It's been noticed that there's a peak for asthma hospitalisations, visits to the doctor, and emergency presentations in February, about the time that school goes back. The asthma needs to be brought under proper medical control.

The addictive painkiller fentanyl has swept through the USA—but its effects haven’t been as big in Australia. Why? It’s not necessarily something we’ve done right. Global drug trends could see that change so now is the time to introduce health measures.

We know that vaccination against COVID-19 can save lives. We also know that it reduces the risk of severe disease that require hospital visits. But by how much?

An early form of breast cancer—ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)—is often found by women themselves, not as part of screening programs.

The power and potential pitfalls of AI in medicine have been the topic for much debate, but one field where it’s already having an impact is radiology.

We all see the world differently, but a percentage of us have sensory superpowers. Welcome to the world of Synaesthesia where you can taste colours and feel sounds.

Last year there was a Senate report into the state of dental care in Australia, and like a visit to the dentist—it wasn’t a fun read.

Opioids are commonly prescribed to patients who have cancer to help them with pain, but the drugs are not risk free and can have their downsides.A new review has found that sometimes strong opioid pain relief for cancer doesn’t work, and worse, sometimes aspirin or a placebo could be more effective.

The drug name semaglutide has become a popular substance to solve all our ills. But it’s not just semaglutide, there’s a class of drugs called GLP-1 agonists which have been used for weight loss, as well as an actual medication.

Back pain affects so many people – but doctors find that while some people recover quickly, other continue to suffer in silence and agony. So what can be done to help? A new review hopes to fill in some of the gaps.

Back pain affects so many peoplebut doctors find that while some people recover quickly, other continue to suffer in silence and agony. So what can be done to help? A new review hopes to fill in some of the gaps.

It's well time for the team to update folks on COVID rates in Australia, vaccinations, and what's next. Over the Christmas holiday there was a definite spike in COVID, and seems to be the JN.1 variant that's dominating.

It wasn't just you - the Christmas holiday brought a definite spike in COVID.And it's the JN.1 variant that's dominating.With a new subvariant brings a whole bunch of questions: does it cause more severe disease and do our vaccinations still work? 

There are many infections preventable with a vaccine, but polio still exists, and Australia has imported measles. The latest immunisation report from the National Centre For Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) suggests that vaccination in children is decreasing.

It's the term used for all kinds of chance, accidental findings that turn up on scans. They might be useful and informative—but not always because any intervention to follow them up may cause additional harm.

The shock of a cancer diagnosis is familiar for far too many people.But when Na'ama Carlin was diagnosed with breast cancer, her health wasn't the only consideration. If you're in need of support you can contact Mummy's Wish or Hope for Two.

It’s called ‘young onset’ dementia if diagnosed before the age of 65 - and can occur while people are still caring for kids and supporting a household, and it can also take time to be identified. We talk with people who have been given this news, and to researchers looking to improve diagnosis and care.

We think breastfeeding is quite natural, but it doesn’t always come easily, and some issues—such as Breastfeeding Aversion Response (or BAR)—are still under-researched. BAR can happen anytime, but  has been especially noted in women who are pregnant while still feeding an older baby.

Drug use has been increasing, whether it be cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, hallucinogens or ketamine. That includes recreational use and substance abuse.So it begs the question: Has criminalising drugs ever worked? And what needs to be done to drive down the harms associated with this increasing drug use?If you're in need of support, you can contact the National Alcohol and Other Drug hotline on 1800 250 015, or contact Counselling Online. CreditsAbigail Leeder, ReporterShelby Traynor, Producer

A new kind of ADHD clinic is cashing in on surging demand for diagnoses — and promising salaries of more than $900,000 to recruit psychiatrists.

Given the choice between a ChatGPT bot or a real doctor, a panel of health care professionals found the bot's responses were both more empathetic and gave higher quality information.

More and more people are tackling the bracing discomfort of ice bath sessions, cropping up around the country. There are several touted benefits ... but also some serious risks. Norman chills out at Bronte Beach and see what all the fuss is about.First broadcast in February 2023.

Researchers observed the cardiac and neural signals from a small number of ICU patients at the point when ventilatory support was withdrawn. The EEC and EKG monitors recorded the quite new phenomena of electrical activity in a particular area of the brain. It leads to greater speculation about what happens to the brain as we die, and the need for more investigation.First broadcast in June 2023.

