Getting antivirals for COVID too often depends on where you live and how wealthy you are
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Medical experts recommend antivirals for people aged 70 and older who get COVID, and for other groups at risk of severe illness and hospitalisation from COVID.
But many older Australians have missed out on antivirals after getting sick with COVID. It is yet another way the health system is failing the most vulnerable.
Who missed out?
We analysed COVID antiviral uptake between March 2022 and September 2023. We found some groups were more likely to miss out on antivirals including Indigenous people, people from disadvantaged areas, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Some of the differences will be due to different rates of infection. But across this 18-month period, many older Australians were infected at least once, and rates of infection were higher in some disadvantaged communities.
How stark are the differences?
Compared to the national average, Indigenous Australians were nearly 25% less likely to get antivirals, older people living in disadvantaged areas were 20% less likely to get them, and people with a culturally or linguistically diverse background were 13% less likely to get a script.
People in remote areas were 37% less likely to get antivirals than people living in major cities. People in outer regional areas were 25% less likely.
Even within the same city, the differences are stark. In Sydney, people older than 70 in the affluent eastern suburbs (including Vaucluse, Point Piper and Bondi) were nearly twice as likely to have had an antiviral as those in Fairfield, in Sydney’s south-west.
Older people in leafy inner-eastern Melbourne (including Canterbury, Hawthorn and Kew) were 1.8 times more likely to have had an antiviral as those in Brimbank (which includes Sunshine) in the city’s west.
Why are people missing out?
COVID antivirals should be taken when symptoms first appear. While awareness of COVID antivirals is generally strong, people often don’t realise they would benefit from the medication. They wait until symptoms get worse and it is too late.
Frequent GP visits make a big difference. Our analysis found people 70 and older who see a GP more frequently were much more likely to be dispensed a COVID antiviral.
Regular visits give an opportunity for preventive care and patient education. For example, GPs can provide high-risk patients with “COVID treatment plans” as a reminder to get tested and seek treatment as soon as they are unwell.
Difficulty seeing a GP could help explain low antiviral use in rural areas. Compared to people in major cities, people in small rural towns have about 35% fewer GPs, see their GP about half as often, and are 30% more likely to report waiting too long for an appointment.
Just like for vaccination, a GP’s focus on antivirals probably matters, as does providing care that is accessible to people from different cultural backgrounds.
Care should go those who need it
Since the period we looked at, evidence has emerged that raises doubts about how effective antivirals are, particularly for people at lower risk of severe illness. That means getting vaccinated is more important than getting antivirals.
But all Australians who are eligible for antivirals should have the same chance of getting them.
These drugs have cost more than A$1.7 billion, with the vast majority of that money coming from the federal government. While dispensing rates have fallen, more than 30,000 packs of COVID antivirals were dispensed in August, costing about $35 million.
Such a huge investment shouldn’t be leaving so many people behind. Getting treatment shouldn’t depend on your income, cultural background or where you live. Instead, care should go to those who need it the most.
People born overseas have been 40% more likely to die from COVID than those born here. Indigenous Australians have been 60% more likely to die from COVID than non-Indigenous people. And the most disadvantaged people have been 2.8 times more likely to die from COVID than those in the wealthiest areas.
All those at-risk groups have been more likely to miss out on antivirals.
It’s not just a problem with antivirals. The same groups are also disproportionately missing out on COVID vaccination, compounding their risk of severe illness. The pattern is repeated for other important preventive health care, such as cancer screening.
A 3-step plan to meet patients’ needs
The federal government should do three things to close these gaps in preventive care.
First, the government should make Primary Health Networks (PHNs) responsible for reducing them. PHNs, the regional bodies responsible for improving primary care, should share data with GPs and step in to boost uptake in communities that are missing out.
Second, the government should extend its MyMedicare reforms. MyMedicare gives general practices flexible funding to care for patients who live in residential aged care or who visit hospital frequently. That approach should be expanded to all patients, with more funding for poorer and sicker patients. That will give GP clinics time to advise patients about preventive health, including COVID vaccines and antivirals, before they get sick.
Third, team-based pharmacist prescribing should be introduced. Then pharmacists could quickly dispense antivirals for patients if they have a prior agreement with the patient’s GP. It’s an approach that would also work for medications for chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease.
COVID antivirals, unlike vaccines, have been keeping up with new variants without the need for updates. If a new and more harmful variant emerges, or when a new pandemic hits, governments should have these systems in place to make sure everyone who needs treatment can get it fast.
In the meantime, fairer access to care will help close the big and persistent gaps in health between different groups of Australians.
