Improving Metabolic Fitness In Aboriginal And Torres Straight Islander Women: A Pragmatic Controlled Trial Of Waist Loss
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$556,193.00
Summary
Torres Strait Islanders have the highest prevalence of diabetes in Australia and weight gain in young women can increase further the risk of diabetes for themselves and their babies. Waist loss can reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease. A pilot study in the Torres Strait in 2007, has demonstrated that this is achievable and acceptable in young Indigenous women. This proposal aims to conduct a larger trial, to look at effectiveness and sustainability of waist loss in young women.
Randomised Controlled Trial Of A Brief GP Intervention To Reduce Overweight In Victorian Primary School Children
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$662,600.00
Summary
Childhood overweight and obesity is one of the most pressing public health problems of our time. The aim of this study is to lower the levels of overweight and mild obesity in children aged 5-9 years, through sustainable family and child nutritional and-or physical activity behavioural choices that can be implemented by general practitioners (GPs). This trial addresses the urgent need identified in the 2003 NHMRC Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Childr ....Childhood overweight and obesity is one of the most pressing public health problems of our time. The aim of this study is to lower the levels of overweight and mild obesity in children aged 5-9 years, through sustainable family and child nutritional and-or physical activity behavioural choices that can be implemented by general practitioners (GPs). This trial addresses the urgent need identified in the 2003 NHMRC Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Overweight and Obesity in Children and Adolescents for simple, well-designed intervention studies which can be translated into usual clinical practice. Effective and coordinated universal prevention, secondary prevention and management services will all be needed to reduce the problem, and a great deal of research is needed in all of these. This proposal addresses the most neglected area of research - secondary prevention in the primary care sector. Through our previous research, we have already showed that this approach is feasible and acceptable to families and GPs. Our multidisciplinary research team is well-established, and we are not aware of any other research team in Australia that has the capacity and expertise to conduct this research at this point in time. In this randomised controlled trial, we expect a halving in the rate of gain in BMI over 6 and 12 months. This would equate to the average participant achieving a BMI of 25 (verging on overweight) rather than 30 (obese) by adulthood. If effective, we expect the following outcomes: 1) The adoption and maintenance of healthy lifestyle behaviours in that segment of the population which has most to gain over a lifetime - overweight and obese children 2) Documentation that general practitioners can make a significant contribution to combating the childhood obesity epidemic 3) A replicable, feasible, cost-effective primary care approach to childhood overweight-obesity tailored to the Australian health care system.Read moreRead less
Effectiveness Of An Ambient Intelligence Geriatric Management System (AmbIGeM) To Prevent Falls In Older People In Hospitals: The AmbIGeM Stepped Wedge Randomised Trial.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,649,946.00
Summary
Falls are common in hospitals, especially among older patients and those with cognitive impairment. We will investigate if our newly developed ambience intelligence geriatric management system (AmbiGeM), which recognises when patients are undertaking risky movements related to increased risk of falling (e.g. walking without a necessary aid), and alerts staff so that they could offer help earlier, could reduce the number of falls in hospitals and is acceptable to staff and patients and/or carers.
ASPREE-D; Aspirin In The Prevention Of Depression In The Elderly
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$796,784.00
Summary
The ASPREE (ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly) study is a 5 year RCT of aspirin (100mg daily) or placebo in 19,000 healthy people over 70. We aim to augment the existing infrastructure of ASPREE in order to confirm the utility of aspirin for the prevention of depression in the elderly (ASPREE-D). The primary aim of ASPREE-D is to determine if use of low-dose aspirin reduces the incidence of de-novo episodes of depression in healthy individuals over 70 years of age.
Regenerative Neuroscience Strategies For Healthy Brain Ageing And Dementia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$463,652.00
Summary
Promotion of healthy brain ageing and prevention of dementia are amongst Australia's greatest medical challenges and of utmost concern to the public. This Fellowship will support a multidisciplinary approach to these challenges based around regenerative neuroscience. Valenzuela's group is a world leader in the science and practice of brain plasticity, and will lead twelve interlinked studies aimed at developing better ways to prevent dementia.
Triple Therapy Prevention Of Recurrent Intracerebral Disease EveNts Trial (TRIDENT)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$5,256,292.00
Summary
Acute intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is a serious form of stroke. Survivors of ICH are at high risk of repeat events. Blood pressure lowering is a very important to prevent repeat events but data shows blood pressure is poorly controlled in these patients. In this research we investigate whether an approach that uses a 'triple pill' strategy (3 low dose BP drugs in one pill) in ICH patients with mild to moderate hypertension can decrease major cardiovascular events.
SMARTphone-Based Cardiovascular Risk Reduction In BREAST Cancer Patients
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$88,662.00
Summary
Heart disease is a leading cause of death in patients with breast cancer. Physical exercise during cancer treatment has been shown to improve overall survival by reducing future problems with the heart as well as recurrence of the cancer. Despite this, few women achieve the guideline recommended target for exercise. This study will test a Smartphone application called 'BreastMate' which is designed to promote physical activity and heart health in patients with breast cancer.
The Effect Of High SPF Sunscreen Application On Vitamin D
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,175,123.00
Summary
Sunscreen prevents sunburn and skin cancer, and current guidelines are that it should be routinely used when the maximum UV index is forecast to reach at least 3. However, applying sunscreen in laboratory experiments reduces vitamin D production, and there is concern that regular application of high SPF sunscreens might increase the risk of vitamin D deficiency. We propose a randomised controlled trial to determine if adhering to the current guidelines decreases vitamin D.
I-Medic (Intelligent Monitoring And Early Diagnosis In Communities)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$307,946.00
Summary
Falls cost $500 million annually and are increasing as our population ages. Dr Brodie has developed i-Medic, Intelligent Monitoring and Early Diagnosis In Communities. He is answering the questions: Why do people fall? How can we predict falls? And how do we prevent falls? His software, which may be incorporated into all future mobile phones, is capable of detecting, predicting and therefore preventing falls. In the event of a fall the software also activates an emergency response.