Keeping up the energy to exercise isn't always easy, and can be even more difficult for people recovering from a traumatic brain injury. Their exercise plan can either set them back, or promote recovery, so Sydney's Liverpool Hospital developed a program using gaming to spur on these patients.First broadcast in September 2023.

Feeling dissatisfied with the way you look is a pretty familiar experience for most of us, but for some people the self-criticism becomes an obsession affecting quality of life and relationships. It's called body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD. It's relatively common but under-recognised.

As we head for what might be a high-salt holiday, a new study shows that most people can benefit from reducing their salt intake, to improve their blood pressure and so reduce the risk of heart attack, atrial fibrillation, stroke, dementia, and kidney damage.

A few months ago the program there was a story on an under-recognised cause of high blood pressure called primary aldosteronism. It's easy to test for but not often front of mind. It makes people very sensitive to salt, and on hearing the story, one listener asked her doctor to be tested.

An area of healthcare that might be a candidate for reform is how Australia subsidises its drugs. We could possibly consider what New Zealand's PHARMAC does, and conduct a competitive tender to supply the national market.

CAR-T cell therapy is a type of cancer immunotherapy often offered to patients when other treatments have not worked. However, the US Food and Drug Administration is investigating reports that this therapy could actually cause cancer.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly gathering speed in all sectors—including healthcare.  Australian experts believe that we need to all be on the same page, with a national plan for safe and ethical use.

If you or someone you know is living with a complex or unresolved mental health issue, it can mean a GP referral to a psychiatrist. In last week's program. A response from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists

One of the most toxic risk factors for your heart, kidneys, and brain is raised blood pressure—also known as hypertension. But many people don't know what their blood pressure is, are unaware of the risks, or don't stick to their treatment.

We know that for some health conditions women are more likely to have a worse time than men. But for the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), the chances of a woman sustaining an injury are up to 6 or even 10 times as likely as men. And the cause is probably not something to do with women's fragile bodies, or flawed biology—but cultural factors. 

When someone has a complex or severe mental health issue, the specialist they really need is a psychiatrist - if only for an opinion so that they can advise your GP or psychologist. However, GPs are finding it increasingly more difficult to track down a psychiatrist who will accept their patients.

There are eerily familiar clusters of respiratory infections being reported across China.It's understood that there's been a surge of children at children's hospitals with cases of influenza; respiratory syncytial virus—causing bronchiolitis in children; COVID-19; and the bacterial infection mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Health news this week ... includes COVID as the "eighth wave" is cresting.And drugs much discussed all year are the GLP-1 agonists, such as Ozempic—which treat diabetes, and effective for weight loss. New studies have tested them to protect against cardiovascular disease

In 2016 Australia legalised cannabis for medicinal use, and now the Greens party are advocating for its recreational use as well. They believe it would mean less people in the criminal justice system, and more tax revenue. But the Australian Medical Association say that legalising cannabis would send the wrong message. We have a lot of data from countries where cannabis is legal, so how do we best weigh it up?

Antimicrobial resistance has been described as an emerging public health emergency. A major cause is overuse of antibiotics and other drugs to combat microbes, like fungi. The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare recently released its fifth report on antimicrobial use and resistance in human health, and there are high levels of antimicrobial use in hospitals—and an emergence of resistant organisms.

When a baby is born premature time is of the essence, and the idea of slowing things down in those first few moments seems counter-intuitive. However, a pair of new studies has shown that when it comes to cutting the umbilical cord, slowing down really matters.

ADHD has become a prominent topic over the last few years, and with now thousands of people seeking an assessment. In March 2023 a senate inquiry was set up to review how those people were being helped—or not. The result is that we could be doing much better, and the Government has now three months to respond.

The ABC Birth Project was launched about a year ago. It invited people to share their experiences of birth in Australia—with the idea of highlighting which parts of the system had room to improve. And, judging by the thousands of submissions received, there's plenty of scope.

Yellow Fever—also known as Yellow Jack—was first described in the 17th Century as Europeans colonised Africa and the New World. It's spread by mosquitoes, and some U.S. researchers say that it's ripe for a comeback, especially given some aspects of climate change. Unfortunately, the same species of mosquito that spread it are already either in Australia, or our very near neighbours, like Papua New Guinea.

