Category Archives: Health

Gel that repairs heart attack damage could improve health of millions

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Injectable, biodegradable technology developed by UK team works as a scaffold to help new tissue grow

British researchers have developed a biodegradable gel to repair damage caused by a heart attack in a breakthrough that could improve the health of millions of survivors worldwide.

There are more than 100,000 hospital admissions every year due to heart attacks in the UK alone – one every five minutes. Medical advances mean more people than ever before survive, with 1.4 million Britons alive today after experiencing a heart attack. But hearts have a very limited ability to regenerate, meaning survivors are left at risk of heart failure and other health problems.

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Minimum alcohol price ‘causes poorest to cut back on food’ in Scotland

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Some problem drinkers also reducing heating to afford rising alcohol costs, according to Public Health Scotland

Scotland’s minimum alcohol pricing policy has not encouraged problem drinkers to consume less but has prompted some to cut back on food or heating in order to afford rising costs, according to the first evaluation of its impact on those who drink alcohol at harmful levels.

The Scottish National party’s flagship policy, championed by Nicola Sturgeon when she was health minister and introduced after successive court challenges by the Scotch Whisky Association, came into force in May 2018. It introduced a legally enforced minimum price for all alcoholic drinks of 50p a unit and aimed to tackle chronic alcohol abuse by targeting low-cost, high-strength drinks.

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Polio outbreak in Pakistan worsens as eighth child reported paralysed

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Investigation launched as first cases in a year blamed on vaccine refusal fuelled by clerics and falsification of records by parents

Pakistan’s polio eradication campaign is in disarray after an alarming jump in cases last week. Eight polio cases have now been reported in children over the past month in North Waziristan district, bordering Afghanistan. They are the first cases in more than a year.

This new outbreak, officials believe, is due to parents falsely marking themselves and their children as vaccinated, and the government has launched an investigation into the outbreak.

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‘Demoralised’ nurses being ‘driven out’ of profession, RCN survey finds

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Only a quarter of shifts have the planned number of registered nurses on duty, according to Royal College of Nursing report

Only a quarter of nursing shifts have the planned number of registered nurses on duty, a survey of more than 20,000 frontline staff has suggested.

According to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), most nurses warn that staffing levels on their last shift were not sufficient to meet the needs of patients, and that some are now quitting their jobs.

The RCN said the findings shone a light on the impact of the UK’s nursing staff shortage, warning that nurses were being “driven out” of their profession.

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My Health Record: after 12 years and more than $2bn, hardly anyone is using digital service

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Research shows many Australians find medical records not uploaded and clinicians fail to see benefits of using the national online database

Twelve years after the introduction of My Health Record, Australians are struggling to access their medical information, while clinicians report frustrating difficulties uploading and finding vital health details such as pathology results and diagnostic tests.

The latest annual report from the Australian Digital Health Agency shows just 2.69 million of the 23 million people registered for a My Health Record accessed it in 2020-21. While this is an increase of 14% from the previous year, it was largely driven by people accessing Covid-19 vaccination records and Covid-19 test results.

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Sleep-deprived medical staff ‘pose same danger on roads as drunk drivers’

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British anaesthetist pleads for doctors and nurses to be allowed naps and limited night shifts, as in other critical workplaces

About half of all hospital doctors and nurses have had accidents or experienced near misses while driving home after a night shift.

The risks they pose to themselves and other road users have been calculated as the same as those posed by drivers who are over the legal alcohol limit, delegates at a European medical conference were told last week.

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Deborah James describes anger and fear over dying of bowel cancer

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Campaigner says death is ‘life’s last taboo’ and that she hopes talking about may bring comfort to others

Deborah James has said she is angry at the fact she is terminally ill, and scared of dying.

The campaigner, 40, who was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016 and has documented her experiences since on social media, revealed that in the weeks since moving to end-of-life care she keeps “shouting at people and pushing them away”.

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Albanese honours Queen amid jubilee celebrations; up to seven monkeypox cases detected; 59 Covid deaths reported – as it happened

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Prime minister renames island in Lake Burley Griffin to honour monarch’s 70 years of service to Australia. This blog is now closed

Brisbane’s new Greens MPs set their sights on the suburbs

Brisbane’s new Greens MPs talk about the moments they “flipped” voters – the driveway conversions of climate unbelievers or hostile folks who had only ever supported the major parties.

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Let doctors use MDMA to treat veterans with PTSD and depression, former ADF boss says

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Chris Barrie says he hopes common sense will prevail and the TGA will allow drug to be more readily used to treat patients

The former chief of the Australian defence force, Chris Barrie, is campaigning to remove barriers stymying doctors from using MDMA to treat veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, saying he hopes “common sense is going to prevail”.

Late last year, the Therapeutic Goods Administration decided against downgrading the classification of psilocybin or MDMA as a prohibited substance to a controlled substance, a move which would have increased patient access.

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Dismissal of women’s health problems as ‘benign’ leading to soaring NHS lists

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Exclusive: Gender bias means debilitating gynaecological conditions are played down, says RCOG president

Doctors’ routine dismissal of women’s debilitating health problems as “benign” has contributed to gynaecology waiting lists soaring by 60% to more than half a million patients, a senior health leader has said.

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) president, Dr Edward Morris, told the Guardian that waiting lists for conditions such as endometriosis, prolapse and heavy bleeding had increased by a bigger proportion than any other area of medicine in the past two years.

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Criminal acts of violence at UK GP surgeries almost double in five years

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Doctors say violence now commonplace as surgeries struggle to cope with ‘unmanageable levels of demand’

Criminal acts of violence at GP surgeries across the UK have almost doubled in five years, new figures reveal, as doctors’ leaders warn of a perfect storm of soaring demand and staff shortages.

Police are now recording an average of three violent incidents at general practices every day. Staff are facing unprecedented assaults, abuse and aggression by patients, with surgeries struggling to cope with “unmanageable levels of demand” after years of failure to recruit or retain sufficient numbers of family doctors.

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GPs tell of ‘appalling’ abuse as violence at UK surgeries worsens

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Doctors say staff ‘afraid and at risk’ of patient violence and aggression as services come under pressure

The number of violent incidents at general practices in the UK recorded by the police has almost doubled in the last five years, according to an investigation by the BMJ.

GP leaders say “appalling” assaults, harassment and other forms of abuse aimed at doctors and their staff have worsened during the pandemic, as surgeries came under growing pressure and sections of the media perpetuated the false notion that services were “closed”.

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Three jabs best for preventing Covid infections, global analysis finds

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Number of doses, not vaccine combinations, key to boosting immunity, according to largest study of its kind

Three doses of the same Covid-19 vaccine or a combination of jabs work equally well in preventing infections, according to the largest study of its kind.

While the effectiveness of individual coronavirus vaccines is well known, the evidence around combinations of jabs has been less clear, especially for particular groups such as older people and those who are immunocompromised.

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UK sperm donor with genetic condition banned from contacting children

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Judge says James MacDougall, 37, was not upfront about fragile-X syndrome and should not meet some of those he fathered

A man with an incurable genetic condition who advertised his sperm to lesbians on social media has been banned from contacting some of the children he fathered as a result.

A family court judge took the unusual step of naming James MacDougall after finding he “took advantage of these young women’s vulnerability and their strong desire to have children”.

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Shortage of diabetes medication Ozempic after TikTok users promote drug for weight loss

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TGA urges GPs to limit prescriptions to approved use for diabetes management amid surge in off-label demand

GPs are being asked to prioritise the diabetes medication Ozempic for people with the condition, after TikTok users began touting it as a weight loss treatment.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration earlier this month issued a joint statement with several medical bodies confirming a shortage of the injectable semaglutide medication, manufactured by Dutch pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, due to “unexpected increase in consumer demand”.

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PM says ministry has more women than any other in history – as it happened

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Guide Dogs Victoria CEO Karen Hayes resigns; at least 56 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed

Quotas ‘might be’ something for Liberals to consider, Sussan Ley says

Deputy leader of the Liberal party Sussan Ley followed David Littleproud.

It doesn’t need to be legislated, however those policy discussions will happen through our party room and our shadow cabinet ... Demonstrating you’re serious about climate change doesn’t just include a conversation about targets.

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Coffee drinkers may be at lower risk of early death, study suggests

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Even people who take sugar seem at lower risk, say experts, but results may be due to coffee drinkers being more affluent

People who drink coffee – whether with or without sugar – appear to have a lower risk of an early death, although experts caution the finding may not be down to the brew itself.

About 98m cups of coffee are drunk every day in the UK, according to the British Coffee Association, with the National Coffee Association revealing that in the US the figure is about 517m cups.

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Canadian Arctic tuberculosis outbreak lays bare overcrowded living conditions

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Officials in Nunavut say there are 31 cases of active tuberculosis in the hamlet of Pangnirtung, a community of 1,500

A tuberculosis outbreak in the Canadian Arctic has prompted frustration in a remote Inuit community and highlighted the persistence of an illness that has largely been wiped out in the rest of the country.

The outbreak also lays bare the dismal living conditions and overcrowding in many Arctic communities, despite Canada’s status as one of the world’s wealthiest nations.

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Australia news live updates: Pacific countries reject China’s proposed security deal; vote counting continues with Labor one seat from majority

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China confirms Pacific-wide deal with 10 nations shelved; David Littleproud elected new National party leader with Peter Dutton to lead Liberals; seats of Gilmore, Deakin and Macnamara remain in the balance; Covid booster eligibility expanded as nation records 10 Covid deaths. Follow all the day’s developments

Anthony Albanese has wasted no time attending the theatre as prime minister.

He’s also been taking the C1 plated car for a spin through Sydney’s inner west.

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‘Deficiency’ in care for Broken Hill teen who was refused patient transfer to SA

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Coroner identifies unacceptable treatment in lead-up to death from multi-organ failure due to sepsis, calls for new interstate rules

Broken Hill teenager Alex Braes’s parents remember him as a ray of sunshine, a funny and smart young man ready to live a full life.

But the 18-year-old mechanic died with “tragic suddenness”, suffering multi-organ failure due to sepsis, one month after treatment for an infected ingrown toenail.

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