Peter Breadon, Program Director, Health and Aged Care, Grattan Institute
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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The Forgotten Exercise That Could Save Your Health After 50
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A lot depends on this:
Your heart is also a “use it or lose it” muscle
It’s well-known that muscles in general require maintenance (by regular exertion thereof), or they will atrophy and weaken. However, this is not only true of our skeletal muscles (the ones people think about when they say “muscles”), but also muscles like the heart.
Now, of course, we are all using our heart all the time, every day. One might be tempted to think it’ll be fine. It won’t; the body will not maintain anything beyond necessity. Thus, the prescription here is to regularly get our heart out of “zone 1”, its regular resting rate, which is usually about 50% or so of its maximum rate, and into “zone 2”, in which it beats at 60–70% of its maximum rate.
To find your maximum rate: as a general rule of thumb, 220 minus your age will usually give a fairly accurate estimate, unless you are unusually fit or unusually unfit.
Alternatively, if you have a fitness tracker, it can probably give you a number based on actual observation of your heartrate.
The benefits of doing so, as mentioned in this video:
- Improves heart health, circulation, and lowers blood pressure.
- Burns belly fat by using stored fat as energy*
- Boosts aerobic capacity, making daily activities easier.
- Enhances insulin sensitivity, mental health, and sleep.
- Helps manage arthritis, osteoporosis, and high cholesterol.
*note that this won’t happen in zone 1, and if you spend more than a little time in zone 3, it will happen but your body will do a metabolic slump afterwards to compensate, while doing its best to replenish the fat reserves. So, zone 2 is really the goal for this one, unless you want to do HIIT, which is beyond the scope of today’s article.
He recommends activities like brisk walking, cycling, or swimming. You don’t have to become a triathlon competitor if you don’t want to, but just pick what you like and do it at a fair pace. If it’s the brisk walking or cycling*, then (unless it’s very hot/humid where you are), if you break a sweat, you probably broke out of zone 2 and into zone 3. Which is fine, but wasn’t what you were aiming for, so it’s a sign you can go a little easier than that if you want.
*of course the same statement is also true of swimming, but you’ll not notice sweating in a pool 😉
As for how much and how often, averaging 20 minutes per day is good; if you want to condense that into 40 minutes 2–3 times per week, that’s fine too.
For more on all of this, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
The Doctor Who Wants Us To Exercise Less & Move More
Take care!
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Almonds vs Cashews – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing almonds to cashews, we picked the almonds.
Why?
It was close in some categories, but almonds came out on top! And as ever for when almonds win one of these, it’s not just our pro-almonds bias:
In terms of macros, almonds have a little more protein and more than 4x the fiber. Given how critical fiber is to good health, and how most people in industrialized countries in general (and N. America in particular) aren’t getting enough, we consider this a major win for almonds.
Things are closer to even for vitamins, but almonds have a slight edge: almonds are higher in vitamins A, B2, B3, B9, and especially 27x higher in vitamin E, while cashews are higher in vitamins B1, B5, B6, C & K. So, a moderate win for almonds.
Looking at minerals, however, cashews have moderately more copper, iron, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc, while almonds boast 6x more calcium, and slightly more manganese and potassium. There’s a lot to juggle here, but on balance, we say this one’s a slight win for cashews.
In other considerations, almonds (with the skin on) have more polyphenols, including a variety of kinds of kaempferol and quercetin, as well as an array of catechins and more.
Adding up the sections, it’s a clear overall win for almonds, but by all means enjoy either or both (unless you have a nut allergy, in which case, please don’t), as diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
- What Does Kaempferol Do, Anyway?
- Fight Inflammation & Protect Your Brain, With Quercetin
- 21 Most Beneficial Polyphenols & What Foods Have Them
Enjoy!
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Walk Yourself Happy – by Dr. Julia Bradbury
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Notwithstanding her (honorary) doctorate, Dr. Bradbury is not, in fact, a scientist. But…
- She has a lot of experience walking all around the world, and her walking habit has seen her through all manner of things, from stress and anxiety to cancer and grief and more.
- She does, throughout this book, consult many scientists and other experts (indeed, some we’ve featured here before at 10almonds), so we still get quite a dose of science too.
The writing style of this book is… Compelling. Honestly, the biggest initial barrier to you getting out of the door will be putting this book down first.If you have good self-discipline, you might make it last longer by treating yourself to a chapter per day
Bottom line: you probably don’t need this book to know how to go for a walk, but it will motivate, inspire, and even inform you of how to get the most out of it. Treat yourself!
Click here to check out Walk Yourself Happy, and prepare for a new healthy habit!
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The Real Reason Your Neck & Shoulders Feel Tight
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Dr. Alyssa Kuhn tells us why tension keeps returning:
Movement matters
When it comes to neck stiffness, lasting relief doesn’t come from holding a perfect posture, but rather from regularly moving your neck and shoulders, strengthening supportive muscles, and changing positions often.