The latest report on what we're spending on health in Australia has offered a clear picture of what COVID has actually cost, and its overall cost to the health system. So how does Australia measure up, internationally?

The amount of sleep people need is a popular topic of debate. And then sometimes we push the boundaries anyway: going to bed late, rising early, and dozing off during the day. But for some people, dozing off in daily life can signal a rare condition called narcolepsy—a disorder of the brain's sleep-wake cycles, and it can play havoc with their lives.

In one 24-hour day-night period our body undergoes a number of carefully-timed changes. The cycle overall is called our circadian rhythm, and it's linked to not only body processes but our mental health, memory, and ability to think as well.

One question asked following COVID-19 was whether high doses of intravenous vitamin C could fight the virus. Two randomised controlled trials showed almost no benefit. Vitamin C in food is an antioxidant and reduces oxidative stress in the body, but high doses of it work differently to what's in food—becoming, instead, a pro-oxidant, speeding up oxidative stress. However, because of that, it could help the treatment effects of chemotherapy for cancer.

A day dealing with a hospital is a big one, especially when you’re giving birth, or are born. In Victoria, researchers have been watching how COVID and lockdowns affected birth there. Some adaptations have persisted, for better or worse, well past the lockdown phases—including shorter hospital stays after birth.

Blood cancers often affect people younger than the average person who develops cancer, and Australian and New Zealand haematologists have been pioneers in trialling new treatments—this year marking the 50th anniversary of the clinical trial group that coordinates studies.

Arthritis of the hands is common, painful, and a bit of a mystery. It can be due to a so-called auto-immune disorder, like rheumatoid arthritis, but that's not usually the cause, and often doctors say it's osteoarthritis. Although it doesn't behave like it and can be hard to treat. A consortium of researchers have trialled a drug commonly used for rheumatoid arthritis, and found some benefit.

Two of the most common causes of death in Australia, and globally, are stroke and dementia. And they're related. One of the causes of stroke is atrial fibrillation—an abnormal heart rhythm—it may also cause dementia. One of the ways to treat atrial fibrillation is by catheter ablation, which either freezes or cauterises the areas in the heart that are causing the abnormal rhythm. It's been noticed that atrial fibrillation reduces the risk of dementia. Catheter ablation has also been shown to reduce psychological distress—when compared with drug therapy.

Faecal microbe (or poo) transplants are something we've talked about on the program, but until recently, they haven't really been widely available. And actually, the product is created in Australia. One of the big challenges with the transplants is culturing the microbes so you don't need a donor every time you transplant.

The health system in Australia has to look after and manage many medical conditions, and do this effectively means a strong reliance on general practitioners and their communication systems. Australia is to participate in a survey of the experiences of patients in general practice who have a chronic illness.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an extreme form of anxiety caused by the laying down of bad memories when someone is caught up in a dangerous or threatening situation. PTSD is characterised by a range of symptoms, including hyper vigilance, flash backs, nightmares, flat mood, and avoidance of situations which might trigger bad feelings. Psychotherapy is effective but treatment can be lengthy and involve several sessions, so a new treatment has been developed where people with PTSD write about their experience, and their thoughts and feelings around the memory.

Having your blood pressure checked at the doctor's or hospital is one of the basics of health care. It used to be that the doctor or nurse listened for the pulse through a stethoscope as the cuff was released. Nowadays the process is automated, and a recent trial has drawn attention to a significant and possibly unexpected source or error with this automated method: the size of the cuff, relative to the thinness or thickness of your upper arm.

For people with cancer, being offered a place in a clinical trial can provide hope of a better outcome, and mean contributing to knowledge that could save other lives. But trial participants are far less likely to be from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds than the general population, and the imbalance should be corrected.

Australians will soon vote to change the Australian Constitution in order to recognise First Nations people—a vote called the Voice to Parliament. When it comes to health, there's a strong evidence base for the Voice and a few weeks ago I spoke with two key people in this field. The conversation got a big audience response, so in this week of the Referendum we've decided to replay it in a slightly edited form.  

Over the past two decades, deaths from cardiovascular disease for those with diabetes have gone down, but revealing other trends, which are important to understand when 1 in 20 Australians have type 1 or 2 diabetes. So which are becoming more obvious?

