Charities say deaths will be prevented if ‘sponge on a string’ test is widely adopted
A test that can detect oesophageal cancer at an earlier stage than current methods should be made more widely available to prevent deaths, charities have said.
The capsule sponge test, previously known as Cytosponge, involves a patient swallowing a dissolvable pill on a string. The pill then releases a sponge which collects cells from the oesophagus as it is retrieved.
Continue reading...Advocates lament missed opportunity for reform, saying some safeguards have become barriers
Allowing doctors to start conversations with terminally ill patients about voluntary assisted dying will not be considered under a review of Victoria’s euthanasia laws – sparking criticism from advocates who say it is a missed opportunity for reform.
A five-year review of the dying laws is open for public submissions and will consider issues including access to the scheme and safeguards. Advocates say Victoria – which in 2017 became the first Australian jurisdiction to legalise VAD – is now lagging behind other jurisdictions.
Continue reading...A member of the stolen generations, the Yankunytjatjara leader was only reunited with her mother through a chance meeting 30 years later
Lowitja O’Donoghue, a Yankunytjatjara leader and activist, has died at the age of 91.
The Lowitja Institute announced her death on Sunday. A pioneering leader in Aboriginal advancement and recognition campaigns, O’Donoghue was a “formidable leader who was never afraid to listen, speak and act”, her family said.
Continue reading...Prior authorization requires permission to be sought before prescribing critical drugs, which could cost lives, doctors say
In the midst of the worst overdose epidemic in US history, addiction medicine specialists say a bureaucratic hurdle is adding to the difficulty of getting people in treatment: an insurance industry tactic called “prior authorization”.
Loathed by doctors of all stripes, prior authorization requires healthcare providers to seek permission from insurance companies before they prescribe a treatment. Doctors in addiction medicine said the requirement is both unnecessarily burdensome and could cost lives.
Continue reading...Flowers used in the ‘microbiome garden’ can enhance gut health by being eaten or just walked past
An “edible meadow” designed to improve gut health is to be displayed at the Chelsea flower show this year.
The two gardeners behind the “microbiome garden” say it will be filled with flowers that can enhance gut health by being eaten or just walked past.
Continue reading...Providers working in federal programs will be required to expedite patients’ prior authorizations for medications and/or surgery
A new set of rules from the Biden administration seeks to rein in private health insurance companies’ use of prior authorization – a byzantine practice that requires people to seek insurance company permission before obtaining medication or having a procedure.
The cost-containment strategy often delays care and forces patients, or their doctors, to navigate opaque and labyrinthine appeals.
Continue reading...Children’s parents and those who performed the procedure are in police custody, according to local reports
Police in Sierra Leone are investigating the deaths of three girls who underwent female genital mutilation (FGM).
Adamsay Sesay, 12; Salamatu Jalloh, 13; and Kadiatu Bangura, 17, died during initiation ceremonies in the country’s North West province last month, according to local reports.
Continue reading...Family of Lauren O’Neill told ‘we believe a NSW Ambulance staff member was responsible’ for leak after St Vincent’s hospital launched investigation
A New South Wales ambulance staff member is responsible for leaking an image of a shark bite victim’s injuries from inside the hospital, the state’s health department has revealed.
NSW Ambulance said in a statement on Thursday afternoon it had apologised to the family of Lauren O’Neill over the incident.
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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to ABC RN, and says news that the inflation rate has plunged to a two-year low of 4.1% is “welcoming, encouraging progress”.
… We know that people are still under pressure and we need to not be complacent about it. We need to continue to work as we have with our three point plan, having the surplus, making sure we deal with cost of living pressures without putting pressure on inflation, and dealing with … supply-chain issues as well.
With parliament resuming next week, this is a wake-up call that 2024 is the last chance for meaningful democratic reform ahead of the 2025 election …
Australians should go to the next election with strict political donation disclosure laws, truth in political advertising laws in force and information about who’s meeting ministers made public as a matter of course.
Continue reading...Medicare’s universality under threat as chronic disease, mental illness and an aging population increase out-of-pocket costs, experts say
When Dr Brian Morton became a trainee general practitioner in 1977, healthcare bills were the number one cause of personal bankruptcies in Australia.
