For the first time ever, the number of overweight people on Earth outweighs the number that are undernourished. From the obesity crisis flows a cascade of health and social problems: it burdens healthcare…
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Health – Articles, Analysis, Comment
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The rhetoric of participation has long been the mainstay of modern health policy. But to what extent are efforts to give people a voice in health-care policy successful, or even appropriate? The idea of…
Queensland authorities came under attack yesterday for being unprepared for a Hendra virus outbreak after it was found that they’d only stocked 15 doses of virus antibodies. But the case for stocking up…
The Lancet, one of most prestigious medical journals in the world recently published a series of five papers on “the new decade of vaccines”. These were followed by a sixth paper – A call to action for…
Research shows mothers prefer advice from their peers about health-care providers and medication. Such referrals are more trusted than practitioners or the paid marketing messages about health-care products…
The human brain is often referred to as the most complex organ on the planet. It is responsible for an incalculable number of tasks, thoughts and functions every second of everyday of our lives. The brain…
Nearly a fifth of all complaints against doctors in private practice in Victoria are made against a small group of medical professionals. So taking early action against these complaint-prone doctors may…
Arthur Freeman’s involvement in an altercation in Victoria’s Barwon prison this week has again highlighted the fraught issue of how we deal with offenders who commit crimes that many of us assume could…
You expect to feel pain when you fall off a bicycle but should you feel pain when you see someone else do the same? Some people do because pain is more than the actual injury; it’s a perception. For some…
“One of the most exhilarating experiences I know of is performing in public, especially when there is a magnificent piano under my fingers, great music in my head, and the feeling that there are no technical…
Among the many criticisms of porn regurgitated ad nauseum is its supposed educative function. Coaching men on how to dominate, oppress and objectify women. Training women on how much hair to shave and…
The myth that the four common tastes of sweet, sour, salty and bitter are located at different regions of the tongue has existed for more than a century. It arose from studies in the late 19th and early…
Read the argument for the use of complementary medicine. The question of whether doctors should provide “complementary or alternative” medicines and procedures for which there is no scientific proof of…
Twenty years after his discovery that peptic ulcers were caused by a bacteria called Helicobacter pylori, Nobel Prize winner Barry Marshall is using the same bacteria as the base of an edible vaccine that…
In the latest change to the Federal Government’s health reforms, Health Minister Nicola Roxon has scrapped the guarantee that public patients who don’t receive their elective surgery on time will be treated…
With the tabling of the Plain Packaging Bill in Parliament this week, Australia again stands at the forefront of the struggle against Big Tobacco. But this stance is under attack in a whole new set of…
A coalition of representatives from leading national health bodies are briefing parliamentarians today, calling for alcohol pricing to be placed on the agenda of the upcoming Federal Tax Forum in October…
When someone is adversely affected by a vaccine in Australia, their only way to receive compensation is through the courts. But this is not the case worldwide. Vaccines undergo rigorous testing to ensure…
In the last few decades, the number of people with diabetes has more than doubled globally, making the combination of type 2 diabetes and obesity (known as diabesity) the largest epidemic the world has…
In an attempt to contain growing health costs, the Australian Government has resisted recommendations to subsidise the pain medication Targin on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule. Not only is this a…
As Queensland authorities confirm the third outbreak of Hendra virus within a week, researchers are moving to fast track a horse vaccination for the deadly virus, which can spread from horses to humans…
Of all the homemade winter cure-alls, chicken soup is the best known and most loved. In fact the term “chicken soup” has become idiomatic for all things restorative; benefiting every possible problem from…
The phrase “growth hormone” conjures up images of either the very tall or the very short. And yes, growth hormone is important for promoting linear growth but this hard-working hormone also controls many…
Smokers who quit with the assistance of a text messaging service are nearly twice as likely to be smoke-free six months later than smokers with no support, according to a study published this week in The…
On the television show House, doctors try to diagnose mysterious illnesses, and often when time is running out all other options have been exhausted, one of the characters will offer a diagnosis of last…