3D printing is becoming an incredibly versatile modern tool—there’s scope  in engineering, manufacturing, architecture and design—as well as in several aspects of health care. Today we tour the Herston Biofabrication Institute—part of the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital—where clinicians, academics, and industry work together in a state of the art facility.

In the hope of having you in as good a shape as possible before major surgery, many surgeons will send you for a pre-operative assessment by a physician. A huge Canadian study suggests - counter-intuitively - that it can do the opposite.

We don't want to give kids unnecessary antibiotics, but one reason for prescribing them when a child has persistent cold symptoms is that it could be a sinus infection: sinusitis. US researchers conducted a randomised trial in children with a diagnosis of sinusitis to see which kids might benefit from antimicrobial treatment.

If a child faints it's mostly what's called a 'vasovagal episode', and really only a worry when it causes an injury. But it could be an abnormality of the electrical conduction system in the heart, called congential Long QT syndrome. Kids with it are at increased risk of a life-threatening cardiac event later in life. A clue is what triggers a faint or a black out, and may help parents recognise congential long QT as a possibility and have their child checked.

Digital technology can help in rehabilitation. And what about pre-hab—which can prevent knee replacement? Some hospitals like to keep you in for rehab, but the evidence suggests you do as well if you go home soon after the surgery. A trial solution is to use digital technologies, such as exercise apps, fitness trackers and remote coaching online.

Workers on a fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) contract can suffer irregular sleep patterns due to long shifts and accommodation that's not always the most conducive for sleeping. But there's not a great deal of research on how their physical and mental health is affected.

There may be quite good reasons why people haven't had a good night's sleep—for example, if they have young children or noisy neighbours. But for another group of people, the disruption comes from their inner experiences, as happens with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The scientific field of circadian medicine is aiming to learn more about our sleep-wake cycle, and how that in turn helps maintain mental and physical health.

Mistakes made in medical diagnoses have been called the 'underwater iceberg' of healthcare. They can be hidden from view, but a large study has now measured the problem and given a better idea of what's going on.

A group of islands in the Caribbean has a population of monkeys who like to swipe tourists' drinks, and because of that they're helping researchers know more about addiction. It involves a hot new class of weight loss drugs: GLP-1 agonists, or  Semaglutide.

Keeping motivated to exercise can be difficult, but for people getting over a traumatic brain injury it's even more so. Exercise can either set them back, or promote recovery, so Sydney's Liverpool Hospital has developed a program using gaming to spur on these patients.

Held recently was probably Australia's first conference on Long COVID. It was sponsored by the Victorian Agency for Health Information and the Department of Health, who also funded a survey of people known to have had COVID, and assess the experiences and extent of those affected.

General practitioners can have a great positive effect on unhealthy behaviours when patients seek help for smoking or alcohol issues. But GPs may hesitate to approach a discussion about weight loss because of the risk of body shaming and stigma.

A worm infection can cause awful illness— the right type of worm in the right dosage may also have the potential to heal us.

Mexico has been a world leader in getting people to change unhealthy eating behaviours, and now they have implemented assertive labelling of processed foods using large octagonal warnings about excess calories, sugar, and fat if the unhealthy ingredients exceed globally agreed thresholds.

New research has been looking into—not just the risks of sitting which have already been pretty well described—but WHY it's bad

Women are being mislead by fertility tests which promote anti-Mullerian hormone—or AMH testing—which indicates how many eggs a woman has left, relative to her age. The tests are not designed for general screening in the community, and AMH levels do not say how fertile a woman is.

One of the side effects of having had babies and ageing in general is what used to be called prolapse—or uterine descent. Sometimes no treatment is necessary but there's been a debate among surgeons about which operation is best. Host: Dr Norman Swan Guest: Prof Helen O'Connell President of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand

There's a story today about a new test for ovarian cancer.  For a long time there's been a search for a way to reliably detect this cancer early on. There is no such test and in fact the diagnosis needs to be made by surgery.

Also in health news is testosterone. Some men are prescribed testosterone-replacement therapy in middle age or older, but there's questions around how safe that is for their heart attack and stroke risk. A new study has shed a bit of light on it.

Cervical screening is usually something you want to get done and then not think of again until you get an appointment reminder. But in developing a screening program one woman—Mary Papanicolaou—did a test every day, for 21 years—it's what we now call the PAP test.

