Our Blog
View our latest news & information along with helpful articles to assist you with your health
Mushrooms in Melbourne
Some types of wild mushrooms in Victoria can be deadly!
I’ve been seeing lots of weird and wonderful mushrooms out on my walks lately thanks to the heavy rain we’ve had. But beware there are some types of wild mushrooms in Victoria that can be deadly to humans if consumed. Cooking, peeling or drying does not remove the poison. There have already been several people hospitalised due to wild mushroom consumption in Victoria.
Symptoms of poisoning can include vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain but even if symptoms subside people can subsequently die from liver damage. If you suspect you or your child may have consumed a poisonous mushroom, call the Poisons Information Centre for advice (13 11 26)- don’t wait for symptoms to occur! If you have the same concern for your pet, you can contact the Animal Poisons Centre on 1300 869 738. But don’t fret mushroom lovers, commercially sold mushrooms are still safe and a great addition to your veggie intake!
Bowel Cancer Screening
It may not be glamorous, but this simple test could save your life
The little pack you see me holding here is an FOBT kit, which is the tool we use for bowel cancer screening in Australia. It works by looking for microscopic amounts of blood in your stool and is recommended to be done every 2 years from age 50 to 74. The government sends this test to eligible participants every 2 years but if you don’t receive it as expected, you can speak to your GP about organizing a test too.
Sadly only 40% of people who receive the kit in the mail actually complete it. If this was increased to just 60% we would save 84,000 Australian lives in the next 20 years. So if you have a kit lying around that you’ve been ignoring, please collect your samples and send it in ASAP! Remind your friends and family to get up to date too.
If you have a positive result from the test, you will likely be referred for a colonoscopy to investigate further. Importantly, if you have any symptoms like visible blood with the stool, recent changes to your bowel habit or unintentional weight loss, a negative screening test does not exclude bowel cancer and you need to speak to your GP regardless of when your last screening test was.