Newcastle University At The Forefront Of New Concussion Guidelines In Sport

BY IAN CROUCH

A Newcastle University neuropsychologist has helped develop new state-wide guidelines for managing concussion in sport.

Under the new guidelines, children who suffer a concussion while playing junior sport will be forced to take two days off school to recover.

The university's Dr Andrew Gardner has told the Telegraph 48 hours is a critical period of time to be limiting cognitive processing, so children who've suffered a head injury should be resting as much as possible.

Dr Gardner will be hosting a series of workshops on the issue starting next week.

Dr Andrew Gardner Picture: hmri.org.au

Mystery Donor Hands over $5 Million Cheque to HMRI

BY JESSICA ROUSE

An anonymous donor has handed over a $5.2 million cheque to the Hunter Medical Research Insitute.

The generous philanthropic gift will go towards advancing emergency out-of-hospital patient treatment over the next five years.

The HMRI will work jointly with NSW Ambulance and Hunter New England Health to improve patient care, particularly in rural areas.

When asked if we could get a hint as to who the mystery donor was, Professor Michael Nilsson, the Director of the HMRI just laughed and said they're simply over the moon.

"We need to keep the secret, that's how it is when it's annonymous! But a fantastic transformational transofrmation, the largest in HMRI history by far," said Professor Nilsson.

"Sometimes donations at this level have great rings on the water effect and we are really hopeful that it will increase the focus on the good job we are doing here with all of the partners. It's fantastic and we are so happy today."

NSW Ambulance will be able to extend their training services from facilities, to upgrading and renewing education euqipment, including advanced technology simuulation mannikins which will all make emergency service care even more effective than it already is.

It aims to benefit regions outside of metropolitan cities to guarantee the same level of training, knowledge and service as bigger regions.

"I'm particularly happy that it's going to an area that is in defiente need, out-of-hospital careand upscaling of the ambulance to another level, that's fantastic and really proves the dedication of the communtiy I think," said HMRI Director Dr Nillson.

Image supplied.

Exercise could be the key to a good nights sleep

BY JESSICA ROUSE and TYLER FARDELL

We all love a good nights sleep, but often it can be hard to find.

But better sleep could be just around the corner and it could be easier than we think.

The University of Newcastle is holding a nationwide clinical trial, called the REFRESH Study, aiming to find whether or not regular exercise can help insomniacs get a good nights sleep.

The study is looking to recruit around 300 people aged 40-65 who have poor quality sleep, but don't have a sleeping disorder and do less than 90 minutes of physical activity each week.

Associate Professor Mitch Duncan from the Hunter Medical Research Institute's Cardiovascular Program says the trial is as much about improving sleep as it is fitness.

"It's important that we try to improve both physical activity and sleep quality because they both have profound benefits not only on our physical health but also on our mental health as well."


Half of the people who report poor sleep health often fail to get enough exercise, which increases their risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, depression and anxiety. Not only that work productivity is impacted costing the global economy $680 billion annually.

Mitch Duncan says the results could change the way people view sleep and exercise.

"But what we haven't really tested yet  in studies is the exact benefit that enhancing physical activity and providing a dedicated physical activity intervention has on sleep relative to a traditional approach which doesn't emphasise the increase of physical activity as much."

The study will also use a smartphone app called "Balanced" and researchers will compare the effectiveness of a sleep plus increased physical activity intervention with a sleep-only intervention.

Anyone interested in participating in the study can take part in a short eligibility survey at
http://tinyurl.com/refreshstudy

Miracle cancer drug now available on the PBS for Hunter patients

BY JESSICA ROUSE

It's being labelled as a miracle cancer drug, and now OPDIVO is available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)  from today for cancer patients in the Hunter and throughout the country.

The drug is based on immuno-oncology medicine which works on the premise the body's most powerful tool for recognising and fighting disease is the immune system.