When it comes to sleep most people think that they should aim for seven or eight hours a night. But it turns out that what in fact matters more is the quality of that sleep: how well maintained it is through the night.

Norman and Tegan take physical activity seriously, and elected to measure how much they each do, by donning activity monitors. It began about eight months ago, in the depths of the Tasmanian central highlands. In the coming weeks we'll get to analyse the data.

A new guideline has just been approved for doctors and women about a much misunderstood condition called Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) It has profound metabolic effects on as many as one in eight women.

There's a growing body of evidence that short bursts of vigorous exercise can have significant metabolic effects on the body, and it can decrease the risks of developing some cancers.

As part of National Science Week—this year on the theme of Sound and Noise—Tegan investigated the latest improvements in and access to cochlear implants, where the technology moves swiftly.

Australians are soon to vote on changing the Australian Constitution in order to recognise First Nations people—a vote called the Voice to Parliament. The Voice has health implications and we discuss its importance.

The remote community of Balgo in the Tanami Desert has many years of hunting for bush tucker, but the introduction of a western diet has had a had a disastrous effect on kidney health there. People must leave their Country if they want dialysis care, but things are changing.

US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell froze mid-sentence at a press conference—causing speculation about whether it was a stroke or epilepsy. It prompts the question: what should you do if you're with someone who has an episode like this? 

Metastatic cancer is the term for the spread of a cancer from a primary site to other parts of the body. There's no nationally consistent way of keeping track of how many cancer patients go on to develop metastatic cancer, and it needs more support.

The treatment for rare cancers and some tumours can be challenging but a consortium of Australian cancer researchers has announced a program—called the PrOSPect Initiative—which offers 23,000 Australians with advanced or rare cancers the chance to be genetically profiled.

Regular aerobic exercise reduces blood pressure, and resistance training prevents progression to diabetes in people at risk. But new kinds of exercise programs have emerged, and the evidence on which kinds of exercise are best for lowering blood pressure is being updated.

To assess the heart health and stroke risk factors of the population, Australian GPs and cardiologists have for a long time referred to a multi-generational study from the population of Framingham, Massachusetts—using that data in deciding on the prescription of cholesterol and blood pressure-lowering medications. But Framingham left out some key variables in risk detection in Australia and last week the Heart Foundation replaced it with a tool based on New Zealand and Australian populations.

A risk factor for heart attacks and strokes is an abnormal heart rhythm, but it's easily missed, and why extended observations are necessary with a cumbersome and expensive device called a Holter monitor. To make things easier, and maintain accuracy, a study by clinicians and researchers at Westmead Hospital and the University of Sydney has compared a simple finger electrode linked to your mobile phone against Holter monitoring.  

A process for the medical termination of pregnancy was previously only available to appropriately trained GPs. But this has changed and, from August 1, it will be open to all GPs and pharmacists who can prescribe the medication.

A common fracture in children comes from a fall onto an outstretched arm, which breaks the radius bone. Parents instinctively want to get an X-ray at the hospital, but, according to a randomised trial in Queensland and published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, an ultrasound can work just as well as an X-ray for most children.

The artificial sweetener aspartame has made news, because of findings from a branch of the World Health Organisation called the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Norman discusses WHO's involvement in food safety, and their dietary guidelines.

Treating mental illness with psychedelic drugs is being spoken about quite regularly these days.  Alongside is another promising treatment for severe depression—ketamine.

Many Australians are prescribed opioids as relief from back pain, despite risks of side effects and addition. But a world-first trial led by the University of Sydney has found that opioids don't offer significant benefit and the guidelines for their use need to be changed.

It's not uncommon for people to worry about memory loss, and the worry is not confined to an older age group. A recent study of twins from their late 30s to late 60s researched 'subjective memory'—how a person's perception of memory compared with how it performed when properly measured. The results are reassuring.

An analysis of labelling on sports foods – things like protein shakes and bars, carbohydrate gels, and pre-workout mixes – finds that the claims they make often don’t tally with the ingredient and energy panel,

Strength training is the cornerstone of most athletes' regimes, but the guidelines that underpin it are overwhelmingly based on male data. So where does this leave female athletes looking to optimise every part of their training?

