It might be fine for us to inject ourselves with Botox in a quest for eternal youth, but when the microorganism that produces this potent toxin is found in whey powder that might end up in baby milk formula…
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Health – Articles, Analysis, Comment
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Not content with saving lives, doctors are now credited with (accused of?) bringing the dead back to life. But how true are the stories we hear about people “coming back” from being dead and how does it…
Researchers in the United States have developed a new model to predict women’s risk of developing breast, uterine and ovarian cancer, based on individual lifestyle factors. These three cancers make up…
Porn. Just utter the word aloud and hearts pound, pulses quicken, and minds start racing. Depending on the context, these effects may be the result of concern for young people’s well-being rather than…
A few years ago I saw a poster stuck to the wall of a train station in Copenhagen. The poster was a protest paid for by a prominent Danish musician against new regulations against smoking in public. At…
International health officials recently warned of a “catastrophic threat” to human health, given one of the last remaining antibiotics capable of defeating superbugs – carbapenem antibiotics – is succumbing…
The Rudd government’s forthcoming tobacco tax increase is the single most effective way to cut smoking and reduce the thousands of premature deaths that smoking causes each year. It’s a gold star public…
Pope Francis made conciliatory overtures to gay Catholics in a wide-ranging press conference on Monday. His comments made headlines around the world and indicate a change in attitude to closeted priests…
Research published in JAMA Pediatrics this week shows a causal relationship between breastfeeding and higher IQ by the time a child is seven years old. Put simply, longer breastfeeding appears to make…
Fears that online drug marketplaces are flooding communities with illicit drugs may be unfounded, according to the first Australian survey of such websites. While the survey found the number of online…
Kidneys are probably not a subject most of us think about too much – but right now they’re at the centre of a global medical controversy. In a paper published in the British Medical Journal today, we explain…
Rising expenditure on health care is expected to put significant pressure on public spending in Australia. The Intergenerational Report 2010 projects that government spending on health care, as a proportion…
Public-private partnerships for new hospital developments are again in vogue in Australia, with recent announcements that Sydney’s new northern beaches hospital and the new Sunshine Coast University Hospital…
The bare-headed cycling movement has recently stirred from hibernation in the United Kingdom. Freedom to ride with the wind in their hair remains, but perhaps not for very much longer. The British Medical…
When they were introduced over 20 years ago, national breast screening programs were a milestone in public health. They were based on evidence from randomised trials that screening saved lives. But there…
Now appearing in a tabloid near you, reports of the latest fad – infusion of intravenous vitamins, which, exactly as described, is vitamins applied through an intravenous drip. Sounds a little extreme…
The most common surgical procedure in the world today - one that every human alive today has undergone - is the clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord at birth. The need for clamping and cutting the…
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is today launching a call for law reform regarding the use of physical punishment to discipline children. Noting the harms of smacking children, it’s…
The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was one of the more serious recent pandemics. It was caused by a member of the coronavirus family, and now another such virus is causing illness…
At first glance, the deal between prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Peter O’Neill transferring all Australian-bound asylum seekers to Papua New Guinea appears to deliver many benefits to that small poor country…
Research published in PLOS ONE this morning has found that people who experience discrimination based on their weight are likely to gain more of it. Similarly, negative attitudes lead people who are obese…
The Labor government’s changes to immigration policy show a singular focus on stopping people seeking asylum in Australia and destroying the business of people smugglers. But unhappy prospects await the…
New rules for alcohol labelling were discussed in Malaysia earlier this week by countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The proposed rules could stymie the introduction of effective health…
Inflammatory bowel disease is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine that can cause life-threatening complications and may require surgery. Luckily, current therapies offer…
All memories aren’t created equal. Whether you remember an event the next day, week or year, depends on a number of factors, the most important one of which is the emotion associated with it. Emotional…