The Federal Government made the announcement over the weekend which will see the cost of the drug significantly drop and even less again for patients with a concession card.

Both kidney and lung cancer are among the 10 most common cancers in Australia with the incident rates of kidney cancer nearly doubling over the last thirty years. In addition, 75 per cent of kidney patients across Australia are listed as advanced.

The Hunter Medical Research Institute is welcoming the news, and Cancer Researcher Dr Craig Gedye say the medicine has proven to be very successful and the decision to have the expensive drug on the PBS is absolutely brilliant.

Ovarian Cancer Fellowship

BY RACHEL STORER

University of Newcastle Research Fellow, Dr Nikola Bowden

University of Newcastle bioscientist, Dr Nikola Bowden is the proud recipient of an unprecedented 10-year Hunter Medical Research Institute Fellowship dedicated to ovarian cancer study.

The fellowship is jointly funded by the university and well-known Hunter winemakers Brian and Fay McGuigan, and honours their daughter Vanessa who tragically lost her battle with the disease in 1990.

Dr Bowden also has a personal connection with ovarian cancer after losing a hockey teammate in 2012 which spurred her study of the mechanisms causing chemotherapy resistance.

"I hadn't actually done any ovarian cancer research before Judy fell ill," she said.

"After a few conversations with her, she asked me why I wasn't working on ovarian cancer and I realised there was actually no reason why I couldn't start."

Dr Bowden is grateful for the fellowship and says it will help accelerate the results of her work by removing the need to apply for lengthy funding applications.

The end goal for Dr Bowden is seeing ovarian cancer diagnosed much earlier and to develop chemotherapy treatments that cater to the specific needs of each patient.

She said she would like to thank the McGuigan family and the HMRI for getting onboard.

Cancer Study Hits a Nerve

BY RACHEL STORER

Professor Hubert Hondersmarck and his team have made incredible discoveries in the field of cancer. 

A team led by University of Newcastle Biochemistry Professor, Hubert Hondermarck has found links between tissue regeneration, nerve growth and tumour development.

The study confirms which was once thought impossible - the nervous system is strongly involved in the onset and spread of cancer.

"What was shown in our lab and simultaneously in other labs is that the nerves are necessary to cancer," said Professor Hondermarck.

"Cancer growth did not occur if the tumour was denervated and does not metastasize," he said.

The phenomenon has been demonstrated by several teams around the world including Professor Hondermarck's in prostate, gastric, breast and pancreatic tumours.

This new research could be the future of the fight against cancer and Professor Hondermarck believes they can start to block the invasion of nerves in cancer to prevent growth.

"Now the challenge for the coming years is to translate into clinical practice and see if it works," he said.

One aspect that Professor Hondermarck found particularly interesting from the study was that the role of nerves in cancer progression is very similar to what is observed during regeneration.

"As we know, humans have very little regeneration capacity. If you take a salamander for instance, and they lose a limb or tail it regrows.

"In cancer, if there are no nerves, there is no regeneration in the tumour. We found that there are links between cancer and its ability to regenerate," he said.

This research has opened the door to potential development in diagnostic and prognostic tools for cancer.

Clinical Trial to Study Gender Difference in Type 2 Diabetes

BY TANYA DU PREEZ

Researchers at Hunter Medical Research Institute and University of Newcastle have found evidence that women may be less prone to type 2 diabetes than men when exposed to omega-3 fats.

PHD candidate Kylie Abbott conducted a cross-sectional study has found that omega-3 fats improve levels of insulin resistance in women, but not in men.

 “By targeting insulin resistance we might be able to prevent type 2 diabetes from developing in the first place,” Ms Abbott said.

A clinical trial is due to be conducted over the course of 3 months in order to understand why there is such a difference between genders.

To be eligible for the trial, participants must be aged 18-70 with a Body Mass Index of 25-45kg/m2, have no previous diagnosis of diabetes and must not eat more than two serves of oil fish per week.

Photo Courtesy of John Gollings