Aust Fam Physician
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Fibromyalgia is a common and debilitating condition. The cardinal feature of fibromyalgia is musculoskeletal pain, usually accompanied by other problems, such as fatigue, sleep disturbance and cognitive difficulties. Fibromyalgia commonly coexists with other chronic illnesses and can result in poorer outcomes if untreated. ⋯ The features of fibromyalgia are similar to those of many other chronic illnesses, sometimes resulting in diagnostic confusion. Fibromyalgia can co-exist with other disorders and it is important to consider the possibility of fibromyalgia contributing to symptoms in any chronically ill patient.
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To inform smoking interventions by clinicians, particularly doctors, in primary healthcare settings in remote Aboriginal communities, we describe the results of tobacco surveys in remote Northern Territory communities. ⋯ General practitioners, and their colleagues in similar primary healthcare settings, are well placed and are strongly encouraged to take every opportunity to make what could be a significant impact on reducing harms related to smoking and environmental smoke.
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This study investigated the prevalence of overweight and obese Indigenous kindergarten children in the Australian Capital Territory. ⋯ The low level of parental concern about obesity suggests that general practitioners should persist with screening for, and managing, overweight and obesity in kindergarten-aged children in similar jurisdictions on a proactive basis.
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An overweight woman, aged 58 years, presented for follow up of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia. She was noted to have hyperpigmented brown macules on the inner surface of the lower lip and buccal mucosa (Figure 1). She stated that she had first noticed these lesions when aged in her 40s. Her mother died at age 58 years from gastric cancer with extensive metastases, and her brother died at age 45 years from colon cancer with spread to the liver and lungs.