Health + Medicine – Research and News


Pancreatic cancer is really four separate cancers: study

Around 200 stillbirths could be prevented in Australia every year in the last three months of pregnancy. { pranav }/Flickr

More than 20,000 stillbirths worldwide are avoidable

Around 20,000 late-pregnancy stillbirths could have been avoided globally in 2015, according to research published in the Lancet medical journal today.
The decision is a win for 69-year-old Queensland breast cancer survivor Yvonne D'Arcy. Dan Peled/AAP

High Court rules breast cancer gene cannot be patented

Australia's highest court has ruled a gene mutation linked to cancer cannot be patented, ending a long battle over whether companies can own the rights to genetic material.
New data shows many Australians aren’t seeing their doctors because it costs too much. from

Cost of doctor visits putting off rural Australians: report

In some parts of Australia, patients are twice to three times more likely to avoid seeing their GP because they can't afford it, according to figures released today.

Patients paying more for health care as government tightens belt

The reservoirs of dormant HIV have been the main barrier to a cure. anaxila/Flickr

Cancer drug promises to break down barrier to HIV cure

Researchers have found a promising way of kicking the AIDS virus out of its hiding place in infected cells, potentially removing the main obstacle to curing HIV.
The hormone irisin is one of the things that makes exercise good for us. will ockenden/Flickr

The verdict is in: feel-good exercise hormone irisin is real

Scientists in the US have found that a feel-good exercise hormone called irisin does indeed exist in humans, putting to bed long-disputed claims that it is a myth.
Overall cancer deaths continue to fall, but some cancers are being left behind. woman with cancer, from

Promising prognosis as cancer deaths continue to fall

Vasopressin may be used to treat social deficits in children with autism. kids with ball, from

Autistic kids low on vital social hormone, study suggests

Increasing autistic children's levels of vasopressin, a hormone that regulates social behaviour, could help treat the social deficits common to autism, research suggests.

Depression damages parts of the brain, research concludes

Vaccinations for children and other health services were suspended during the Ebola epidemic. USAID/Flickr

Ebola to blame for more malaria deaths in west Africa

Ebola has been blamed for a surge in untreated malaria cases in west Africa that could have led to an excess numbers of deaths from malaria, greater than the total caused by the Ebola virus.

Federal Budget 2015: health experts react


Health experts find no evidence homeopathy works, again


Flawed study overstates link between fluoride and ill health: experts