On more than one occasion Morton provided treatment to patients who couldn’t afford to pay. “If someone turned up, you wouldn’t turn them away,” he says.
Continue reading...MSF begins vaccine drive against incurable disease, which is spread via dirty water and kills thousands of pregnant women
A push to tackle an outbreak of hepatitis E in South Sudan is being hampered by flooding that has isolated populations and turned villages into islands.
A pioneering vaccination drive has begun to protect people against a spate of cases but the true scale of the disease outbreak is unknown.
Continue reading...Nature-based solutions such as parks and ponds are recommended – as is giving heatwaves names
The UK urgently needs a plan to prevent thousands of heatwave deaths a year as the climate continues to warm, a cross-party committee of MPs has warned.
More than 4,500 people died in heatwaves in 2022, the MPs’ report said, and this number could rise to 10,000 a year by 2050 without action. Heatwaves are “silent killers”, the MPs said, pushing up heart rate and blood pressure, with those over 65 and with existing health problems most at risk.
Continue reading...National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says national early warning score should be used to assess severity of illness
People who are severely ill with suspected sepsis should promptly be given life-saving access to antibiotics to prevent unnecessary deaths, according to updated guidance from a health watchdog.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has said that the national early warning score should be used to assess people with suspected sepsis aged 16 and over, who are not and have not recently been pregnant, and are in an acute hospital setting or ambulance.
Continue reading...Increase in cardiorespiratory levels of 3% annually found to be beneficial, Swedish research suggests
Men can reduce their risk of prostate cancer by as much as 35% by doing a little more jogging, cycling or swimming, a study suggests.
Boosting cardiorespiratory fitness by only 3% over the course of a year was linked to a much lower chance of developing the disease. The findings prompted the researchers to encourage men to boost their fitness levels to help cut their prostate cancer risk.
Continue reading...Almost nine out of 10 the shops are within walking distance of schools, WA audit discovers
Vape stores are concentrated around schools and in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, Australian researchers have shown for the first time in an audit of dedicated shops in Western Australia.
The study led by researchers from the University of Notre Dame Australia and published on Wednesday in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health found almost nine out of 10 vape stores were within walking distance of schools.
Continue reading...Inquiry into invasive pest hears of risks species poses to health, agriculture and environment if it becomes endemic
Fire ants could sting 8.6 million Australians a year if they were to become endemic – but a pathogenic fungus and pesticide-loaded drones might help avert that scenario, according to submissions posed to the federal government’s fire ants inquiry.
Submissions to the Senate inquiry into red imported fire ants (Rifa) in Australia closed on Monday, just days after the latest in a string of fire ant detections beyond south-east Queensland, where an infestation of the invasive pest is ongoing.
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We’ve just spoken to St Vincent’s hospital and confirmed that the woman bitten by a shark in Sydney Harbour last night remains in hospital in a stable condition.
The woman, in her late 20s, was bitten on the right leg by a suspected bull shark in Elizabeth Bay last night.
Continue reading...CQC will conduct review into Nottinghamshire Healthcare in tandem with mental health homicide review
A troubled NHS trust that treated Valdo Calocane for paranoid schizophrenia before he killed three people in Nottingham last year is to be the subject of a special review.
Ministers said the review into Nottinghamshire Healthcare foundation trust would help provide answers to the families of Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates, who were killed by Calocane last June.
Continue reading...Piano especially associated with improved mental processes in those over 40, Exeter University research finds
Playing a musical instrument or joining a choir is linked to better memory and thinking skills in older age, research has found.
The piano was especially associated with a better brain in those over 40 in the study from Exeter University, which reviewed data from more than a thousand adults and looked at how much experience the people had in participating in music.
Continue reading...Plans to make vaping less appealing also to include restricting fruity flavours and introducing plain packaging
Ministers are to ban disposable vapes as part of a UK-wide drive to curb youth vaping.
The government is also seeking to make vaping less appealing to children by restricting sweet and fruity flavours, introducing plain packaging and making displays less visible in shops, under newly announced powers. The changes are expected to come into effect towards the end of this year or early 2025.
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