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Robyn Riley is the medical editor for the Herald Sun. She is an award-winning journalist and an author who has been covering the medical and health round for more than three decades, with a particular interest in research. Join the Herald Sun’s Health & Medical Facebook group to be the first to hear about the medical breakthroughs you need to know about at www.facebook.com/groups/heraldsunhealth

@rileyrobyn08

Robyn Riley

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Victoria

Generic stock image of a patient in a hospital bed. Picture: Getty

Vital signs of 58 patients, babies not checked before deaths

The vital signs of 58 patients across the country – including tiny babies – were not properly checked or responded to by nurses before their deaths, with an expert now questioning why.

ExclusiveVictoria

How Covid will inspire breast cancer mission

The unique collaboration that led to the development of Covid vaccines could be the blueprint for breast cancer researchers in their bold bid to eradicate deaths from the disease.

Victoria

(FILES) In this file photo taken on October 09, 2017, a patient is pictured before a mammography at the Paoli-Calmette institute, a fight against cancer regional centre. All women should get mammogram screening for breast cancer starting from age 40, rather than 50, an influential US health body announced May 9, 2023, a move it said could save thousands of lives. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer death for women in the United States, killing around 42,000 women and 500 men, according to official data. Black women are 40 percent more likely to die than white women. (Photo by ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP)

Shock number of Victorians missing vital cancer screenings

A frightening number of Victorians are skipping crucial screenings for three of the most common cancers — and figures reveal the postcodes where people are missing out.

Victoria

Teenager Nathan Fernandes , Mum Queen FernandoÃs and Dr Nelson Low. Nathan Fernandes collapsed in pain and spent the next 18 months housebound, barely able to walk and certainly not able to play soccer - he was a champion athlete.Mum Queenie took him to multiple doctors and specialists but no one could tell Nathan what was wrong and what was causing his excruciating calf pain. Queenie turned detective and worked in collaboration with Monash Children's Health Head of Paediatric Plastic Surgery Dr Nelson Low to discover that Nathan, now 16 and in Year 11, had a rare conditio n where the tibial nerve was compressed in his calf. Picture by Wayne Taylor 22nd February 2024

Mum turns detective to help find cure for son’s mystery illness

When her son collapsed on the soccer field and couldn’t walk for 18 months, a desperate Ferntree Gully mum took matters into her own hands to solve the medical mystery.

ExclusiveHealth

Closeup of young Asian athletic woman preparing protein shake at home. Diet and healthy food concept.

Clueless influencers dishing out dodgy health advice

Unqualified influencers are dishing up diet and nutrition advice on Instagram that could have seriously detrimental effects on health — and experts are warning followers to beware.

Victoria

Generic photo illustrating research scientist

New way to heal your liver

Six million Australians suffer from chronic liver disease, but a new tool could make reversing the damage easier for those with the chronic disease.

Victoria

RAMSGATE, UNITED KINGDOM - DECEMBER 16: Medical staff and volunteers prepare shots of the Moderna vaccine at an NHS Covid-19 vaccination centre on December 16, 2021 near Ramsgate, United Kingdom. The Government is pushing the booster jab program as the country recorded its highest number of daily infections since the pandemic began. England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has warned that more Covid records will be broken as the Omicron variant spreads further. (Photo by Leon Neal - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Cancer treatment ‘game changer’ discovered by Melb scientists

A team from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre has helped find a key to unlocking the next generation of cancer therapeutics.

Victoria

Bullied children are becoming anxious adults

A landmark new study has revealed that bullied children are more likely to develop trust and mental health problems later in life.

Victoria

A digital image of the natural killer cell attacking an ovarian cancer tumour. Image: Supplied

How baby cord blood could treat Australia’s deadliest female cancer

The first human trials of a groundbreaking treatment for ovarian cancer – which was developed in Victoria – are set to begin early next year using a unique cell therapy drug.

ExclusiveVictoria

Traces of meth in 32 baby deaths in Victoria

Thirty two Victorian babies under the age of one had traces of methamphetamines in their system before they died, with the cause of death “unknown” in many of those cases.

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/journalists/robyn-riley/page/21