Phone: 8554 3250 www.millhousemedicalcentre.com.au November 2019

In this Issue

Allergic Rhinitis

Asthma, Why you should have an action

plan

Thunderstorm Asthma

SMS Messaging and Appointments

Why can’t we email you?

Also consulting from Mill House

Dr Patricia Porras Rodriguez joined us in 2018. Sadly

for us, she is leaving mid December to relocate to

Queensland with her family

Patricia has demonstrated her commitment to providing

the highest standard of care to the patients at Mill

House Medical Centre and will be missed by her

colleagues and patients alike

We wish her and her family every success and happiness

in their new adventure

FAREWELL TO DR PORRAS RODRIGUEZ

Did you Know?

If you are 45 years or older

(35yrs + for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islanders) and

not had a heart attack or

stroke you can have a healthy

heart check

If you are aged 70 you can have

a free shingles vaccination

If you are aged 71—79 you can

have a free shingles

vaccination as part of a catch

up program which ends 31

October 2021

If you are aged 75+ you can

have a free annual health

check up

If you have a chronic disease,

you can have a chronic disease

management plan with access

to subsidised allied health

services

Mill House Medical Centre is a Private Medical Practice.

Consulting Fees for Concession Card holders and children under 16yrs are

covered by the Medicare Rebate. (bulk billed)

All other patients are required to pay a private fee

A fee is payable for some treatment room procedures & consumables

Meningococcal B Catch up Immunisation

Program for

Children under 4yrs, Year 11 students &

17-21 year olds

ends 31 December 2019.

FREE Healthy Heart Check

Aged between 45 and 74? Would you like a free HEART HEALTH

CHECK? If Yes, please complete details below, cut this out of news-

letter and give it to reception staff. We will give you a call

Name___________________Phone Number____________________

HAYFEVER

Hay fever is the common name for allergic

(or seasonal) rhinitis.

HAYFEVER

Common Allergenic Pollen High Pollen Months

Australian Pine/She Oak March , April, Aug—Sep

Annual Blue / Winter Grass April, June—December

Bahia Grass November—April

Bermuda/Couch Grass November—April

Bottlebrush September—November

Canary Grass November—January

Cocksfoot/Orchard Grass October

Wild Oat Sept—November

Ryegrass October—March

Plantain Sep—March, July

Paper-bark Tea Tree Sep—November

Olive Tree Sep—November

Murray Pine/ White Cypress Pine Aug—September

18% of Australians suffer from allergic rhinitis/hay

fever

Allergic rhinitis can cause more frequent sinus

infections.

People with allergic rhinitis are often tired due to

poor sleep quality.

Moderate or severe allergic rhinitis can affect your

general health leading to poor concentration at

home/work, more sick leave and reduced productiv-

ity at school and in the workplace

About 80% of asthmatics have allergic rhinitis

Tips for reducing pollen exposure

Stay indoors until after midday, particularly in the pollen season and on windy days.

Avoid going out during, or after thunderstorms, particularly when pollen counts are high. Information about Australian pollen

counts is available at www.pollenforecast.com.au

Wear sunglasses, carry tissues, shower when you arrive home, and rinse your eyes with water.

Do not mow grass and stay inside when it is being mown. If mowing is unavoidable, wear a mask or take a non-drowsy antihis-

tamine.

Keep windows closed at home and in the car. Use recirculating air conditioning in the car.

Do not picnic in parks or in the country during the pollen season.

Try to plan holidays out of the pollen season or holiday at the seaside.

If landscaping at home, research plants less likely to trigger allergic rhinitis or asthma. If you are sensitive to particular weeds

or trees that are outside your bedroom window, have them removed.

Symptoms of Allergic Rhinitis

Eyes—itchy, watery

Nose—Can be runny, itchy, sneezing and/or blocked

Snoring at night

ASTHMA Thunderstorm Asthma

Thunderstorm asthma is

triggered when there is a

rapid change in wind,

temperature and humidity. This

causes the release of a

massive amount of small pollen

allergen particles into the

air.

