Do Urban Green Spaces Help To Reduce Incidence Of Alzheimer's And Associated Risk Factors? Multilevel Longitudinal Study Of 267,153 Adults With 15 Years Of Follow-up
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$719,841.00
Summary
Green spaces (e.g. parks and tree canopy) may help reduce – and narrow socioeconomic inequities - in the risk of Alzheimer’s by improving mental health and cognition, promoting physical activity and social support, reducing social isolation, reducing depression, obesity, cardiometabolic disease risk and buffering harms from traffic-related air pollution. I will conduct the first large-scale longitudinal studies to examine this hypothesis across a 15-year timespan.
A Longitudinal Investigation Of The Efficacy Of Pharmacological Smoking Cessation Aids In Real-life Settings
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$592,837.00
Summary
Currently around 3 million Australians, or 17% of people aged 14 years and over, smoke tobacco daily. These smokers are at major risk of developing coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and a variety of cancers, including lung, laryngeal, oral, kidney, bladder, breast, pancreas and colon cancers. At any one time almost half of Australian smokers intend to quit smoking or have already set a date to do so but few (around 10%) succeed on each attempt. Clinical trials of quitt ....Currently around 3 million Australians, or 17% of people aged 14 years and over, smoke tobacco daily. These smokers are at major risk of developing coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and a variety of cancers, including lung, laryngeal, oral, kidney, bladder, breast, pancreas and colon cancers. At any one time almost half of Australian smokers intend to quit smoking or have already set a date to do so but few (around 10%) succeed on each attempt. Clinical trials of quitting aids, such as nicotine patches, gum and Zyban, suggest that smokers are around twice as likely to quit if using these. However clinical trials are conducted in artificial environments and these quitting aids appear to have a far smaller impact on successful quitting rates in the 'real world'. Pharmaceutical quitting aids are heavily advertised by drug companies and widely used in Australia. Futhermore the Commonwealth Government has invested over $133 million dollars subsidising such aids to Australian smokers in the past four years. However it is not known to what extent these quitting aids have made a difference to Australian smoking rates. Sales volumes of pharmaceutical quitting aids appear not to have translated into expected increases in numbers of smokers successfully quitting, suggesting they are less effective than clinical trials suggest. The present study aims to investigate whether pharmaceutical quitting aids actually are less effective in the 'real world', and if so, why.Read moreRead less
Are Cardiac Conditions In Older Women Managed Appropriately?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$289,492.00
Summary
Cardiac conditions, including heart attach, heart failure, angina and high blood pressure are very common among older Australians. They account for large proportions of deaths, morbidity and health care costs. For most of these conditions there are highly effective treatments, however there is evidence that these are not as well used as they should be. Also, for women, diagnosis may be delayed due to perceptions that heart disease is a problem mainly among men. The project is based on the Austra ....Cardiac conditions, including heart attach, heart failure, angina and high blood pressure are very common among older Australians. They account for large proportions of deaths, morbidity and health care costs. For most of these conditions there are highly effective treatments, however there is evidence that these are not as well used as they should be. Also, for women, diagnosis may be delayed due to perceptions that heart disease is a problem mainly among men. The project is based on the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health which includes more than 10,000 women, over half living in rural and remote areas. Women with cardiac conditions will be surveyed about their medical care. This information, together with data they have provided over the last 6 years (and Medicare data if the women have given their consent), will be compared with best practice guidelines established by NHMRC and the Heart Foundation. In this way the project will examine the adequacy of medical care among older women in sufficient detail to make actionable recommendations to health authorities for where improvements are needed.Read moreRead less