Chocolate and Easter go hand in hand these days, but University of Melbourne emergency care vet Dr Sarah Haldane says pet owners need to be careful to keep their Easter eggs out of reach of dogs and other pets. Dr Haldane gives some important tips to pet owners in the first story this episode, while in our second story Visions showcases the University of Melbourne researchers looking into Aboriginal health in the Northern Territory.
Chocolate Overdose and Pets:
Emergency care vet Dr Sarah Haldane from the University of Melbourne's Vet Clinic and Hospital says that because of their indiscriminate eating habits, Easter is one of the times dogs and other pets are at risk of chocolate intoxication. "Chocolate contains chemicals, such as caffeine and theobromine to which dogs are particularly sensitive. The effects of theobromine and caffeine vary with the size of the dog and the form of chocolate, generally the darker or more bitter the chocolate the more toxic it is.”
For more information, go to http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/articleid_5068.html.
Utopia's Good News for Aboriginal Health:
University of Melbourne researchers are part of a landmark study which has shown a remarkably low death rate among residents of the Aboriginal community of Utopia, compared to the general Aboriginal population of the Northern Territory.
For more information go to http://www.onemda.unimelb.edu.au or http://www.crcah.org.au.
Also see Medical Journal of Australia, March 2008: Rowley, K., O’Dea, K., Anderson, I., McDermott, R., Saraswati, K., Tilmouth, R., Roberts, I., Fitz, J., Wang, Z., Jenkins, A., Best, J. D., Wang, Z. & Brown, A. 2008, ‘Morbidity and Mortality for an Australian Aboriginal Population: 10 year follow up in a decentralised community’, MJA, 188(5):283–7.
For an electronic version go to http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/188_05_030308/iti_030308_fm.html.
Chocolate Overdose and Pets:
Produced by Nerissa Hannink
Camera by Clive Banfield
Edited by Rob Cross
With special thanks to Dr Sarah Haldane, Robert, Corrine, Max and Cassie
Utopia's Good News for Aboriginal Health:
Produced by Janine Sim-Jones
Camera (Melbourne) by Ryan Parry
Camera (Utopia) by Simon Says TV, NT
Edited by Rob Cross
With special thanks to Alastair Harris, Communications Manager, Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health, the Urapuntja Health Service and residents of Utopia.