Give it time
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| Looking for dementia clues ... Associate Professor Byrne |
• A possible link between a history of depression and anxiety and the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, later in life, is being investigated. The UQ research team, headed by UQ School of Medicine Associate Professor Gerard Byrne, was the only Queensland group and one of just eight nationally to receive support from a special $4.4 million allocation for dementia studies administered by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
Dr Byrne, Head of the Discipline of Psychiatry at UQ, said the $530,000 grant would help fund an extension of the UQ–Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) longitudinal study of ageing in women (the LAW Study), led by UQ’s School of Medicine’s Professor Soo Keat Khoo. The LAW study, believed to be the only one of its kind in the world, has tracked the health of 511 women aged between 40 and 80 over the past five years through clinical examinations, questionnaires, interviews, and blood samples. Dementia currently affects 200,000 Australians with 1000 new cases diagnosed each week.
• UQ researchers are undertaking the largest and only longitudinal study of nurses and midwives ever attempted in the world. To date, the Australian Research Council-funded study has recruited more than 10,000 nurses and midwives in Australia and New Zealand. The study operates out of the School of Nursing and Midwifery based at UQ Ipswich.
UQ Associate Professor Cathy Turner is leading the Nurses and Midwives e-cohort project, which is looking into the work, health and well being of those involved in these crucial health professions. Very little research had been completed on nurses and midwives despite them being the largest single health professional group in Australia, she said.
• Maintaining a healthy weight has emerged as the most important factor for Australian women in avoiding chronic diseases such as vascular disease, diabetes and asthma. The findings come from a report released by the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health based at the University of Newcastle and UQ. Professor Julie Byles, from the University of Newcastle, said the report assessed the health of more than 30,000 Australian women in three age groups from 1996 to 2006.
Professor Annette Dobson, from UQ’s School of Population Health, said the findings showed that across all age groups, being overweight or obese was consistently linked to heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, asthma and arthritis. The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health is designed to run for 20 years and has now completed its first decade.
• The experiences of parents of young children in the lead up to, and following, the birth of a child have been highlighted in The Parental Leave in Australia Survey conducted by UQ and University of Sydney researchers. Drawing on data from more than 3500 families, the survey shows a complex pattern of leavetaking among parents. While around one-third of mothers employed prior to the birth of their child accessed some paid maternity leave, only four percent used paid maternity leave only.
The most prevalent arrangements used by mothers were combinations of paid and unpaid leave. Project leader, Associate Professor Gillian Whitehouse, from UQ’s School of Political Science and International Studies, said the figures indicated that simply extending unpaid parental leave was not the most useful strategy.
Essential service ... UQ Bachelor of Nursing graduate,
Jilly McCool, attends to a “patient”
