Category: Medical

Medical reporting

‘I’m as baffled as the next ovary-owner’: navigating the science of treating menopause

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From the Guardian, 1 April 2024: There’s a meme featuring a confident, suave, smiling Henry Cavill – the actor best known for playing Superman – posing for photographers on the red carpet. Sneaking up behind him is wild-looking, maniacally gleeful co-star Jason Momoa. To me, this is the perfect metaphor for perimenopause. Cavill is at … Continue reading ‘I’m as baffled as the next ovary-owner’: navigating the science of treating menopause

Smoking rates in Australia drop below 10%, but vaping increases

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From the BMJ, 5 March 2024: Fewer than one in 10 Australians now smoke tobacco daily, although rates of vaping in teenagers and young adults have almost tripled in five years, a survey of more than 21 000 people has found. Research by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in people aged 14 and over … Continue reading Smoking rates in Australia drop below 10%, but vaping increases

The genetic revolution transforming kidney disease

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From Nature, 8 March 2023: Andrew Mallett was training to be a kidney specialist at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in Australia in 2011 when he met an 18-year-old man whose kidneys were on the verge of collapse. Struck by how unusual this condition was in an otherwise fit, healthy young person, Mallett asked … Continue reading The genetic revolution transforming kidney disease

What happens to your body during extreme heat?

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From The Guardian, 26 January 2024: Last year was the hottest year in recorded history. Global average temperatures over 2023 nudged towards 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, and for two days in November, they reached 2C above those levels. With a hotter planet come more intense – and therefore more deadly – heatwaves. Extreme heat is already … Continue reading What happens to your body during extreme heat?

Big brain boost? What science says about the power of nootropics to enhance our minds

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From The Guardian, 4 February 2024: The comedian and actor Hannah Gadsby quipped in her hit show Nanette that she identified as [pause for dramatic effect] “tired”. In a monologue that resonated with many hard truths, that one particularly struck home for me. The common refrain is so many of us are exhausted, have trouble … Continue reading Big brain boost? What science says about the power of nootropics to enhance our minds

Australian Indigenous genomes are highly diverse and unlike those anywhere else

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From Nature, 13 December 2023: Australian Indigenous communities from different regions in the north and centre of the country are some of the most genetically distinct people on the planet, according to a pair of studies published in Nature today. Indigenous Australian communities have the highest rate of genetic variation outside people in Africa. Hundreds … Continue reading Australian Indigenous genomes are highly diverse and unlike those anywhere else

The fight against antimicrobial resistance

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From Nature, 13 December 2023: Faced with a skyrocketing rate of antimicrobial resistance, which is estimated to cause or contribute to millions of deaths around the world each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2017 created a classification system for antimicrobial drugs. The WHO’s system, AWaRe, places all available antimicrobials into three categories: access, … Continue reading The fight against antimicrobial resistance

Australia bans engineered stone because of silicosis risk

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From the BMJ, 16 December 2023: Australia has become the first country to ban engineered stone, a popular material for kitchen and bathroom benchtops, after documenting hundreds of cases of silicosis in workers in the industry who were exposed to dust from cutting the product. Work health and safety ministers approved a ban on the … Continue reading Australia bans engineered stone because of silicosis risk

Does cancer screening really not save lives?

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From The Medical Republic, 30 October 2023: “Current evidence does not substantiate the claim that common cancer screening tests save lives.” As scientific mic drops go, it’s a doozy. The Australian government alone spends more than $400 million a year on screening programs for just three cancers – breast, bowel and cervical – and is … Continue reading Does cancer screening really not save lives?

The science on Covid boosters

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From The Saturday Paper, 4 September 2023: On May 5 this year, World Health Organization director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the pandemic emergency downgraded from an acute global disaster into a more chronic, long-term affliction. Covid-19 became another in the long line of deadly pathogens that have seared their way into history, then faded … Continue reading The science on Covid boosters