General Medicine

» redback - best practice?

An interesting article. I hope your efforts are rewarded here.

It seems to me the checklist for preventative health care in children ought to be growing longer. Why not rule out Tourette's when stuttering presents even though experience tells us another problem may be more likely. ADHD et al needs to rule out hearing and eyesight problems first...is an example. (of course a dysfunctional family may blur what is ADHD)

I'm on the Garvan Research Foundation's mailing list getting their newasletter, Breakthrough, today. The human genome database has led to the identification of 'disease biomarkers' and other research has discovered disease-specific mutant genes eg for Parkinsons. I'm unsure if they're researching Tourette's. Now, I'm not advocating turning kids into research "lab rats" or creating iatragenic outcomes let alone paranoid parents. But like another article hereabouts that refers to the diseases of ageing that need correction, tis a friendly reminder that ageing begins at birth, if not earlier.

-- posted by redback

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» Jennifer Gerics - best practice?

In response to best practice? posted by redback:

I have been away from this website for a while and so my response is way overdue----- Sorry, Redback!

Yes, it's frightening how many things go hand-in-hand with Tourette's. I was surprised to learn that a lot of people with the disorder outgrow it , or at least stabilize. The media parades severe cases in front of the public (do you guys get "The Jerry Springer Show?") The reality is, thankfully, that most cases can be controlled. But so much is connected to this syndrome.

Parkinson's and Tourette's might be considered opposites: Parkinson's is a case of too little Dopamine, and Tourette's produces too much. It would be better if kids could be screened for everything all together, but I guess things don't always present at the same time. Still, keeping an eye on at-risk kids who already have ADHD would be a good idea. I don't think enough docs know about the link!

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» redback - best practice?

In response to best practice? posted by JenniferGerics:

Jerry Springer does come here, mostly via Foxtel I think. It's contrived 'reality', as if people really hit "pause" in their lives until they front the show. People with Tourette's may well know some triggers and use them to illustrate extremes of the syndrome "live". My understanding is that show is not the best place to put the best context.

-- posted by redback

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» Jennifer Gerics - best practice?

In response to best practice? posted by redback:

It's funny, because I think Jerry Springer was going to run for some political office (governor?) at some point!

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» redback - best practice?

In response to best practice? posted by JenniferGerics:

I read Jerry was once the mayor of Cincinatti, is a qualified lawyer, was an aide to Robert F Kennedy...but methinks his TV show would have to put more than a dint in his credibility...for politics despite his uni quals.

-- posted by redback

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» Jennifer Gerics - best practice?

In response to best practice? posted by redback:

Yaeh--- I don't get why a smart, clever man would turn his life into a TV circus! Really ruins his credibility. But I guess some folks enjoy scandal? Not sure.....

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» redback - "reality" TV

In response to best practice? posted by JenniferGerics:

A grubby TV program vs grubby politics? Hmmmm?

US TV is ambiguous, seems to me. On that show, a rude finger gesture is pixilated but we all know exactly what happened and worse stuff is unedited for all to see. If the commentary is "soft" there's a call to: "Go to Oprah!" Then I'm reminded of the others on US TV. Do you actually have a cast of wannabee thousands who sell themselves to the highest TV bidder for their "true" life stories?

But we digress, eh?

-- posted by redback

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» Jennifer Gerics - "reality" TV

In response to "reality" TV posted by redback:

I'm wondering what sorts of shows are on Australian television. Are there commercial breaks? Are there premium channels (we have HBO) that you pay for? Do you edit violence, nudity, and profanity?

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» redback - "reality" TV

In response to "reality" TV posted by JenniferGerics:

We get second run or is that second rate USA TV shows here. I thought it was part of the Free Trade Agreement where we take your rubbish in exchange for giving you our quality such as 'Neighbours', Crocodile Dundee etc.

We have only 5 free-to-air national TV channels where regional stations have add-on local news. Two of these national channels are government-funded, used to be ads-free but now indulge. We have cable & satellite Foxtel and Optus which are per paid subscription. Their selling point originally was they would be commercial-free but that's long gone.

I have (cable) Foxtel. The reality is 'choice' far exceeds 24 hours viewing per day. But, although I have Foxtel's premium service, I still see much on free-to-air of equal or better quality. I have a 2-week old 101cm LCD TV for my comfort in my less mobile days.

"Do you edit violence, nudity, and profanity?"

The government regulator is pretty tough and we also have a 'Media Watch' show that acts like an auditor across all media. Of course, if parents allow their children to be up "late" ie 8:30pm onwards, tis solely up to parental supervision. The PG etc ratings are used. But, we don't have the plethora of channels the USA has and those known to 'offend' are usually pretty well known.

Whatever US shows needing some sort of censorship here come courtesy of pixielated image or bleeped out words. Whether that's how they arrive here or not, I don't know. But the tolerance level is increasing. There IS power in the 'OFF' switch, isn't there?

-- posted by redback

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