Timely home repairs are needed for good health in remote Aboriginal communities
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For people living in metro areas, a broken hot water system or washing machine is a nuisance. But it can usually be sorted by a phone call for a same-day repair or a quick trip to the hardware store.
In remote communities, the same repair is slowed by distance and lack of services, often taking weeks or months to fix. When families can’t easily wash themselves or their clothes, the risk of infections, including skin infections, rises.
Compared with non-Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people are 2.3 times more likely to be hospitalised and 1.7 times more likely to die from illnesses linked to poor environmental conditions.
Illnesses such as acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease – often driven by untreated skin sores and sore throats – remain common in remote communities. These diseases were once widespread among all Australian children, but have largely disappeared elsewhere thanks to improvements in housing and services.
There’s been plenty of public discussion about remote housing but the voices of people living with these conditions is usually missing.
To inform this discussion, we yarned with more than 200 people over four years about housing, infrastructure and the services they rely on to stay healthy across nine communities in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Our results are published in Health & Place.
Long waits for repairs
People told us they had no choice but to live in homes too small for their families. This pushed plumbing, hot water and laundries past breaking point.
Once broken, they were unable to be repaired until the next service trip, often months later. Many told us they relied on relatives or neighbours while their own taps, showers or washers sat waiting for repair.
People told us they knew the environment was making them sick when basic services failed, but they were limited in what they could do about it.
Local Aboriginal environmental health teams – praised by community and able to handle small jobs – were constrained by narrow remits, funding limits and bureaucracy.
Those living in public housing also faced a convoluted process in order to achieve repairs.
One local woman taught herself to fix a broken industrial washing machine behind the art centre so Elders and mums could wash their clothes and linen. When we asked why, she said:
It was for the old ladies. I wanted to help make sure they felt clean.
She has run this unofficial community laundromat for a decade.
What’s causing this?
People framed inadequate housing maintenance and household “environmental health” in remote Aboriginal communities as the cumulative result of successive state and federal policies that have failed to deliver.
Decades of policy fragmentation have normalised substandard environmental health in the home. None of this was new to the people living it. Their stories have been consistently ignored.
These housing and inadequate environmental conditions sit within a longer history of colonisation: dispossession, mission and pastoral control, and later public housing regimes that centralised asset ownership and decision-making away from Aboriginal communities.
When families can’t access secure land and home ownership, they become dependent on government housing systems, with limited ability to assert their rights. Economic exclusion compounds this: distance, wet-season logistics and chronic under-investment drive high costs and long delays.
Homes have often been built without genuine community consultation, leaving dwellings that don’t fit local family structures, climate or daily life.
Closing the Gap commits all governments to improve housing. To get there, however, consultation is needed with remote Aboriginal communities themselves, as well as policymakers and experts, including those in preventive health. This should happen before any build or upgrade.
Too often consultation is skipped or rushed to save time and costs, resulting in houses that fail their residents and requiring frequent repair.
What’s the solution?
Addressing these inequities requires clear, measurable standards and accountable delivery:
- decision-making rights for residents and local communities
- locally based maintenance with guaranteed response times and transparent reporting
- sustained funding for new builds, maintenance and remediation
- community-led housing design that tackles structural crowding and the realities of remoteness and climate change.
Most importantly, there should be increased reliance on local service providers operating in these regions. These teams already have community trust and should be the first call, not the last.
As well as housing, health care should also be co-designed with communities to include a strong focus on prevention, primary health care, community engagement and capacity-building for local health services. This also requires greater funding and support.
Ultimately, listening to communities is the most important way forward. The culture and uniqueness of remote Aboriginal communities thrive despite challenges, but people shouldn’t have to contend with conditions that wouldn’t be accepted elsewhere in Australia.
As a local Elder emphasised during our conversations:
You need to be healthy, kids need to be healthy. We don’t want them to get sick, they’re the future, the future of our communities.
