Patients will remain in the dark about whether their treating doctors receive payments from pharmaceutical companies that could influence prescribing habits, after a bill aimed at increasing transparency…
On March 25th 1968 a relatively unknown French medical journal l’Ouest Medical published a remarkable paper based on observations of 127 children with mothers who drank heavily.
Paul Lemoine, a paediatrician…
Iodine is naturally present in a range of food, especially seaweed and fish. So it may seem odd that the people of an island nation (most of whom live along its vast coastline) are not getting enough of…
A group of Australian doctors and academics has called on the Commonwealth government today to raise the legal drinking age to 21, in order to reduce the harms associated with early heavy drinking.
According…
How many dealers did you visit before you last bought a car?
Were you happy with the first quote you got for a painting job or kitchen renovation?
When it comes to your finances, your house and your…
For half the population, it comes three to five days each month, 12 months each year, for 40 years of our lives. Menstruation can be debilitating, relieving, disappointing, or simply an inconvenient fact…
Superfoods is a buzzword now part of mainstream food and health language, often touted as miracle foods that cure all ills, stave off ageing and disease, or aid weight loss.
In practice, superfoods are…
As a doctor it’s my job to prescribe lotions and potions. To do so, I read information about drug trials in books and medical journals to keep me up to speed on the latest drugs, dangers and side effects…
All nine members of the US Supreme Court have ruled that isolated genetic material cannot be patented – unless the material is markedly different to what exists in nature.
The court ruled against Myriad…
State and federal health ministers will meet today to approve a new star rating system for food packaging. Easy-to-interpret front-of-pack labels are expected to help consumers quickly assess the nutritive…
When people think of mental problems related to body image, often the first thing that comes to mind is the thin figure associated with anorexia. Body dysmorphic disorder is less well known, but has around…
The “new” weight-loss strategy known as the 5:2 diet has been receiving much attention in the media since the book The Fast Diet: The Secret of Intermittent Fasting – Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, Live Longer…
Former Olympic swimmer Lisa Curry has announced she will undergo fertility treatment to try to have a baby with her partner of three years. News reports say doctors estimate she has less than a 10% chance…
In 1632 the Catholic Church convened a case against Galileo on the grounds that his work using the telescope to explore the nature of the heavens contradicted the church’s teaching – the culmination of…
Increasing numbers of Australian women are asking their doctors for a designer vagina. So many, in fact, that the government is reviewing whether such surgery should be publicly-funded via Medicare.
Over…
In the early 1980s, I was a member of a team of nutritionists who analysed bush food samples sent by “The Bush Tucker Man” (Major Les Hiddins) from northern Australia to the Defence Nutrition laboratory…
The enemy of trusted journalism is disinformation and spin. Make a donation to help protect our independence and support evidence-based analysis, research and news.
The idea of vulnerable patients becoming infected by their health-care practitioner has spawned mandatory vaccination policies in many places.
Thompson Rivers University
Facts about flu – Today we consider the ethics of requiring one group of people to have the flu shot as a condition of employment.
We’re still looking for ways of preventing and treating influenza, and…
Welcome to Facts about flu – We often hear of an expected pandemic and had a scare in 2009 with the swine flu, but how well are we prepared?
Although no longer considered an immediate risk, the recent…
Superfoods is a buzzword now part of mainstream food and health language, often touted as miracle foods that cure all ills, stave off ageing and disease, or aid weight loss.
In practice, superfoods are…
The decision may impact on an impending Australian appeal.
Image from shutterstock.com
All nine members of the US Supreme Court have ruled that isolated genetic material cannot be patented – unless the material is markedly different to what exists in nature.
The court ruled against Myriad…
People on the diet need to restrict intake of calories on fasting days.
Martin Lee
The “new” weight-loss strategy known as the 5:2 diet has been receiving much attention in the media since the book The Fast Diet: The Secret of Intermittent Fasting – Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, Live Longer…
Lisa Curry is attempting IVF to have a fourth child at the age of 51.
John Donegan/AAP Image
Former Olympic swimmer Lisa Curry has announced she will undergo fertility treatment to try to have a baby with her partner of three years. News reports say doctors estimate she has less than a 10% chance…
More and more women are going under the knife in search of the ‘perfect’ vagina.
Flickr/Hey Paul Studios
Increasing numbers of Australian women are asking their doctors for a designer vagina. So many, in fact, that the government is reviewing whether such surgery should be publicly-funded via Medicare.
Over…
Insects constitute a source of higher quality protein for humans than we can obtain from plants.
BBC World News
In the early 1980s, I was a member of a team of nutritionists who analysed bush food samples sent by “The Bush Tucker Man” (Major Les Hiddins) from northern Australia to the Defence Nutrition laboratory…
Older Aboriginal Australians are more than 15 times more likely to die of kidney disease than non-Aboriginal Australians.
Helen Taylor
The recent death of the lead singer of Yothu Yindi, is a high-profile example of an event all too common in Aboriginal Australia.
Older Aboriginal Australians (40 to 60 years old) are more than 15 times…
Vegetarians have a lower risk of some chronic diseases such as hypertension (high blood pressure), heart disease and diabetes.
Image from shutterstock.com
Ethical and environmental considerations are often the prompt for adopting a meat-free diet. But better health may also push some towards vegetarianism, with a new study showing vegetarians have a lower…
There’s still much confusion about the use of flu vaccines and their effectiveness.
Lance McCord
By Ian Barr, WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza
Facts about flu – Today, Ian Barr considers advice about who should get a flu shot.
Questions about who should be vaccinated against influenza are asked each year as the winter (and influenza) season…
An estimated 5.2% of cancers worldwide are caused by the human papilloma virus.
Image from shutterstock.com
Oral sex is often the first of many forays into sexual intimacy we experience as fumbling teenagers. And for many couples, it remains an important – and enjoyable – part of their sexual repertoire. But…
More than 1,000,000 readers visit The Conversation each month.
Write an article and join a growing community of more than
6,000
academics and researchers from 384 institutions.
The Conversation relies on sector, government and reader support.
If you would like to help us have even better conversations,
then you may like to make a one-off or on-going donation.
