80 years young and still making a splash
by Greg Martin
The year 1942 was momentous for many reasons .
There were the many battles during World War II , Frank Sinatra began his solo career , Muhammad Ali and Aretha Franklin were born , and in Australia , midget submarines attacked Sydney Harbour .
It also marks the birth of 10 members of the 25 or so-strong group which attends regular aqua aerobic classes at South Windsor ’ s Oasis Aquatic Centre .
Eighty years living in this place hasn ’ t dimmed the zest for life in each and every one of them .
Most of the Terrific Ten have been attending the thrice-weekly , 45-minute classes for over 20 years , during which time they have formed great friendships .
Not only does the group go splishin ’ and a-splashin ’ together , but they also love spending time with each other away from the Oasis centre . They spread themselves around dining venues across the Hawkesbury every second Thursday , enjoying their food and the opportunity to chat . Attending the same venues for social occasions is important to the group .
So much do they enjoy each other ’ s company , the group have hit the high seas on five cruises to New Zealand , Tasmania , Cairns and the South Pacific .
And they lurv getting away for weekly holidays together !
“ We ’ ve been all over the place ,” explained Jill Duffy , who alerted the Independent to the Octogenarian Odyssey . Lucky Starr went everywhere man , in his memorable 1962 hit song , and so too
Suffering from DVTs and pulmonary embolisms ? Your iron levels may be a cause with Andreas Klein
Annually 17,000 Australians suffer blood clots in their veins ( VTE ). This article was inspired by a patient suffering iron deficiency , who had recently been released from hospital after treatment for deep vein thrombosis ( DVT ) and subsequent pulmonary embolism ( blood-clots ) in both lungs .
DVT blood clots can break off and eventually lodge in the lungs causing pulmonary thromboembolism ( PE ) as happened in this patient .
Iron-deficiency ( ID ) is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide . ID is also a known risk factor for blood clotting disorders such as VTE , but this is under-recognised and so testing for iron deficiency / anaemia is not routinely done in hospitalized VTE patients .
The exact mechanism / s via which ID causes blood clots is still being elucidated . ID can increase platelet counts which may increase likelihood of clotting and animal studies show that platelet count in ID can be normalised by iron supplements .
However , clots also occur in ID patients when platelet-counts are normal so the reason for increased clotting in ID may be unrelated to platelet count .
Apart from ID , previous studies have linked raised levels of blood-coagulation factor-VIII , to increased risk of recurring VTE and PE .
Researchers suspected a link between iron and factor-VIII blood-levels , so they studied patients with an inherited disorder of blood-vessel-formation called haemorrhagic Telangiectasia ( HHT ).
Patients suffer turbulent blood flow within fragile blood-vessel walls , rendering blood-vessels prone to haemorrhage . HHT patients are also at increased risk of blood loss and thus iron deficiency ; and VTE .
The authors found that lower blood iron levels
Photo : Kathryn Johnston
has the Oasis group . “ We ’ ve been to Perth on the Indian Pacific ( railway ), and towns in the Snowy Mountains , the Victorian Highlands , and all along the NSW coast ,” Jill explained .
“ We all get along so well together – all of us are friendly and have positive attitudes about life .”
One of the group ’ s newer members , English rose , Sheila Wilson , was the catalyst in the group organising an 80th Birthday to Us lunch at Windsor RSL on June 30 .
“ I knew a couple of other members of the group were also turning 80 this year and a few enquiries revealed that there were 10 of us celebrating being born in 1942 ,” Sheila said .
“ We didn ’ t need much encouragement in deciding to have a communal party to celebrate out 80th birthdays – we do love to get together !”
Not only did the group enjoy the meal and each other ’ s company , they also helped demolish a delicious Victoria Sponge birthday cake prepared by Ebony Bennett , the granddaughter of Doreen Vincent , a group member who passed away last year .
in HHT patients increased risk of blood-clots . When iron levels were low ( 6 μmol / litre ) patients were 2.5 times more likely to suffer clots compared to patients with mid-normal-range iron levels ( 17 μmol / litre ).
Although factor-VIII increases with age , acute inflammation and vWF concentration ( its carrier protein ), after accounting for these and platelet count , iron deficiency remained an independent risk factor for increased factor-VIII blood levels and blood-clotting risk .
Study authors concluded ( citing evidence ) that blood-vessel lining-cells ( endothelial-cells ) can sense low blood-iron . These cells respond by increasing factor-VIII production to reduce bleedingrisk , thus avoiding further iron loss . The extra factor- VIII however increases clotting risk . The important finding was that blood clots disappeared with iron supplementation .
Although iron supplementation worked well in the study above , for the last few months we have been looking at foods that are high in vitamin K . This vitamin promotes appropriate clotting . Adequate vitamin K levels ensure excellent activity of vitamin- K-dependant anticlotting enzymes which ensure unwanted clots never occur in the first place .
This raises an important point often missed by people focused on single supplements . Foods contain nutrients that often work synergistically . For example , green leafy vegetables when juiced provide very good levels of iron and have been used in third world countries to fight iron deficiency .
The same vegetables also contain high levels of vitamin K1 . Iron and vitamin K then work together to guard against excess blood-clotting and protect people from DVT and TVE . For this reason , food ( good diet ) is often a much better ( more comprehensive / effective ) solution for addressing health issues . vv
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THE HAWKESBURY INDEPENDENT theindependentmagazine . com . au ISSUE 146 // JULY 2022 31