One in four Australians is overweight or obese by the time they reach adolescence, but it’s difficult to predict who is at risk. These three questions can help.
More women would favour the pill over less reliable forms of contraception if it was available without prescription.
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New modelling shows skipping the need for a doctors’ prescription and going straight to a pharmacist for the pill could save the health system A$96 million a year and improve women’s health outcomes.
Hospitals have a role to play too.
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The threshold for diagnosing common conditions such as high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease and gestational diabetes have all lowered in recent years. But for whose benefit?
Take of these and I’ll see you in the morning.
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Farmers experience drought-related stress. Improving their mental health enhances adaptive capacity and resilience. Drought support must address relationships between drought and mental health.
Unlike condoms, which need to be used every time with sex, or the pill, which must be taken every day, LARC doesn’t require any action after placement in the body and is immediately reversible.
A study that shows GPs are prescribing about five million too many antibiotic scripts a year means we have to take a radical new approach to reducing use of these drugs.
In many cases, the most appropriate treatment for a health condition isn’t a drug. It could be a recommendation for a dietary change, a specific exercise, or even a phone app.
GPs tend to ignore advice from guidelines not relevant to general practice.
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Many guidelines offered to GPs are based on evidence unrelated to general practice. Studies show doctors tend to ignore these guidelines which can pose a risk to patients’ health.
Was the Liberal Party right about Medicare funding?
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The greater threats to our national public health system lie in the increasing role of consumer co-payments and the power of vested interests that stifle policy innovation in health.
The cost for after-hour services has increased by 98% in the last ten years.
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Recent reports have signalled another potential Medicare cost blowout due to the billing practices of GPs providing care after hours. Is it true and is there a problem with these services?
New data shows many Australians aren’t seeing their doctors because it costs too much.
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In some parts of Australia, patients are twice to three times more likely to avoid seeing their GP because they can’t afford it, according to figures released today.
Off-label use is when an approved medicine is prescribed for a different reason, at a different dose, or in different patient groups than originally intended.
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The off-label use of medicines is not illegal and it doesn’t mean regulators have specifically “disapproved” its use. But there are a number of issues to consider before using a medicine off-label.
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne