Triptans are a group of drugs targeted at alleviating the symptoms of migraine, a severe and often debilitating headache disorder that can affect sight and speech.
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Barwon Health
Formed in 1998, Barwon Health is one of the largest and most comprehensive regional health services in Australia, providing care at all stages of life and circumstance.
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I was a bit annoyed by this article that appeared on The Age website and was retweeted widely. The title -_ Opioid addiction: Treatments get people off painkillers, but it is a hard road_ - suggests the…
Many adults who have a lifelong problem with migraines first experience them in childhood or adolescence.
Having already had depression or anxiety increases the risk of developing persistent pain, and developing a chronically painful condition dramatically increases chances of becoming depressed.
It seems as though one of the few clear points of difference between the major parties in this election campaign is the position on the freezing of Medicare rebates. For a very readable background to this…
There has been a rising tide of demands from governmental and other regulatory bodies targeting two related but distinct problems within the chiropractic profession. The first is the push from COAG Health…
Whether it’s an emergency or a planned admission, going to hospital can be anxiety inducing – not knowing where you’re heading or who will be looking after you. Here’s a cheat sheet to guide you.
In this column two and a half years ago, I took the Chiropractic Board of Australia (CBA) to task for abdicating its responsibility to keep the public safe by waving through questionable activities that…
Regular readers of this column will know that I’ve been less than complimentary about the effectiveness of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in its efforts to regulate advertising of non-prescription…
This morning I was dragged from my paperwork by a very excited colleague. He wanted me to see with him a patient I had sent for a trial of a new treatment. Before I go further, I’d like to give you a bit…
Listen carefully to the language that surrounds people with pain. Listen to how you talk about them. Are you increasing their disability by using well-intentioned pain cliches?
I’ve previously made the case that all codeine-containing pharmaceutical products be sold with prescriptions. In summary, there is mounting evidence that over-the-counter, codeine-containing medications…
Most people in western societies die in hospital or in institutional care. Keeping death out of sight and out of mind means few people have real experience of death and dying.
My apologies for the slightly sectarian title of this piece. I remain an enculturated Catholic despite being a long time lapsed. I think the metaphor is pretty appropriate, as Medibank Private is truly…
Nearly every second person in the world had a headache at least once in the past year. But these can feel very different, depending on which of the nearly 200 types of headache you have.
This week is National Pain Week so it’s only fitting that I should climb onto the soapbox again in support of people with persistent pain, their employers, workmates, friends, and families. The economic…
Two Australian doctors have taken to the pages of the prestigious journal, the BMJ to make their international colleagues aware of the extraordinary assault on medical ethics contained in the recently…
Frequent commenter on this column and Friends of Science in Medicine (FSM) executive member Dr Sue Ieraci tweeted a link to this extraordinary defence of homeopathy in pharmacies, in the online pharmacy…
Ketamine is a drug which was originally used in anaesthesia, but which is now more often used in managing pain. It acts upon a range of different neurotransmitter systems in the body and it’s not a drug…
The extraordinary clash of views between Treasurer Joe Hockey and the Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Brian Owler about the funding for a new medical school in Perth is just the latest example…
