A weekly round-up of news affecting your health.
OSTEOARTHRITIS
Former elite rugby players are at greater risk of osteoarthritis, joint replacement and osteoporosis compared with the rest of the population, according to UK data.
Comparing 259 former, elite, male rugby players to other similarly aged participants of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing found former rugby players were more likely to report health problems related to pain and mobility.
Osteoarthritis was four times higher and joint replacement six times higher than the general population, although the former rugby players were less likely to have developed diabetes.
Dr Alasdair Dempsey of Murdoch University's school of psychology and exercise science says the survey is of elite players and does not necessarily reflect the average rugby player.
"We know that osteoarthritis, for which joint replacement is the final treatment, is associated with injury and elite players are more likely to have sustained injuries due to higher impacts and greater exposure - more games and more training," Dr Dempsey said.
"Leg injuries leading to osteoarthritis occur at similar rates in non-contact sports such as soccer and basketball. It should be noted that with appropriate training you can also reduce your risk of suffering such injuries."
MENTAL HEALTH
Workers in the fishing industry endure levels of psychological distress almost double that of the general population, according to an Australian study.
Almost 1000 registered commercial fishers responded to a survey by Deakin University researchers and funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation.
It found 19 per cent of workers were battling depression compared with the national 10 per cent.
Anthropologist Dr Tanya King of Deakin University says the study results are confronting.
"The results show levels of 'high' and 'very high' psychological distress among fishers that are higher than would be reasonably expected in a random sample. The levels are almost double those reported by the general public," Dr King said.
As worrying as this data was, it was not surprising, she said.
"For many years those working in the fishing industry have shared their stories of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and suicide but we've never had the statistical data with which to support the overwhelming anecdotal evidence, until now," Dr King said.
According to the research, many respondents felt their work was "culturally undervalued".
Dr King has called for mental health programs tailored for the seafood industry.
SMOKING
The cost of cigarettes is the biggest motivator for quitting smoking, new data shows.
Research released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows the proportion of Australian smokers motivated to quit by the rising cost of tobacco products has increased from 35.8 per cent to almost 52 per cent in the past decade.
While Australian smoking rates are at a historical low, the rate of quitting has slowed, highlighting the need for renewed investment in anti-smoking campaigns, Cancer Council Australia chief executive Sanchia Aranda says.
"Tobacco tax works even better if complemented by hard-hitting anti-smoking campaigns. The proportion of people reporting that government ads motivated them to quit has declined in step with reduced funding for campaigns," Professor Aranda said.
The more governments invested in campaigns, the more people would quit, she said.
"Smoking is still the leading cause of cancer death in Australia. We need more of what works to reduce that burden," Prof Aranda said.
FLU
Australian parents have been reminded of the importance of vaccinating their older children against the flu to protect much-younger siblings from the potentially deadly virus.
A UK study of 400, 000 Scottish children, published in the European Respiratory Journal, found children under two years were twice as likely to be admitted to hospital with the flu if they have an older sister or brother.
Dr Brian Oliver, who leads the Respiratory Molecular Pathogenesis Group at the University of Technology, Sydney and the Woolcock Institute, says parents can better protect babies by getting the older siblings vaccinated.
Newborns also get protection if their mothers get the flu shot while pregnant, he says.
"The take-home message from this study is that if you want to protect children under six months from having a serious influenza infection, you need to make sure that other children in the family have been immunised," Dr Oliver said.