You might want to make a habit of these:
- Neck rolls: gently circle your head through a comfortable range of motion in both directions, to restore movement, stretch tight tissues, and increase blood flow to your neck.
- Look up and down: slowly lift your gaze upwards and then lower your chin towards your chest, pausing briefly at each end of the range, to stretch the front and back of your neck, and improve mobility.
- Shoulder rows: bend your elbows to 90° with your thumbs up, reach your arms forwards, then draw your elbows back while squeezing your shoulder blades together (keeping your shoulders away from your ears) to build upper back strength and stability.
- Shoulder extension: straighten your arms by your sides with your palms facing backwards, press your hands behind you while keeping your shoulders down, and then return to neutral, to activate the muscles beneath your shoulder blades and improve shoulder mobility.
- Shoulder release: shrug your shoulders up towards your ears with tension, then fully relax and let them drop while exhaling, to encourage muscle relaxation and reset excess tension.
For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like:
3 Unconventional Ways To Fix Your Stiff Neck (Without Stretching)
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Can You Shrink A Waist In Seven Days?
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We don’t usually do this sort of video, but the exercises shown here are very good, and the small dietary tweak is what makes it work:
The method
Firstly, the small dietary tweak is: abstaining from foods that cause bloating, such as flour and dairy. She does say “брожение” (fermentation), but we don’t really use the word that way in English. On which note: she is Ukrainian and speaking Russian (context: many Ukrainians grew up speaking both languages, especially in the East), so you will need the subtitles on if you don’t understand Russian, but a) it’s worth it b) the subtitles have been put in manually so they’re a respectable translation.
Secondly, spoiler, she loses about 2 inches.
The exercises are:
- Pelvic swing-thrusts: sit, supporting yourself on your hands with your butt off the floor; raise your pelvis up to a table position, do 30 repetitions.
- Leg raises in high plank: perform 20 lifts per leg, each to its side.
- Leg raises (lying on back): do 20 repetitions.
- V-crunches: perform 30 repetitions.
- V-twists: lean on hands and do 25 repetitions.
These exercises (all five done daily for the 7 days) are great for core strength, and core muscletone is what keeps your innards in place, rather than letting them drop down (and out).
Thus, there’s only a small amount of actual fat loss going on here (if any), but it slims the waistline by improving muscletone and simultaneously decreasing bloating, which are both good changes.
For more on all of these plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
Visceral Belly Fat & How To Lose It
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5 Tiny Habits That Change How You Age
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Dr. Ruth Machin advises:
The small things that more than add up
Five small things to make a habit of:
- Take movement breaks: take brief movement breaks throughout your day rather than relying only on formal exercise sessions, because prolonged sitting increases health risks even in people who go to the gym regularly. Aim to get up roughly once an hour, especially after meals, and walk around, do squats, or do lunges for a minute or two. Frequent small bursts of movement help regulate blood sugar and fat metabolism and are strongly linked with better long-term health and longevity.
- Make sure to get a consistent sleep schedule: go to bed and wake up at the same times every day, including weekends, to strengthen your circadian rhythm and improve sleep quality. Poor sleep contributes to all manner of ills including insulin resistance, cravings for refined carbohydrates, fatigue, weight gain, and reduced motivation to exercise. Start by choosing a consistent wake-up time, then adjust your bedtime gradually until you find the amount of sleep that leaves you feeling your best, ideally within the recommended 7–9 hour range. Yes, even at your age, regardless of what your age may be.
- Enjoy more plants in your diet: fill at least half of your dinner plate with vegetables (filling the other half with vegetables too is also a great choice, but you don’t have to do everything at once), and aim for variety by trying to consume around 30 different plant foods each week, including fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices, tea, coffee, and yes, even dark chocolate (in moderation). Plant-rich diets are consistently associated with healthier aging because they provide fiber, healthy fats, protein, and polyphenols that support heart health and reduce inflammation.
- Do slow breathing for stress reduction: practise slow breathing exercises for 1–2 minutes a couple of times each day, to calm your nervous system and reduce stress-related habits such as emotional eating. A simple approach is to inhale for 4 seconds and then exhale for 6 seconds, which creates about six breaths per minute and activates the parasympathetic nervous system. This small habit can help reduce stress in the moment, no matter what else is going on.
- Prioritize social connection: intentionally build and meaningful relationships by reaching out to friends and scheduling time together, rather than waiting for social connection to happen naturally. Strong social relationships are associated with longer life and lower rates of heart disease, while loneliness negatively affects both mental and physical health. Treat meeting a friend with the same importance you would give to any other important appointment.
For more on all of this, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like:
15 Easy Japanese Habits That Will Transform Your Health
Take care!
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