatty acids that seem to help your heart by, among other things, preventing dangerous heart rhythms that can lead to heart attacks.

• Fiber. All nuts contain fiber, which helps lower your cholesterol. Fiber makes you feel full, so you eat less. Fiber is also thought to play a role in preventing type 2 diabetes.

• Vitamin E. Vitamin E may help stop the development of plaques in your arteries, which can narrow them. Plaque development in your arteries can lead to chest pain, coronary artery disease or a heart attack.

• Plant sterols. Some nuts contain plant sterols, a substance that can help lower your cholesterol. Plant sterols are often added to products like margarine and orange juice for additional health benefits, but sterols occur naturally in nuts.

• L-arginine. Nuts are also a source of l-arginine, which is a substance that may help improve the health of your artery walls by making them more flexible and less prone to blood clots that can block blood flow.

What amount of nuts is considered healthy?

As much as 80 percent of a nut is fat. Even though most of this fat is healthy fat, it's still a lot of calories. That's why you should eat nuts in moderation. Ideally, you should use nuts as a substitute for saturated fats, such as those found in meats, eggs and dairy products. Instead of eating foods with unhealthy saturated fats, try substituting a handful of nuts or a tablespoon or two of a nut spread. The American Heart Association recommends eating about four servings of unsalted nuts a week. Select raw or dry-roasted nuts rather than those cooked in oil.

A serving is a small handful of whole nuts or 2 tablespoons of nut butter. But again, do this as part of a heart-healthy diet. Just eating nuts and not cutting back on saturated fats found in many dairy and meat products won't do your heart any good.

Does it matter what kind of nuts you eat?

The type of nuts you choose to eat probably doesn't matter much. Most nuts appear to be generally healthy, though some may have more heart-healthy nutrients than others. For example, walnuts contain high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. Almonds, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts and pecans are other nuts that appear to be quite heart healthy. And peanuts, which are technically not a nut, but a legume, like beans, seem to be relatively healthy. Keep in mind, you could end up cancelling out the heart-healthy benefits of nuts if they're covered with chocolate, sugar or salt.

Here's some nutrition information on common types of nuts. All calorie and fat content measurements are for 1 ounce, or 28.4 grams (g), of unsalted nuts.

How about nut oils? Are they healthy, too?

Nut oils are also a good source of healthy nutrients, but they lack the fibre found in whole nuts. Walnut oil is the highest in omega-3s. Consider using nut oils in homemade salad dressing or in cooking. When cooking with nut oils, remember that they respond differently to heat than do vegetable oils.

Nut oil, if overheated, can become bitter. Just like with nuts, use nut oil in moderation, as the oils are high in fat and calories.

Runny Nose.

Runny nose is excess drainage produced by nasal and adjacent tissues and blood vessels in the nose. This drainage may range from a clear fluid to thick mucus. Runny nose drainage may run out of your nose, down the back of your throat or both.

The terms "rhinorrhea" and "rhinitis" are often used to refer to a runny nose. Strictly speaking though, rhinorrhea refers to a thin, relatively clear nasal discharge. Rhinitis refers to inflammation of the nasal tissues from a number of causes, which usually results in a runny nose. Nasal congestion may or may not accompany runny nose.

Runny nose can be caused by anything that irritates or inflames the nasal tissues. Infections, such as the common cold and influenza, allergies and various irritants may all cause a runny nose. Some people have a chronically runny nose for no apparent reason, a condition called nonallergic rhinitis or vasomotor rhinitis (VMR).

Less commonly, runny nose can be caused by polyps, a foreign body, a tumour or migraine-like headaches.

When to see a doctor.

A runny nose may be annoying and uncomfortable, but it usually clears up on its own. Occasionally, it can be a sign of a more serious problem, and runny nose may be serious in infants. Call your doctor if:

• Your symptoms last more than 10 days.

• You have a high fever.

• Your nasal discharge is yellow and green and is accompanied by sinus pain or fever. This may be a sign of a bacterial infection.

• You have blood in your nasal discharge or a persistent clear discharge after a head injury.

Call your child's doctor if:

• Your child is younger than 2 months and is running a fever.

• Your baby's runny nose or congestion causes trouble nursing or makes breathing difficult.

Self-care.

Until you see your doctor, try these simple steps to relieve symptoms:

• Sniffing and swallowing or gently blowing your nose.

• Avoid known allergic triggers.

• If the runny nose is a persistent, watery discharge, particularly if accompanied by sneezing and itchy or watery eyes, your symptoms may be allergy-related and an over-the-counter antihistamine may help. Be sure to follow the label instructions exactly.

• For babies and small children, use a soft rubber suction bulb to gently remove any secretions.

• Try these measures to relieve postnasal drip — when excess mucus accumulates in the back of your throat:

• Avoid common irritants such as cigarette smoke and sudden humidity changes.

• Drink plenty of water.

• Try nasal saline sprays or rinses.

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