Stephanie Enkel, Postdoctoral Researcher, The Kids Research Institute Australia; Asha Bowen, Team Lead, Healthy Skin and ARF Prevention, The Kids Research Institute Australia; Hannah M.M. Thomas, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Skin Health, The Kids Research Institute Australia, and Rachel Burgess, Social Scientist and Aboriginal Senior Research Fellow, The Kids Research Institute Australia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Science of Yoga – by Ann Swanson
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There are a lot of yoga books out there to say “bend this way, hold this that way” and so forth, but few that really explain what is going on, how, and why. And understanding those things is of course key to motivation and adherence. So that’s what this book provides!
The book is divided into sections, and in the first part we have a tour of human anatomy and physiology. This may seem almost unrelated to yoga, but is valuable necessary-knowledge to get the most out of the next section:
The next few parts are given over to yoga asanas (stretches, positions, poses, call them what you will in English) and now we are given a clear idea of what it is doing: we get to understand exactly what’s being stretched, what blood flow is being increased and how, what organs are being settled into their correct place, and many other such things.
Importantly, this means we also understand why certain things are the way they are, and why they can’t be done in some other slightly different but perhaps superficially easier way.
The style of the book is like a school textbook, really, but without patronizing the reader. The illustrations, of which there are many, are simple enough to be clear while being detailed enough to be informative.
Bottom line: if you’re ever doing yoga at home and wondering if you should cut a certain corner, this is the book that will tell you why you shouldn’t.
Click here to check out Science of Yoga, and optimize your practice!
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Broccoli vs Dandelion Greens – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing broccoli to dandelion greens, we picked the dandelions.
Why?
Not quite a like-for-like comparison here, but it’s interesting to compare these two green nutritional heavyweights!
In terms of macros, dandelion greens have more fiber and carbs, the former being more important, we call this a nominal win for dandelion greens, but an argument could be made for a tie.
In the category of vitamins, broccoli has more of vitamins B5, B9, and C, while dandelion greens have more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B8, E, and K, winning this round easily (and being an especially good source of vitamin K).
Looking at minerals next, broccoli has more selenium, while dandelion greens have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, and potassium, winning another round easily.
In other considerations, broccoli is a good source of sulforaphane (see the “learn more” link below for details), while dandelion greens are much higher in polyphenols. So, we call this round a tie.
Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for dandelion greens, but by all means enjoy either or both, as diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
Broccoli Sprouts & Sulforaphane
Enjoy!
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3 Habits That Make Or Break Your Health: How Many Do You Do?
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Over-50s specialist physio Will Harlow explains:
Three pillars
The idea here is to use three pillars—strength, mobility, and endurance—to maintain your long-term health, comfort, and by extension in older age, independence.
Many people maintain two pillars but allow one to slip, leading to reduced independence and a loss of quality of life. In the video, this is shown in the example of a 65-year-old cyclist (good strength and endurance) with severe mobility limitations.
- About strength: strength declines from around age 30, and this decline accelerates after 50, and can drop dramatically by 90 unless you train accordingly. Resistance training can slow, halt, or even reverse this decline.
- About mobility: stiffness with old age is expected, but by no means inevitable. There are many ways to maintain it, and in the video the exercises recommended are:
- Windscreen wipers: sit with your back supported and your feet elevated; slowly rotate your legs from side to side to improve hip rotation; use a towel under your hips if needed.
- Wall spider walk: place your fingers on a wall and “walk” them upwards, stepping slightly closer to gain more range; walk back down slowly to strengthen your shoulder control.
- Squat with a stick: hold a broom handle braced against a doorway; sink into a squat while keeping your back straight; progress by stepping further away and eventually raising your arms overhead to mobilise your shoulders and thoracic spine.
- About endurance: this one’s quite simple, and easiest for most people—walking is recommended because it boosts your cardiovascular health, muscle mass, and bone density while being gentle enough for daily practice. A methodical way to go about it is to track your daily steps for two weeks to establish your baseline, then increase that baseline by 5% every two weeks so your cardiovascular system adapts without stressing your tendons.
For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations of the exercises, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Mobility For Now & For Later: Train For The Marathon That Is Your Life!
Take care!
