Category Archives: Health

Review of gender services has major implications for mental health services

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Cass report calls for move away from mainly medical treatment as part of dramatic shift in approach to gender dysphoria

A long-awaited review by consultant paediatrician Hilary Cass into the NHS’s gender services for children calls for a dramatic shift in the type of treatment offered to children and young people with gender dysphoria.

The report proposes that instead of being offered mainly medical treatment, young people referred to NHS gender services should “receive a holistic assessment of their needs to inform an individualised care plan”, meaning that questions of gender identity should be treated alongside other possible mental health concerns.

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What are the key findings of the NHS gender identity review?

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Report by Dr Hilary Cass finds young people being let down by lack of research and evidence on medical interventions

A review into the NHS’s gender identity services has found that children and young people have been let down by a lack of research and evidence on medical interventions in a debate that has become exceptionally toxic.

Dr Hilary Cass said her report was not about defining “what it means to be trans” or “undermining the validity of trans identities”, but about “how best to help the growing number of children and young people who are looking for support from the NHS in relation to their gender identity”. Here are the review’s key findings.

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Lower-income US women more likely to miss key breast cancer test, study finds

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Isolation and lack of health insurance also correlate to reduced mammogram rates for breast cancer

Women who are low-income, socially isolated and lack health insurance are far less likely to be up-to-date on mammograms, a breast cancer screening tool experts said is critical to reducing breast cancer deaths, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer to afflict American women, and kills an estimated 40,000 Americans each year. Cancer overall kills 605,000 Americans a year and is the second-leading cause of death, a toll the Biden administration aims to reduce through a Cancer Moonshot initiative.

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Gun crime survivors create scheme to stop violent partners owning firearms

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Some police in England and Wales now ask spouses to flag dangerous traits or mental health problems

Survivors of gun crime committed by violent and coercive partners have worked with police to create a groundbreaking scheme designed to stop more dangerous offenders being allowed licensed firearms.

The women have helped police frame a questionnaire that firearms officers put to the partners of people wanting a licence that will flag up issues such as a propensity to violence or mental health problems.

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Australia among hotspots for toxic ‘forever chemicals’, study of PFAS levels finds

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Australian limits on acceptable levels of these toxic chemicals in drinking water ‘orders of magnitude’ higher than in US

High levels of so-called forever chemicals have been found in surface and groundwater all over the world, with Australia one of several hotspots for toxic PFAS, a University of New South Wales study has found.

Researchers examined groundwater samples from around the world and found 69% had per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at levels above Canada’s safe drinking water criteria and 32% had levels higher than the US proposed drinking water hazard index.

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Touch can reduce pain, depression and anxiety, say researchers

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More consensual touch helps ease or buffer against mental and physical complaints, meta-analysis shows

Whether it is a hug from a friend or the caress of a weighted blanket, the sensation of touch appears to bring benefits for the body and mind, researchers say.

The sense of touch is the first to develop in babies and is crucial in allowing us to experience the environment around us as well as communicate. Indeed, the loss of touch from others during the Covid pandemic hit many hard.

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Quitting smoking could redirect £11bn a year into local economies, study says

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Money spent on tobacco products in England ‘could instead be spent in shops, on entertainment or other services’, author adds

Almost £11bn a year could be spent in England’s communities from money saved on tobacco products if people quit smoking, according to a study.

Published in the journal Tobacco Control and written by academics at the University of Sheffield, the study looked at how much people spent on cigarettes and other tobacco a year, and analysed how this money could be spent in cities and towns instead.

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NHS testing initiative to eliminate hepatitis C in England by 2025

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Liver scanning and portable testing units to be rolled out in communities where people may be at a higher risk

Thousands of people who are unknowingly living with hepatitis C in England could be identified and treated due to an expanded NHS testing initiative.

The initiative includes new liver scanning and portable testing units to be rolled out in communities where people may be at a higher risk of contracting the infection.

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Labour reveals plan to digitise NHS personal child health records

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Parents and NHS would be able to monitor vaccinations and checkups through digital version of ‘red book’

Labour plans to digitise the NHS “red book” that parents use for their children’s medical records as part of a series of changes to the NHS app.

Parents and the NHS would be able to see if children are behind on jabs or checkups through a new digital record, with automatic notifications to prompt them to book appointments under the party’s plans.

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Brussels ‘must copy London’s low emissions zones’ and save 900 lives a year, experts plead

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Act now on air quality in the Belgian capital, which is among the filthiest in Europe, say doctors and environmentalists

More than 100 doctors and environmentalists in Brussels have called on their politicians to follow London and Paris and take measures to improve the choking air pollution in the Belgian capital.

According to IS Global research, Brussels is ranked as the eighth worst of more than 800 European cities for nitrogen dioxide, which damages the lungs and is one of the main byproducts of internal combustion engines. The capital of the European Union is also ranked 308th out of 858 cities for PM2.5, or fine particulates, which can travel deep into the respiratory tract.

