News Articles
COVID-safe rules for trick or treating this Halloween
Date of Posting: 30-10-2020
Trick-or-treating this Halloween needs to comply with COVID-safe guidelines, with health authorities suggesting several changes to the popular tradition. Trick-or-treating this Halloween needs to be different on Saturday, with families being urged Read More...
Who pays compensation if a COVID-19 vaccine has rare side-effects?
Date of Posting: 30-10-2020
In last week’s federal budget the Australian government announced it had given the suppliers of two COVID-19 vaccines indemnity against liability for rare side-effects. Although details are unclear, it appears the government would foot Read More...
Children may need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 too. Here's what we need to consider
Last Updated: 30-10-2020
An ideal COVID-19 vaccine would not only protect people from becoming ill, it would also stop the virus spreading through the population. The best way to do this is to vaccinate as many people as possible. If the best available vaccine is on Read More...
Why COVID mental health measures must target disadvantaged areas
Last Updated: 30-10-2020
COVID-19 outbreaks and the resulting lockdowns, particularly in Victoria, have adversely affected many people’s mental health. Social isolation, financial stress, and anxiety about contracting COVID-19 can all contribute to psychologic Read More...
Cervical, breast, heart, bowel: here's what women should be getting screened regularly
Date of Posting: 30-10-2020
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many have felt anxious about going to the GP and other health facilities, believing these places have had a greater risk of transmission. A lot of us have also had to juggle work, childcare and home-based educatio Read More...
Severe form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease linked to a strain of mouth bacteria
Last Updated: 30-10-2020
Bacteria from the mouth could hold clues to understanding – and potentially treating – severe ulcerative colitis, a painful bowel disease. Severe ulcerative colitis – a form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) – has been li Read More...
Women with endometriosis suffer "terrible" 6 year wait for diagnosis
Date of Posting: 29-10-2020
A new study has found that Australian women with endometriosis live with the painful condition for an average of 6.4 years before being diagnosed. Donna Ciccia, Director and Cofounder of Endometriosis Australia, told HealthTimes that “e Read More...
When too much news is bad news: is the way we consume news detrimental to our health?
Last Updated: 29-10-2020
Humans are curious and social creatures by nature. The news helps us make sense of the world around us and connects us with our local, national and international community. So it’s no wonder we’re drawn to it. Objective, l Read More...
Demand for Mental Health Counsellors Is Soaring in the Aftermath of COVID-19
Date of Posting: 29-10-2020
COVID-19 has had a vastly detrimental effect on Australians’ mental health. People have recently experienced a steep increase in the sorts of issues that would prompt them to seek counselling including isolation, bereavement, fear, stress, i Read More...
Research shows poor sleep linked to lifestyle factors
Date of Posting: 28-10-2020
Feeling tired? Obesity and depression are among the reasons why people are getting poor sleep, even if they're spending plenty of time in bed. Good quality sleep has a lot to do with life out of bed, new research shows.[subscribe] Lifestyle Read More...
Bushfires and COVID take their toll on new mums and babies
Last Updated: 27-10-2020
Almost seven-in-10 pregnant women and new mothers (65 per cent) in the ACT and southeast New South Wales say they were severely exposed to bushfire smoke in our recent summer. Almost nine-in-10 (85 per cent) said they isolated themselves and their Read More...
New nurse-led research to improve bereavement care in ICU
Last Updated: 27-10-2020
A new Graduate Research Studentship focused on enhancing palliative care has been awarded to PhD Candidate Alysia Coventry. The inaugural study grant was offered to Alysia by The Centre for Palliative Care and University of Melbourne’s Depar Read More...
COVID-19 a double blow for chronic disease patients
Date of Posting: 27-10-2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has escalated into a ‘syndemic’ for people with chronic illnesses, a new UNSW study analysing data from low and middle-income countries shows. There has never been a more dangerous time than the COVID-19 pandemic Read More...
Dementia care professionals welcome home-based program
Last Updated: 22-10-2020
Australian research has backed an innovative home-based program which specially trains nurses and occupational therapists to support people living with dementia and their families. “We know that 75 percent of people with dementia in Australi Read More...
Researchers survey shows aged care needs not met for most
Last Updated: 21-10-2020
Researchers at the National Ageing Research Institute say the needs of about three-quarters of the people living in aged care facilities aren't always met. About three-quarters of people living in Australian aged care facilities say their need Read More...
User Centred Design: How Practice Management Software is Developed
Date of Posting: 21-10-2020
If you’re like us, you may have noticed that over time software has progressively become simpler and easier to use. But have you ever stopped to consider why? Historically, software development followed a top-down design, starting with a gen Read More...
Experiences of discrimination drive distrust in digital health
Date of Posting: 21-10-2020
Communities affected by blood-borne viruses and STIs are more likely to opt out of digital health services, says a new national study. People who have experienced stigma and discrimination in health care settings are more likely to distrust digita Read More...
Polycystic ovary syndrome treatment may hinge on diet, mouse study suggests
Date of Posting: 21-10-2020
The Mediterranean diet may be investigated as a possible treatment for polycystic ovary syndrome after mice with PCOS-like features of the condition were found to benefit from a similar diet. Mice with induced polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) that Read More...
National preventive health strategy must provide healing for Indigenous communities
Date of Posting: 21-10-2020
The Healing Foundation is urging the Government to ensure healing is part of the National Preventive Health Strategy (NPHS) to address trauma and its accompanying health effects on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In its submission to Read More...
Defibrillators is key to improving 10 percent survival rate
Date of Posting: 20-10-2020
Around 20,000 Australians have a sudden heart attack every year, and ensuring quick access to defibrillators is key to improving the 10 per cent survival rate. Every day the hearts of 16 Australians suddenly stop pumping and their chance of surviv Read More...
