Health Report

In health news this week it's cows with bird flu, vaccines for human flu, and GLP-1s for Parkinson's and possibly bowel cancer prevention.When your private health insurer won't pay, have you read the fine print on your policy lately?A look at health literacy barriers, when it's not the apple a day keeping some people away from the doctors' office.How mRNA technology developed during COVID is now being used to target the proteins that cause Alzheimer's and dementia.And new technology allowing researchers to look beyond standard autopsy results to investigate possible causes of some cases of SIDS.

How changes to codeine access impacted the use of PBS-listed opiods. Pinpointing particular strains of bacteria that could lead to bowel cancer. The Australian research that helped change our definition of anaemia. And why aren't there already strict guidelines on indoor air quality?

Three recent scientific papers looking at ADHD treatment and other health outcomes.Why no one knows what your cancer treatment will do to your ovaries.In a small US study, brain cancer tumours shrank rapidly in the first few days when treated with chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, T cells injected into the fluid around the brain.And suicidal thoughts are more common than researchers expected in people who do not fit with conventional diagnoses of depression or other psychiatric disorders.

Queensland's Chief Health Officer says the term "long-COVID" should be scrapped, but there are different definitions of what long-COVID is and different ways data is collectedEvidence suggests toddler or transition milks are unnecessary at best and harmful at worst.Numbers of alcohol related deaths may have been under reported because past abuse isn't captured when a reformed-drinker dies.

A 62-year-old man in Germany—called HIM—deliberately received the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination 217 times within a period of 29 months. Researchers were keen to know how he fared.Sleep has become a bit of an obsession and has us questioning just how much we need. A large study has compared participants' duration of sleep against their risk of Type 2 Diabetes.In pop culture and news coverage menopause and mood changes seem inextricably linked. A special series on menopause has just been published in the Lancet, with one paper specifically on mental health.In hospital emergency rooms emotions can run high, and tempers can get frazzled, which is confronting for both staff and other patients.

The podcast delves into the impact of exercise on mood, challenges of accessing skin cancer services in remote areas of Queensland, and the comprehensive research on Sarcoidosis. It also discusses the controversy surrounding abortion pill studies and the difficulties in diagnosing and treating rare diseases like psycho-dosis.

When COVID vaccines first became available in 2021, they were met with celebration. Finally we had some defence against this virus that had struck down so many and triggered such heavy lockdowns.But once they started rolling out en masse, a new concern emerged – reports of side effects that, while rare, could be severe. Just how rare these conditions are has now been better described by a new paper drawing on data from 99 million people from across the world. The answer – as we already suspected, there is a link between the vaccines here in Australia and conditions like heart inflammation, blood clots and a usually temporary paralysis called Guillian-Barre syndrome, among others.But the data also show the risk of those conditions is small in comparison to the risk of the same conditions in someone who actually catches COVID. References:COVID-19 vaccines and adverse events of special interest: A multinational Global Vaccine Data Network (GVDN) cohort study of 99 million vaccinated individuals

News this week is The Government response to the long COVID inquiry, which looked into how many Australians are living with long COVID and what could be done to support them.And, a report on fine particulates in the air, and their relationship with coronary heart disease.A study has tested whether showing people actual pictures of the plaque inside their arteries is more persuasive than a simple risk score in promoting healthy changes. Turns out, it is.A senior cardiologist calls it The Hidden Killer, and it may contribute to about 50% of heart attacks, especially people who may be younger and with relatively normal cholesterol levels. It’s called Lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a).New data is showing that, for children, any contact with the criminal justice system means they’re more likely to die earlier, and have health problems of every kind. Are kids already at risk more likely to be targeted by the system—what would change this trend?

The podcast discusses insomnia therapy, sun exposure for diverse populations, low-carb diets, dangers of high sodium foods, hepatitis rise in kids globally, and the idea of doctors prescribing activities for well-being.

A groundbreaking study from the Queensland Brain Institute has found serious deficiencies in the amount and quality of food provided to kids by Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services. This can compromise kids' nutritional needs, and brain development.Getting a diagnosis for autism for a child or adolescent is a series of complicated and often expensive hoops to jump through—and it’s even harder for adults.