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Hundreds of thousands face being denied revolutionary new dementia drugs in England

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Exclusive: Treatments near approval but lack of diagnostic capacity means NHS unprepared for rollout, report says

Hundreds of thousands of dementia patients in England face being denied access to revolutionary new drugs because the diagnostic capacity of the NHS lags behind every other G7 country, according to a damning report.

After decades of research to find a cure for the condition projected to affect 153 million people worldwide by 2050, scientists have successfully developed the first treatments to tackle the underlying causes rather than only relieve the symptoms. Two new drugs could get the green light for use on the NHS within weeks.

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Online ads promote ‘simple’ access to super to pay for healthcare, despite strict rules

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Peak consumer body and financial services minister warn against private providers encouraging patients to tap into super to fund medical procedures

Advertisements offering patients “simple” access to their superannuation to pay for medical treatments have been described by the peak consumer health body as a “worrying trend” amid the cost-of-living crisis.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) approved 37,400 individuals to access their superannuation early on compassionate medical grounds in 2022-23, releasing a total of $730m.

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Having the right glasses could boost earning power by a third, Bangladesh study shows

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Researchers find that in low and middle-income countries owning spectacles can help people over 35 increase their income

Owning a pair of reading glasses might help people increase their earnings by a third, according to new research.

The study, conducted in Bangladesh, is the first to examine the impact of having a decent pair of spectacles, and researchers found monthly median earnings among one group of people increased from $35.30 to $47.10 within eight months, a rise of 33.4%.

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Queensland’s first festival pill-testing service finds ‘Canberra ketamine’ sold as MDMA

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Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival, near Warwick, held Australia’s first multi-day festival clinic last weekend

The organisers of Queensland’s first festival pill-testing service say many drugs sold as MDMA turned out to be other substances including one recently dubbed “Canberra ketamine”.

The Rabbits Eat Lettuce festival, near Warwick, held the first multi-day festival clinic in Australia on the weekend, after two patrons died at the same event in 2019.

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Youth curfew ‘not the long-term solution’, MP says – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Anthony Albanese has called a snap press conference in Canberra at 8.30am. We’ll have coverage of this for you soon.

A man has died in Melbourne’s south after being struck by a truck on a major highway near Frankston.

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Covid boosters are a gamechanger – if they are free for everyone

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Only private jabs are available to most, but annual shots could reduce healthcare costs and prevent deaths

Private Covid boosters are available for people who do not qualify to receive these vaccines on the NHS. But is it worth paying for a shot?

With most people now having been exposed to Sars-CoV-2 through previous vaccination and/or infection, our immune systems are generally well equipped to recognise and kill the virus if we become infected.

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Melbourne private school Kilvington grammar charged over death of student after Vietnam excursion

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Worksafe also charged World Travel Expeditions after Lachlan Cook, 16, died in hospital following health complications

A travel company and a Melbourne private school have been charged over the death of a student who became unwell on a school trip.

The Kilvington grammar school student, Lachlan Cook, 16, suffered diabetes complications during a trip to Vietnam in September 2019 and later died in hospital in Melbourne.

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‘Not a normal war’: doctors say children have been targeted by Israeli snipers in Gaza

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IDF says it ‘completely rejects’ charge that its soldiers deliberately fired on any of the thousands of civilians killed in Israeli offensive

Dr Fozia Alvi was making her rounds of the intensive care unit on her final day at the battered European public hospital in southern Gaza when she stopped next to two young arrivals with facial injuries and breathing tubes in their windpipes.

“I asked the nurse, what’s the history? She said that they were brought in a couple of hours ago. They had sniper shots to the brain. They were seven or eight years old,” she said.

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Ten lawyers tell court Lehrmann may have leaked confidential material to Spotlight program – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Aviation firefighters will walk off the job amid revelations many of the nation’s airports are ill-equipped to handle emergencies, AAP reports.

Leaked risk assessments carried out by Airservices Australia reveal travellers at 13 airports including Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide airports, were found to be at extreme risk if there was a fire or aircraft incident because of a lack of firefighting resources.

These leaked documents confirm that Australia’s air travellers face a dire risk every time they set foot on an aircraft in Australia.

Clearly, this significant and ongoing risk to all Australian air travellers is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue.

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Worried about a bump on your date’s penis? There’s an app for that – but not everyone is convinced

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Company behind app says no personal information is collected but experts warn of ‘how easily’ data can be hacked

Yudara Kularathne came up with the idea for an AI-driven app when a friend was worried about a bump on their penis.

Kularathne was then a consultant physician in Singapore in 2019, but he saw the potential for an app that could instantly identify a suspected sexually transmitted infection from a photo of male genitalia.

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