When it rains, or is humid,

pollen grains absorb moisture

and burst open, releasing

hundreds of small pollen

allergen particles that can

enter the small airways of the

lungs.

How to protect from thunder-

storm asthma Thunderstorms are

common in spring, so if you

have allergic rhinitis try to

stay inside on high pollen

days. See your doctor to make

sure that allergic rhinitis is

well treated.

If you experience symptoms of

asthma such as chest tight-

ness, wheeze, shortness of

breath, or cough, see your

doctor for a plan to manage

asthma. Use preventer medica-

tion every day, particularly

if high pollen counts or thun-

derstorms are predicted.

All asthmatics should have an action plan—

SEE YOUR DOCTOR

A written asthma action plan will help you recognise worsening

asthma and tell you what to do in response.

Follow a written asthma action plan for:

Better controlled asthma

Fewer asthma attacks

Fewer days off work or school

Reduced reliever medication use

Fewer hospital visits.

The process of developing an asthma action plan with your doctor is

important. This should be a discussion of your individual circum-

stances, asthma patterns and triggers, and current management.

Your personal written asthma action plan is a reminder of that dis-

cussion.

Do you have the symptoms of Asthma?

Common symptoms of asthma are:

Cough—can be worse at night

Wheeze—can be accomplied by cough. High pitched sound, usually occurs when

you breathe out

Breathlessness— Can happen rapidly after exercise. May have problems with

breathing out as well as in

Chest Tightness—Feeling of heaviness in chest, or sharp pain. Can affect ability to

take deep breath in

Barbecued prawns with charred kale and avocado

INGREDIENTS

1 garlic bulb, cloves peeled

5 long red chillies, seeds removed, roughly chopped

200ml extra virgin olive oil

16 extra large green prawns

1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped

1 large bunch (about 500g) kale, leaves separated from stalks

Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

Why can’t we email you?

We are unable to enter into email communication with patients. Electronic communication requires encrypted technology to protect information from being accessed by third parties.

CONSULTING FROM MILL HOUSE MEDICAL

CENTRE

Dr Gavin Nimon Orthopaedic Surgeon Monthly

Thursdays.

Brendan Nettle Podiatrist Fridays

Stuart Thomson Physiotherapist Wednesday

Mornings

Fuel your life dietician Fortnightly Tuesday

Afternoons

Exercise Physiologist Fortnight Tuesday Mornings

SA Pathology Services 8am—12md Mon -Friday

Instructions Instructions and steps:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Place the garlic, chilli and oil in a small ovenproof saucepan or frypan and season generously with freshly cracked black pepper. Cover pan with foil and place in oven for 11/2 hours or until garlic is tender and chilli is blackened. Cool com-pletely, then place in a small food processor and whiz until combined.

2. Meanwhile, for the avocado puree, place avocado, buttermilk and lemon juice in a food processor and whiz until smooth. Season and set aside.

3. Preheat the barbecue to high. Using a sharp knife, butterfly the prawns by cutting lengthways along the belly and through the head until they open out flat. Remove vein and discard. Divide the garlic paste into 2 portions. Combine 1 portion with parsley in a bowl. Toss kale leaves with remaining 1 portion in a separate bowl. Brush flesh side of prawns with parsley mixture and season well. Grill prawns, flesh-side down, for 1-2 minutes until red and charred. Turn and cook for a further 1 minute or until just cooked. Remove prawns from grill and sprinkle with lemon zest and squeeze over the lemon juice. Grill kale for 4-5 minutes until charred and wilted. Season.

Recipe from Darren Robertson from Bronte's Three Blue Ducks.

We commenced SMS messaging to patients to remind them

of their appointment the following day. This was in re-

sponse to the high number of patients who did not turn up

for their appointment. In October we had 36 patients fail to

turn up for their appointment

OUR TIME IS VALUABLE

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO KEEP YOUR

APPOINTMENT, PLEASE RING US SO WE

CAN OFFER APPOINTMENT TO SOME-

ONE ELSE