Floods drive hospital crowding, study finds
In the wake of Cyclone Alfred, a study has found diseases and health conditions drive far higher rates of hospitalisation for up to seven months after a disaster.
Medical
Are you lying to your doctor?
Are doctors and patients losing trust with each other? And how far is advice from social media influencers reaching into the consultation room?
Weight-loss drugs could cut risk of dementia, research suggests
Semaglutide, which is sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, was associated with a decreased risk of dementia, according to new research.
Flying doctor service without the doctor
It’s sleek, red, and will soon be sailing through the sky with the end goal of delivering faster healthcare across outback Australia.
‘It’s not too late to negotiate’: minister’s plea to doctors
The Minns government has pleaded for doctors to step back from threatened strikes exposing the fault lines through NSW’s public hospital system and its chronic workforce shortages.
ALP can’t handle the tooth, says Bandt
Dentists appeal for gradual reform away from Medicare as Labor manoeuvres towards a soft stance on universal dental care access and the Greens turn up the pressure.
Dental in Medicare? Time to put our money where our mouth is
While both major parties have pledged billions more in funding for Medicare, oral care may again be overlooked. Here are some of the reasons to count teeth in.
Critical condition: AMA website clocks hospital emergency wait times across nation
The AMA has launched a website tracking and rating real-time hospital wait times, saying the findings are grim and show patients are languishing as they wait for care
Think you’re allergic to antibiotics? There’s a new app to check
Victorian hospitals are rallying behind a new diagnostic study that looks to take antibiotic allergy testing from surgical tables to smartphones.
Ozempic for heart disease? Doctors think it’s worth considering
The Heart Foundation says Australia can no longer overlook the role of obesity in cardiovascular disease and wants to form a national taskforce to improve patient outcomes and consider if GLP-1 drugs could help.
Doctors threaten to walk off the job for the first time in decades
Thousands of burnt-out NSW doctors say they will strike for three days next week in a move that will significantly impact non-urgent care and defy a court order.
If vaccines don’t cause autism, what does?
The risk of autism develops even before we are born. But the origins of the disorder are still not well understood.
Kicked, punched, spat on: violence against emergency staff increasing
Almost all hospital emergency department staff have experienced violence at the hands of alcohol-affected patients, a survey by Monash University finds.
‘What has happened?’: Heart surgery patients risk depression from bypass machines
For heart surgery patients, the risk doesn’t end after going under the knife, with a new drug trial aiming to reduce cognitive problems and kidney injuries caused by heart-lung machines.
Needle or knife: what to consider about long-term weight loss solutions
Obesity is so common that tens of thousands of Australians every year will choose between surgery or weight-loss drugs in the hope of a long-term solution. Here’s what a doctor says you should know.
‘Is that illegal?’ Calls for greater clarity over cosmetic injectables
‘It just started feeling really, really, unsafe’: calls for nationally recognised minimum training standards to be applied to those practising cosmetic injectables.
Packer’s treatment better than the rest
Anthony Albanese kickstarted the election campaign lauding our public hospitals for treating billionaires like Kerry Packer the same as everyone else, including himself. We run the ruler over his claim.
‘Benji says I am 80 per cent easier to live with since I started OCD therapy’
The footballer’s wife turned spiritual guru, Zoe Marshall reveals the crippling details of her disorder, how she can now kiss her kids on the lips, her ‘love’ for a controversial herbalist, and why the Marshalls sleep in different rooms.
Day Zero: leadership lessons from a mum’s unimaginable loss
Business executive Michelle Japp was excited about her pregnancy as were her colleagues, and a hospital check-up was so routine that she was dressed for work. Then her world unravelled.
Why more men are getting throat cancer like Michael Douglas
It’s more than a decade since the Hollywood star blamed oral sex for his illness. Here’s how the human papillomavirus became a male problem.
That caring, knowledgeable nurse? She’s AI
Australia has been slower to take up AI tools in healthcare. But with an ageing population and a health workforce under pressure, doctors are seeing the benefits of artificial intelligence.
‘It’s not reflux, you’re having a heart attack’
Women often deny the heart attack signs and decide they’ve got indigestion or some other minor disorder instead of seeking treatment.
The ‘living library’ of diseases could prevent the next Covid
Porton Down, the government’s top-secret science and technology campus, is home to what may be the world’s deadliest freezer.
The vitamins king who changed his life
Frank Caruso is the embodiment of a commitment to good health. The vitamins king changed his life in his 20s and still out-trains younger gym-goers every morning.
Expert guide to home health tests: how useful are they?
Australians can now do at-home tests for everything from menopause to sexually transmitted diseases. But which DIY kits can you rely on?
New drug could stop slide into early dementia
Study focused on small group of people who had inherited genetic mutations that meant they were likely to develop Alzheimer’s in their 30s to 50s.
Labor’s pre-poll health top-up: Cheap meds and a very sick budget
Anthony Albanese will lower the cost of medicines to no more than $25 in an election-eve play for millions of votes, as the government lifts its cheaper medicines funding to almost $10bn since 2022.
US big pharma targets our PBS
The government is vowing to slash the price of medicines if it wins the election, but in the meantime, big pharma in the US has set its sights on reining in Australia’s pharmaceuticals subsidies.
Taxpayers spent $24m to compare 70 doctors’ fees. Why burn another $7m?
A re-elected Labor government will commit $7m to the flawed website Medical Costs Finder, a $24m venture supported by only 70 of 11,000 specialists.
Contraceptives, IVF bankrolled ahead of election
Women will have access to cheaper birth control, IVF and endometriosis treatments by May, with new entries to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/health/medical