Older Australians deserve more than the aged care royal commission's COVID-19 report delivers
Last Updated: 20-10-2020
Amid the ongoing disaster in Victorian aged-care homes, the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety yesterday released its special report into the COVID-19 pandemic. This report finally states who is responsible for aged care &mda Read More...
High fatalities from truck crashes demand greater safety standards
Date of Posting: 20-10-2020
Relying on regulation through licensing alone will not combat unsafe trucking practices, says UNSW’s Dr Christopher Walker. Tuesday October 20, marks 31 years since Australia’s worst truck accident resulted in 21 fatalities on October Read More...
COVID changed the way we use drugs and alcohol -- now it's time to properly invest in treatment
Date of Posting: 20-10-2020
During crises and disasters, alcohol and other drug use often changes. But the changes are not straightforward and impacts may be different for different groups of people. There doesn’t seem to have been significant overall incr Read More...
We could be doing more to prevent vision loss for people with diabetes
Last Updated: 20-10-2020
Diabetes-related vision loss is the leading cause of blindness for working-aged Australians. Yet it’s almost entirely preventable. A recent Australian study found only half of people with diabetes get the recommended annual eye Read More...
New study points to best bone health for kids
Last Updated: 18-10-2020
New research has revealed the right levels of exercise, activity and sleep to ensure bone health in children. Childhood bone health is best supported with 90 minutes of exercise each day along with more than three hours of other light physical act Read More...
UQ tech to restore damaged bones
Date of Posting: 16-10-2020
A technological advancement that has the potential to stimulate bone formation inside the human body has been developed by University of Queensland researchers. The findings from the UQ School of Dentistry builds on existing research in the field Read More...
Under the influence: how COVID has affected our drinking
Date of Posting: 16-10-2020
Changes to our drinking habits could be a surprising “good news story” with the lockdown providing a catalyst for positive behaviour change, a new study has found. COVID-19 has changed our alcohol purchasing and consumption patterns in Read More...
Chronic disease and public health failures fuel COVID-19 pandemic
Date of Posting: 16-10-2020
Australia was not spared as a 30-year global rise in chronic illness and related risk factors such as obesity, high blood sugar, and outdoor air pollution created a perfect storm to fuel coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths, new research shows. The lates Read More...
APA calls for immediate funding to enable aged care access to physiotherapy
Date of Posting: 14-10-2020
The Royal Commission has recommended the urgent funding of physiotherapists, and other allied health practitioners, to increase the provision of these vital services to aged care residents. Acceptance of the recommendations would immediately benef Read More...
Regrowing knee cartilage: new animal studies show promise
Last Updated: 13-10-2020
In our joints, a slippery, elastic tissue called cartilage covers the ends of the articulating bones. If this protective covering is lost through injury or ageing, it leaves bone grinding painfully against bone. Cartilage injuries are very c Read More...
New imaging technique to help sufferers of osteoarthritis
Date of Posting: 13-10-2020
New university research is using a new imaging technique to help sufferers of osteoarthritis. Australian researchers are using state-of-the-art imaging to find a new biomarker for osteoarthritis, which could lead to more targeted treatment and hel Read More...
CSIRO scientists have found virus survival times
Last Updated: 12-10-2020
The virus that causes COVID-19 can survive for up to 28 days on the glass on mobile phones, stainless steel and paper banknotes, CSIRO scientists have found. Australian scientists have found that the virus that causes COVID-19 can survive for up t Read More...
Pathology expert says rapid testing urgently needed
Last Updated: 09-10-2020
Rapid antigen testing must be added to Australia's current COVID-19 protocols to aid smooth economic recovery, a pathology expert says. Australia's COVID-19 economic recovery could be compromised by further waves of coronavirus without rap Read More...
Australian research shows COVID-19 vaccine works on old and new strains
Last Updated: 09-10-2020
A vaccine is equally effective against old and new strands of COVID-19, new Australian research shows, quelling fears some candidates may fall out of date. The quest for an effective COVID-19 vaccine is a step closer to reality, with Australian sc Read More...
A stronger aged care system with a focus on quality care
Date of Posting: 08-10-2020
Record investment of more than $2.7 billion will continue to drive aged care reform and ensure the needs of senior Australians are prioritised. Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians, Richard Colbeck, said the 2020-21 Budget showcased the M Read More...
'Racism pandemic' hits young multicultural Australians in Victoria
Date of Posting: 08-10-2020
Most young people in Victoria from multicultural backgrounds are experiencing the effects of a “racism pandemic” and are worried about returning to public life for fear of racial discrimination, according to people surveyed in a new study Read More...
New report shows breast cancer checks plunged as virus hit
Last Updated: 08-10-2020
There were 145,000 fewer breast cancer screenings over the first six months of 2020 than in 2018 as COVID-19 shut down a national program, a new report shows. Breast cancer detection for many Australian women may have been delayed or missed entire Read More...
A researcher reflects on progress fighting hepatitis C - and a path forward
Date of Posting: 07-10-2020
When I began my medical career in Hong Kong in the early 1980s, I chose to focus on hepatitis B, in part because it was very common and because the hepatitis C virus had not yet been discovered. I witnessed the devastation that this virus cau Read More...
COVID-19 information accessibility lacking for blind and low vision Australians
Date of Posting: 07-10-2020
A Monash University study has found that graphical information relating to the COVID-19 pandemic regularly presented in mainstream media is inaccessible to blind and low vision people (BLV). Researchers from Monash University’s Faculty of In Read More...
Study identifies behaviours that support children to develop self-control
Date of Posting: 07-10-2020
New research using New Zealand’s largest longitudinal study of child development has identified key behaviours to support pre-school children to develop self-control, a key indicator of adult wellbeing. The research, funded through the Read More...
