Page 23 - ETU Journal Autumn 2017

hEALTh & SAfETy > EARLY DETECTION, BETTER CURE RATE
In past decades, far too many workers in the power and construction industries have been exposed to asbestos. For these workers, there may be a signiicant risk of health problems later in life, including mesothelioma and other cancers.
hat is why the ETU has partnered with Melbourne’s Acclaim Health Group,
which has developed an
online risk calculator at lungscreen. acclaimhealth.com.au The calculator gives our members the opportunity for early detection and efective treatment of these potentially deadly diseases.
The test is free and available to anyone. Answers are correlated with data from across the world
to calculate the person’s risk of developing a range of lung cancers.
Free testing and discounted follow-up screening
Those who might have a 1 in
20 risk, or greater, of developing asbestos-related cancers in the next ive years are advised to undergo a precautionary low-dose CT scan.
Our partnership means that the initial screening, which attracts no government Medicare rebate, can be ofered to ETU members at a 25% discount.
Early detection means a head start and a higher chance to be cured
Adrian Pick, a Melbourne cardiothoracic surgeon who is one of the world’s leading experts on asbestos-related mesothelioma and lung cancers, heads Acclaim Health Group.
Mr Pick has experienced irst- hand the frustration and pain of being unable to help people with asbestos-related lung cancers because those cancers weren’t picked up in time.
‘By the time someone comes in coughing up blood, it’s too late,’
etU members HaVe a new OPPOrtUnity tO HeLP tHem beat LUng cancer
Deal offers etU members hope against asbestos-related lung cancers
T
You cannot overstate the importance of early detection. If we pick up a cancer early, I can tell a patient that there’s an 80% chance we can cure them.
he says. ‘The patients that I’m able to cure are the ones who fall and break a rib, and get a chest x-ray that shows a nodule in their lungs that they had no idea was there.
Even for those asbestos-related diseases that have the bleakest outlooks, like mesothelioma, there is increased hope if detected early.
CT scans taken as a result of referrals from the questionnaire will be sent to radiologists who specialise in analysis of chest images, to ensure that signs won’t be missed.
‘We make sure that only at-risk patients are ever sent to screening, by expertly calculating the person’s likelihood of developing these cancers,’ Mr Pick said.
And by the time people with these cancers start showing symptoms, it’s often too late for a cure.
Medical advances mean reduced
invasiveness, risks and recovery times
Mr Pick points out that advances in imaging technology and the way
biopsies and surgeries are performed mean
minimal invasiveness, and much reduced risks and recovery times.
‘Even if a lung or lobe of a lung
is removed, the patient is only in hospital for about four days. And within two weeks, they should be doing everything normally. We don’t divide any muscles, we don’t break any ribs.’
A better future through evidence
Currently, the Federal Government does not ofer Medicare rebates to support lung cancer and asbestos- related diseases screening.
‘The only way we can shift government attitudes to screening programs like this is by showing that they work,’ says Mr Pick.
To take the questionnaire, go to:
lungscreen.acclaimhealth.com.au
www.etuvic.com.au
tHE Etu > AutuMn 2016
PhoTo >
Adrian Pick, melbourne cardiothoracic surgeon
acclaim health group is committed to reducing the harm caused
by smoking tobacco and invites anyone interested in quitting
to ring acclaim’s certiied Quit educator, Bill Wise, on
0400 812 384 to start the discussion. acclaim offers this service in both Melbourne and frankston.
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