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The Secret to Mental Health – by George Pransky
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This book (and its author) have a sizeable popular following, so it definitely can be said that it has been well-received by many people. The premise in this book is that there is fundamentally nothing wrong with anybody’s brain, and rather everything can be broken down into:
- Mind (the energy and intelligence that animates all life)
- Consciousness (the capacity to be aware of one’s life and experiences)
- Thought (the ability to think, allowing individuals to create their personal experience of reality)
The author explains, over the course of 145 pages, that where anyone with any perceived mental health issue is going wrong is by either lacking self-awareness (Consciousness) or erring by creating an undesirable personal experience of reality (Thought).
In terms of the science of this, frequent references are made to “there is evidence that shows”, “new discoveries about mental health suggest…”, etc, but this claimed evidence is never actually presented, just alluded to. Where many books would have a bibliography, this one has simply a collection of what the author has titled “interesting case studies, conversations, papers, and discussions” (there are no actual case studies or papers; it is just a collection of anecdotes).
The style is… Honestly, in this reviewer’s opinion, barely readable. But, apparently lots of people love it, so your mileage may vary.
We don’t usually delve too far into claimed credentials, but because of the interesting writing style and the bold claims without evidence, we were curious as to where this PhD came from, and apparently it came from a now-shut-down diploma mill that was described by the court as “a complete scam”.
Bottom line: we can’t recommend this one, but we read it so that you don’t have to, and we hope that publishing this review will help reassure you that when we do recommend a book, we mean it!
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Gluten: What’s The Truth?
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Gluten: What’s The Truth?
We asked you for your health-related view of gluten, and got the above spread of results. To put it simply:
Around 60% of voters voted for “Gluten is bad if you have an allergy/sensitivity; otherwise fine”
The rest of the votes were split fairly evenly between the other three options:
- Gluten is bad for everyone and we should avoid it
- Gluten is bad if (and only if) you have Celiac disease
- Gluten is fine for all, and going gluten-free is a modern fad
First, let’s define some terms so that we’re all on the same page:
What is gluten?
Gluten is a category of protein found in wheat, barley, rye, and triticale. As such, it’s not one single compound, but a little umbrella of similar compounds. However, for the sake of not making this article many times longer, we’re going to refer to “gluten” without further specification.
What is Celiac disease?
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease. Like many autoimmune diseases, we don’t know for sure how/why it occurs, but a combination of genetic and environmental factors have been strongly implicated, with the latter putatively including overexposure to gluten.
It affects about 1% of the world’s population, and people with Celiac disease will tend to respond adversely to gluten, notably by inflammation of the small intestine and destruction of enterocytes (the cells that line the wall of the small intestine). This in turn causes all sorts of other problems, beyond the scope of today’s main feature, but suffice it to say, it’s not pleasant.
What is an allergy/intolerance/sensitivity?
This may seem basic, but a lot of people conflate allergy/intolerance/sensitivity, so:
- An allergy is when the body mistakes a harmless substance for something harmful, and responds inappropriately. This can be mild (e.g. allergic rhinitis, hayfever) or severe (e.g. peanut allergy), and as such, responses can vary from “sniffly nose” to “anaphylactic shock and death”.
- In the case of a wheat allergy (for example), this is usually somewhere between the two, and can for example cause breathing problems after ingesting wheat or inhaling wheat flour.
- An intolerance is when the body fails to correctly process something it should be able to process, and just ejects it half-processed instead.
- A common and easily demonstrable example is lactose intolerance. There isn’t a well-defined analog for gluten, but gluten intolerance is nonetheless a well-reported thing.
- A sensitivity is when none of the above apply, but the body nevertheless experiences unpleasant symptoms after exposure to a substance that should normally be safe.
- In the case of gluten, this is referred to as non-Celiac gluten sensitivity
A word on scientific objectivity: at 10almonds we try to report science as objectively as possible. Sometimes people have strong feelings on a topic, especially if it is polarizing.
Sometimes people with a certain condition feel constantly disbelieved and mocked; sometimes people without a certain condition think others are imagining problems for themselves where there are none.
