Health

Can I take my complementary medicine with my other medicines? This and other top questions asked of the national Medicines Line service about complementary medicines have been revealed at the Choosing Wisely 2019 National Meeting in Melbourne this week. Medicines Line is a free information service offered by NPS MedicineWise, …

UNSW engineers have shown that ‘micro submarines’ powered by nano-motors could navigate the human body to provide targeted drug delivery to diseased organs without the need for external stimulus. Cancers in the human body may one day be treated by these tiny, self-propelled ‘micro-submarines’ delivering medicine to affected organs after …

The health of many prisoners who have been unemployed or homeless before being incarcerated improves in jail, according to a new report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). The report, ‘The health of Australia’s prisoners 2018’, includes information gathered from people through the use of questionnaires over …

A new, non-invasive embryo screening test will reduce miscarriages and the time it takes to achieve a healthy live birth for the one-in-six Australian couples affected by infertility. In a world first scientific breakthrough, Australia’s leading fertility scientists have developed an embryo DNA screening test that is non-invasive and will …

The latest data showing a continued decline in HIV transmission rates in NSW has been welcomed by the state’s leading HIV prevention and HIV support organisation, ACON. The ‘NSW HIV Strategy Data Report – Quarter 1’ shows that in the first three months of 2019, there were 22 per cent …

Young Australians providing care for family members with mental illnesses, alcohol and drug addictions are struggling to keep up with their studies, according to new research. The Flinders University and UNSW study found the problem will remain without an adjustment to flexibility in schools and personalised intervention programs. The results …

Just days after a study of more than 18,000 smokers1 showed that vaping increased chances of successfully quitting by 95 per cent, adult Australian smokers who can’t or won’t quit nicotine are being encouraged to consider vaping as a less harmful alternative to conventional cigarettes as part of the first …

A push to encourage Australians to be more proactive in the management of their own healthcare is underway by NPS MedicineWise Choosing Wisely Australia initiative and the Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF). The Conversation Starter Kit, launched today, 30 may at the  2019 Choosing Wisely Australia National Meeting in …

Latest research from Monash University shows one in five people with sleep apnoea suffer from clinical depression and almost a quarter use antidepressants. The study explored the prevalence of depression and antidepressant use in 109 patients with untreated obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and found 22.7 per cent had clinical depression. …

Advance Care Planning Australia (ACPA) has welcomed National Volunteer Week’s 2019 theme, ‘Making a world of difference’, taking the opportunity to acknowledge the nationwide impact of its “small but mighty” volunteer team of 12. As the national authority on advance care planning, ACPA has empowered thousands of Australians to plan …