freelance science journalist and author
Medical reporting
From Monash magazine, October 2014: Giving someone the wrong blood in a transfusion causes the body to go into anaphylactic shock as the immune system is effectively forced to attack itself. Determining a patient’s blood type traditionally requires complex and expensive laboratory equipment, careful refrigeration of antibody reagents and a university degree in pathology. It … Continue reading Blood lines spelled out
From Monash magazine, October 2014: One of the big challenges facing health officials trying to supply, and use, vaccines in remote regions where refrigeration is either limited, unreliable or non-existent is that vital vaccines are sensitive to hot conditions. Too often vaccines fail to provide the necessary immune protection because the refrigerated supply chain that … Continue reading Cool cubes
From ABC Health and Wellbeing, 27 October 2014: With the recent political debate around medical cannabis trials, you could be forgiven for thinking that the notion was something altogether new. In fact, cannabis has been used medicinally for thousands of years in India and Asia. It was introduced to western medicine in the mid-nineteenth century … Continue reading Why some doctors are in favour of medical cannabis
From ABC News in Science, 23 October 2014: People handling shopping receipts on a regular basis may want to avoid using hand sanitiser. New research suggests the combination can increase absorption of the hormone-mimicking chemical BPA. The study found that bisphenol A — or BPA — on shopping receipts printed on thermal paper was easily … Continue reading Hand sanitisers boost BPA absorption from receipts
From ABC Health, 18 September 2014: For a condition as complex, poorly understood and stigmatised as depression, it should come as no surprise that one of the major treatments – antidepressants – suffers the same problems. Those who are most likely to benefit are often reluctant to take antidepressants, while those less likely to benefit … Continue reading Are antidepressants overprescribed?
From ABC News in Science, 11 September 2014: The ultimate guide to pain-free sexual positions for men with lower back pain has been developed by Canadian researchers using motion-capture technology. A lack of evidence-based guidelines on how to avoid triggering back pain during sex prompted the research, says co-author Professor Stuart McGill, professor of spine … Continue reading Best sexual positions for a bad back
From Nature Outlook, 11 September 2014: The immune system has evolved over millions of years to protect the human body against microbes, pathogens and parasites. Which makes it all the more puzzling to immunologists as to why, when it comes to helping the body defend itself against cancer, immunotherapy treatments designed to enhance the immune … Continue reading Lung cancer immunotherapy: chemical tricks
From ABC News in Science, 18 August 2014: The discovery of a link between Alzheimer’s disease and changes in several genes associated with inflammation opens a new frontier for investigation into the cause of the disease. Two independent studies, published today in Nature Neuroscience, support an emerging theory that inflammation may play a key role … Continue reading Genes point to immune role in Alzheimer’s disease
From ABC Health and Wellbeing, 7 August 2014: Picture someone having a heart attack, and most likely, the image you see is of an older man, clutching his chest and wincing. What you’re less likely to picture is a younger woman, maybe in her forties, with some shortness of breath, struggling with fatigue, complaining about … Continue reading Heart disease: not just a man’s problem
From Family Practice News, July 30 2014: Acetaminophen taken regularly or as required was no better than placebo in improving time to recovery in patients with acute low back pain, Australian research shows. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-dummy study in 1,643 patients presenting with acute low back pain found the median time to recovery was 17 days, … Continue reading Acetaminophen no better than placebo for acute low back pain
Bianca Nogrady 