We can’t diagnose anyone or validate either side of that, but what we can do is report the facts as objectively as science can lay them out.
Gluten is fine for all, and going gluten-free is a modern fad: True or False?
Definitely False, Celiac disease is a real autoimmune disease that cannot be faked, and allergies are also a real thing that people can have, and again can be validated in studies. Even intolerances have scientifically measurable symptoms and can be tested against nocebo.
See for example:
- Epidemiology and clinical presentations of Celiac disease
- Severe forms of food allergy that can precipitate allergic emergencies
- Properties of gluten intolerance: gluten structure, evolution, and pathogenicity
However! It may not be a modern fad, so much as a modern genuine increase in incidence.
Widespread varieties of wheat today contain a lot more gluten than wheat of ages past, and many other molecular changes mean there are other compounds in modern grains that never even existed before.
However, the health-related impact of these (novel proteins and carbohydrates) is currently still speculative, and we are not in the business of speculating, so we’ll leave that as a “this hasn’t been studied enough to comment yet but we recognize it could potentially be a thing” factor.
Gluten is bad if (and only if) you have Celiac disease: True or False?
Definitely False; allergies for example are well-evidenced as real; same facts as we discussed/linked just above.
Gluten is bad for everyone and we should avoid it: True or False?
False, tentatively and contingently.
First, as established, there are people with clinically-evidenced Celiac disease, wheat allergy, or similar. Obviously, they should avoid triggering those diseases.
What about the rest of us, and what about those who have non-Celiac gluten sensitivity?
Clinical testing has found that of those reporting non-Celiac gluten sensitivity, nocebo-controlled studies validate that diagnosis in only a minority of cases.
In the following study, for example, only 16% of those reporting symptoms showed them in the trials, and 40% of those also showed a nocebo response (i.e., like placebo, but a bad rather than good effect):
This one, on the other hand, found that positive validations of diagnoses were found to be between 7% and 77%, depending on the trial, with an average of 30%:
Re-challenge Studies in Non-celiac Gluten Sensitivity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
In other words: non-Celiac gluten sensitivity is a thing, and/but may be over-reported, and/but may be in some part exacerbated by psychosomatic effect.
Note: psychosomatic effect does not mean “imagining it” or “all in your head”. Indeed, the “soma” part of the word “psychosomatic” has to do with its measurable effect on the rest of the body.
For example, while pain can’t be easily objectively measured, other things, like inflammation, definitely can.
As for everyone else? If you’re enjoying your wheat (or similar) products, it’s well-established that they should be wholegrain for the best health impact (fiber, a positive for your health, rather than white flour’s super-fast metabolites padding the liver and causing metabolic problems).
Wheat itself may have other problems, for example FODMAPs, amylase trypsin inhibitors, and wheat germ agglutinins, but that’s “a wheat thing” rather than “a gluten thing”.
That’s beyond the scope of today’s main feature, but you might want to check out today’s featured book!
For a final scientific opinion on this last one, though, here’s what a respected academic journal of gastroenterology has to say:
From coeliac disease to noncoeliac gluten sensitivity; should everyone be gluten-free?
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Dates vs Tangerine – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing dates to tangerines, we picked the dates.
Why?
Of these two seasonal snacks, there’s a clear winner:
In terms of macros, dates have more than 4x the fiber, about 5x the carbs, and 3x the protein, making them the more macronutrient-dense choice by far, and due to the fiber content, the glycemic index is still very favorable.
In the category of vitamins, dates have more of vitamins B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, and K, while tangerines have more of vitamins A, C, and E, yielding a 7:3 win to dates in this round.
Looking at minerals, dates have more copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while tangerines are not higher in any minerals, although they are equal for calcium. Still, all things considered, it’s a landslide for dates in this category.
Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for dates, but by all means do enjoy either or both, as diversity is great!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
From Apples to Bees, and High-Fructose Cs: Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same? ← for any wondering about the sugariness of dates, and why they’re just fine regardless 😎
Enjoy!
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