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For many years health professionals have recommended ‘slow and steady’ weight loss. Recently however an increasing number of health professionals have begun prescribing very low energy diets (VLEDs) for the management of excess body weight. VLEDs can induce fast weight losses of approximately 0.5 to 2 kilos per week, which some people find motivating. Moreover, some people report not feeling hungry while on a VLED. While VLEDs are known to be safe and effective in the short-term, the long-term consequences are unknown. There is some concern that compared to slower weight loss, VLEDs may increase the likelihood of weight regain, particularly in the abdominal region, and this could increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Additionally, VLEDs may cause greater losses of muscle mass, muscle strength and bone density compared to slower ‘conventional diets’, but this has never been tested. This study will demonstrate whether or not there are any differences between VLED and conventional diet with respect to effects on body fat content and distribution, muscle mass, muscle strength or bone density for up to 3 years after commencement of either diet.

This is a study of the effects of a corticosteroid (dexamethasone) on sleep quality in patients with advanced cancer. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or above and have a diagnosis of cancer. You should be on a stable dose of corticosteroid for the previous 48 hours for any indication, and likely to remain on a stable dose of corticosteroids for the next 10 days. Trial details Participants in this trial will be randomly (by chance) allocated to one of two groups. Participants in one group will take their usual dose of dexamethasone in the morning and a placebo (sham tablet) at night for five days, and then switch the order for the next five days (i.e. placebo in the morning and dexamethasone at night). Participants in the other group will complete this treatment in reverse order. Only the pharmacist will know which drugs are being taken when. Participants will be asked to complete a sleep questionnaire each morning in order to assess the effect of the timing of dexamethasone on sleep quality.

To evaluate in a free-living setting the digestive health of 8 to 12 year old children and the impact a high fibre breakfast cereal has on their digestive health.

This study aims to provide patients receiving enteral nutrition with a lower or higher FODMAP formula and monitor the proportion of patients that develop diarrhoea. We hypothesise that the lower FODMAP formula will prevent the development of diarrhoea.

Consumption of foods and beverages rich in nitrate can increase circulating nitrite and nitric oxide, improve endothelial function and lower blood pressure acutely. Effects of dietary nitrate on arterial stiffness have yet to be explored. We aim to assess the acute effects of a single meal containing nitrate-rich spinach on arterial stiffness in healthy men and women. Effects on blood pressure will also be assessed.

This study is aimed at evaluating the efficacy of an online self management program for men living with HIV in Australia. Positive outlook is a 7 week online group self management program for men living with HIV. Participants will be asked to log onto the program for approximately 90minutes per week and complete modules, activities and contribute to various discussion boards. The program focuses on the management of physical, social and emotional aspects of living with HIV. Positive Outlook provides participants the opportunity to develop skills for the management of HIV within their daily lives. The group model allows participants to share experiences and to learn from each other. Particular attention is payed to disclosure of HIV and the management of HIV within intimate relationships. We hypothesise that intervention group participants will demonstrate improvements in self efficacy, outcomes of health education, adjustment to HIV, depression anxiety and stress, quality of life and social support compared to control participants at follow up and 12 week follow up.

This study aims to document sensitivity and specificity when the ECGs of young athletes are interpreted by clinicians (excluding sports cardiologists) compared with interpretation by expert sports cardiologists. It also aims to assess the effectiveness of the ECG criteria tool in improving this sensitivity and specificity.

This study aims to evaluate a tele-health mediated nurse led intervention to increase oral cancer therapy adherence amongst people with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML). Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or more and have a confirmed diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). You should be currently taking or about to commence treatment with the drug, Imatinib. Trial details Participants in this trial will be randomly (by chance) allocated to one of two groups. Participants in one group will receive a nurse-led intervention using internet and mobile telephone reminder systems to help them remember to take their medicine and cope with medicine side effects. Participants in the other group will not receive this intervention. Information obtained from this trial will help to see if the intervention is suitable, whether the measures we are using to see if medicine uptake improves are working, and help us to work out the time required to accrue numbers of patients to a subsequent larger study using the same, or improved version of the intervention.

Long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids, Docosahexanoic Acid (DHA) and Eicosapentanoic Acid (EPA), are associated with reducing the risk of a range of chronic diseases, as well as inflammation. They are also linked to improved outcomes as adjunctive therapies in some cancers and arthritis, in addition to promoting growth and development. The National Health and Medical Research Council recommendation for males and females is outlined in Figure 1. Suggested Dietary Targets represent the amount recommended for the prevention of chronic disease, i.e. cardiovascular disease and is equivalent to the 90th percentile of intake of the Australian/New Zealand population. Unless people consume oily fish at least twice per week or take omega-3 fish oil capsules, meeting this recommendation is difficult. Fortifying foods with fish oil is a means of improving intakes of EPA/DHA, but existing encapsulation technologies prevent significant doses being incorporated into foods. Higher doses using the current technology produces unsatisfactory flavour profiles and instability in the product. This project aims to improve on this with a trialling a new technology.

It is known that the symptoms of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), such as pain, weakness and swelling, occur after intense exercise, mainly after unaccustomed eccentric exercise. Eccentric exercise is the type that occurs when a muscle tenses whilst it is lengthening e.g., when you are lowering a dumbbell after completing a biceps curl. DOMS leads to impaired performance for athletes and untrained individuals. There are no effective means of treating DOMS other than perhaps to avoid it in the first instance. Research investigating the effect of low level laser therapy (LLLT) on muscle injury from exercises that cause fatigue, suggests that LLLT may be useful for treating DOMS. This study will analyse if LLLT, used before and after eccentric exercise, is able to prevent or minimize the symptoms associated with DOMS, as well as evaluate indicators of muscle damage that can be assessed in a range of ways including blood sample and muscle biopsy and what it will permit to visualize the muscle recovery after the eccentric exercise and laser therapy.