freelance science journalist and author
From The Australian, 12 April 2008:SUPERMAN was one of the relatively lucky ones. The fall from a horse that crushed actor Christopher Reeve’s spinal cord may have robbed him of his ability to walk, move or even breathe without help, but he still had money, and he had support.Unlike so many people incapacitated by spinal … Continue reading Spinal research steps ahead for cure
From Heckler column, Sydney Morning Herald, 21 March 2006:“Hello, madam, my name is Rashid. How may I help you today?”And there, the soft voice with a pleasant lilt to it, full of willingness and unfailingly polite, is my demon. On the other side of the world, stuck in a room full of others like him, … Continue reading So friendly, but practically useless
From Swinburne Magazine, March 2008:It took a Hong Kong fortune cookie to help web entrepreneur Domenic Carosa understand the path to business success. “It said ‘a jack of all trades and a master of none’,” recalls Domenic, 33, one of Australia’s top young entrepreneurs.“I was insulted,” he quips lightly, but adds that a couple of … Continue reading ‘Jack of all trades’ becomes media master
From Australian Doctor, 29 February 2008:Dodgy music, out-of-date information and unanswered phones are all ways to aggravate your patients when they call — but it doesn’t have to be like that.HELL is hold music that is a tinny, expressionless facsimile of a once-beloved tune, mangled beyond belief and painful to listen to. Unfortunately, this musical … Continue reading Hanging on the telephone
From The Australian, 23 February 2008:Awareness that Australia has a drinking problem has reached the highest levels of government, writes Bianca Nogrady.ANDREW didn’t think his friends had a drinking problem. That is, until a few drink-driving offences landed him in the Odyssey House drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. Now Andrew sees alcohol a little differently.“I … Continue reading Alcohol abuse eclipsing heroin
From Kiwi FM, 1 November 2007:Talking with Wammo about the latest in New Scientist magazine, including elephants on LSD and why herpes is bad for the ageing brain. Listen here.
From Australian Doctor, 21 January 2008:BMJ Aspirin resistance, thought to affect up to one-third of patients, is associated with significantly increased cardiovascular morbidity, a comprehensive meta-analysis suggests.The research, which analysed 20 studies including 2930 patients with cardiovascular disease, found aspirin-resistant patients had an almost sixfold increase in risk of death, were almost four times more … Continue reading Major cardiac risk in aspirin-resistant patients
From FISH, September 2007:An unexpected discovery by researchers from the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute is opening the door to new diagnostic techniques, treatments and vaccines that could substantially reduce the impact of amoebic gill disease in Tasmania and around the world. Read more.
From Pathway, the magazine of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, Summer 2007:You’re mowing the lawn on a fine Sunday morning, when suddenly an invisible band wraps around your chest, squeezing tightly and painfully until you can hardly breathe. This is what patients with angina pectoris fear: the ‘elephant sitting on my chest’ sensation … Continue reading Magic bullet theory
From Scientific American, December 2007: HIV is devastating because it attacks and destroys the body’s defense system against pathogens, leaving patients fatally exposed. So what would possess scientists to treat HIV-positive patients with drugs that suppress the immune system? Such therapy may in fact offer a new approach in the battle against AIDS. An unexpected … Continue reading T cell turnoff
Bianca Nogrady 