It’s called ‘young onset’ dementia if diagnosed before the age of 65 - and can occur while people are still caring for kids and supporting a household, and it can also take time to be identified. We talk with people who have been given this news, and to researchers looking to improve diagnosis and care.

We think breastfeeding is quite natural, but it doesn’t always come easily, and some issues—such as Breastfeeding Aversion Response (or BAR)—are still under-researched. BAR can happen anytime, but  has been especially noted in women who are pregnant while still feeding an older baby.

A look at some of the big stories in health over the last week or so, including: - the World Health Organisation's warning about toxic cough syrup, and 9 countries where it may have been on sale; - the approval in the U.S. of gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy; - in the U.S. there's a shortage of two common chemotherapy drugs; - junk food advertising

If you've ever had an injury or a surgery you've likely been prescribed an opioid. They're an important class of drug for pain relief, but need to be managed in order to avoid dependency on them. Some new prescribing guidelines have just been developed, which recommend an exit strategy from the first point of prescribing—and the need for better support infrastructure like pain clinics, especially in rural and remote Australia. Host: Tegan Taylor Guests: Janny Wale: Consumer advocate Assoc Prof Danijela Gnjidic Charles Perkins Centre and School of Pharmacy University of Sydney

Parkinson's disease is caused by damage to groups of nerve cells in the brain, and leads to disabling muscle stiffness, tremor, and in some people, dementia. It's been suspected that this brain damage for some people was the result of chemical toxins—one of the probable culprits is a substance used to remove grease in industrial processes and, in the past, in dry cleaning. A huge study of US Marines has tightened the link further.

Having your tonsils out as a child used to be quite routine, but the realisation that the decision to have this surgery was often arbitrary and not worth the risk of complications drastically reduced the incidence of it in young children. But then what about adults with frequent sore throats? British authorities noticed an increase in tonsillectomy rates in young adults, accompanied by associated complications—which prompted a clinical trial to see whether the surgery was merited.

A recent bus crash in the Hunter Valley claimed 10 lives. Trying to make sense of such tragic events often prompts a reach for advice that sounds right, but might not be. People in the Singleton area were advised that talking is important, yet that advice is not supported by evidence, and may worsen a situation.

Therapy using psychedelic drugs is generally safe yet a review of its use found that adverse events were not properly assessed or not reported. Before we continue this type of therapy we need clearer clinician guidelines and to ensure that therapy recommendations are evidence-based.

In Canada it's been 5 years since cannabis was legalised for non-medical, recreational use. Public health researchers have asked if this legalisation had health impacts if it was used during pregnancy—and if so, how those babies were affected.

An Australian clinical trial found that a form of psychotherapy called Cognitive Functional Therapy could help people with chronic disabling low back pain.They recruited adults who'd had low back pain for more than three months which was limiting their physical activity.  

Researchers have observed the cardiac and neural signals from a small number of ICU patients at the point when ventilatory support was withdrawn. The EEC and EKG monitors recorded the quite new phenomena of electrical activity in a particular area of the brain. It leads to greater speculation about what happens to the brain as we die, and the need for more investigation.

The topic of death is often seen as a conversational taboo, and shied away from. But the film Live The Life You Please sees the discussion about life-limiting diagnoses, and end of life care more positively. It shows how people have been able to speak about their feelings in difficult times, and discovered how they would like to live now.

Governments like to fund initiatives that often sound terrific—but a big part of the equation is also to measure how well schemes have worked. Some of the funds might be better directed if evaluated in the same way as medications and some treatments.

You probably know the Australian Government has general exercise recommendations for adults, but what if you're in a high risk group? Does that change the amount of activity you should be doing? At the moment there are no official guidelines, but new research suggests maybe there should be.

A recent study has looked at correlations between rates of (Australian) population obesity and searches online for anti-obesity and diabetes drugs—for a class of drugs called GLP-1 agonists. The authors wondered if one Australian state had a prevalence of obesity, how might that relate to these searches.

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is perhaps the ‘poor cousin’ of cardio-vascular disease. PAD puts people at risk of heart attack, stroke and amputations, and a really disturbing review of what's known about it in women finds it to be underdiagnosed, undertreated, and to show itself when it's already severe and more likely to end up in an amputation.

A new kind of ADHD clinic is cashing in on surging demand for diagnoses — and promising salaries of more than $900,000 to recruit psychiatrists.