Medical

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Synthetic opioids: warning issued in NSW after nitazenes cause cluster of overdoses

A cluster of 20 drug overdoses in New South Wales has prompted the state’s health department to issue a public warning about the danger of synthetic opioids, which are often substantially more powerful than heroin. Called nitazenes, the drugs are often mixed into other substances such as MDMA and heroin without the user’s knowledge. They are causing an epidemic of drug fatalities in North America, and experts have warned of similar deaths in...

2024-04-25T03:24:38Z

Australia records lowest seven-day Covid death rate for more than two years

Australia has recorded its lowest Covid death rate for more than two years, according to federal health department data that dates back to January 2022. The latest data on the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System shows that between Thursday 29 February and Saturday 2 March, and on 5 and 6 March, the seven-day rolling average for Covid deaths was zero. One death was recorded on 3 March. The average is used to indicate short-term...

2024-04-12T03:35:03Z

US surgeon in Gaza: nothing prepared me for scale of injuries

By Nidal al-Mughrabi CAIRO(Reuters) - A U.S. vascular surgeon who left Gaza after a stint as a volunteer said nothing had prepared him for the scale of injuries he had faced there. Dozens of patients a day. Most of them young. Most facing complicated injuries caused by shrapnel. Most ending up with amputations. "Vascular surgery is really a disease for older patients and I would say I had never

2024-05-01T13:03:01Z

Waikato measles cases a false alarm

Further testing found the children do not actually have measles.

2024-04-01T02:44:02Z

Sugar increase in Fanta and Sprite prompts calls for new tax on Australia’s food and drinks industry

An increase in sugar in two popular soft drink brands has prompted health experts to renew calls for laws to cut the sugar in beverages, and to tackle “appalling” behaviour from the food industry. In July 2020, the government began rolling out the “partnership reformulation program” to encourage food companies to gradually reduce sugar, sodium and saturated fats in their products. The program is entirely voluntary. The Australian Beverages...

2024-04-10T09:16:46Z

Hospitals asked to save total of $105 million by July, Te Whatu Ora confirms

It says several districts have gone over budget in the past three months - and adds it is "reducing the overspend, not making cuts".

2024-04-26T06:17:48Z

Liberal government to launch $500M fund for youth mental health

Ottawa is setting up a $500-million fund to help community health organizations provide more mental health care to young people. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland made the announcement Tuesday in Ottawa alongside other cabinet ministers, including Ya'ara Saks, the minister of mental health and addictions.  "Many Canadians right now are facing...

2024-04-09T13:30:52Z

US tests show pasteurized milk safe as bird flu spreads to Colorado

By Julie Steenhuysen, Tom Polansek (Reuters) -Additional tests of milk showed that pasteurization killed the bird flu virus, federal health officials said on Friday, as Colorado became the ninth U.S. state to report an infected dairy herd. Federal lawmakers urged the Biden administration to further contain the virus' spread as tests showed one in five U.S. commercial milk samples contained

2024-04-27T00:10:01Z

Protest and pain - Kenya's month-long doctors' strike

Patients have been left without access to crucial services at state hospitals for a month.

2024-04-15T23:42:37Z

Australia's healthcare system delivers value for money

The Productivity Commission has released a new report on the nation's healthcare system which concludes it is delivering significant returns on investment.

2024-04-23T21:24:26Z

King and Queen to make public appearance on Easter Sunday

King and Queen to make public appearance on Easter Sunday - The monarch told the world about his cancer diagnosis nearly two months ago

2024-03-30T20:38:04Z

Insulin shortages ‘causing stress and anxiety’ for UK diabetes patients

People with type 1 diabetes are being forced to endure the “stress and anxiety” of insulin shortages, patients, pharmacists and health campaigners have warned. The “distressing” drug scarcity, the latest to affect the UK, is sowing uncertainty for the 400,000 people with the condition, with some products not available again until next year amid global manufacturing shortages. Britain is already contending with record numbers of medicines...

2024-04-28T18:37:48Z

Norway's King Harald, 87, to reduce activity after illness

OSLO (Reuters) -Norway's 87-year-old King Harald will permanently scale back the number of official activities in which he takes part following his recent illness, the royal household said on Monday. Harald, Europe's oldest serving monarch, was hospitalised in February for an infection while on holiday in Malaysia and later received a pacemaker to help compensate for a low heart rate. Harald

2024-04-22T11:57:32Z

New guidelines aimed at minimising concussion affects across more sports

Rugby and league aren't the only codes dealing with the risk of brain injury.

2024-03-31T05:41:58Z

Leading neuropsychiatrist says Joel Cauchi may have fallen through cracks of health system ahead of Bondi Junction stabbings

A leading neuropsychiatrist says there was a potential "systemic failure" by Queensland authorities when it came to treating and communicating about Joel Cauchi.

2024-04-18T09:09:53Z

Magic mushrooms ‘more effective for treating depression in pensioners than young people’

Magic mushrooms are more effective at treating depression in pensioners than young people, a BMJ study has suggested. Oxford scientists found that the active ingredient in the recreational drug, called psilocybin, was more effective than other treatments and placebo in cases of depression. Analysis of existing studies revealed that the drug had gre...

2024-05-02T06:00:51Z

Contaminated cough syrup in Africa no longer available - WHO

LONDON (Reuters) - A contaminated batch of Benylin Paediatric Syrup is no longer available in the African countries where it was sold, the World Health Organization said on Monday. Earlier this month, Nigeria recalled a batch of the children's cough and allergy medicine after tests found that it contained unacceptable levels of the toxin, diethylene glycol. Five other African countries have also

2024-04-22T11:48:05Z

Why autism and ADHD self-diagnosis may be inaccurate

Every few months, 52-year-old Peter* would find himself in trouble with his wife. Sitting silently during an argument and unable to speak, he couldn’t process anything levelled at him. He didn’t know what was wrong, except noticing that he had a weird pattern of “getting stuck in a rut”, hyper-fixating on interests such as programming and PC gaming...

2024-04-24T07:34:13Z

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is to undergo hernia surgery.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is to undergo hernia surgery. - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says the Israeli leader will undergo surgery on Sunday for a hernia

2024-03-31T14:18:57Z

Argentina faces rising dengue epidemic risk as mosquitoes hatch early

By Juan Bustamante and Lucila Sigal BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Mosquitoes are hatching earlier in Argentina and reaching cooler regions than before, as rising temperatures drive the country's worst outbreak of dengue fever and raise the risk of more regular epidemics of the insect-borne virus, scientists said. So far in the 2023/24 season, the South American nation has recorded 232,996 cases of

2024-04-08T13:44:46Z

Nigeria becomes first country to roll out new meningitis vaccine, WHO says

By Ope Adetayo ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria has become the first country in the world to roll out the "revolutionary" new Men5CV vaccine against meningitis, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Nigeria is one of the hotspots of the deadly disease in Africa. Last year, a 50% rise in annual cases was reported across 26 African countries regarded as meningitis hyperendemic countries, according to

2024-04-13T11:11:45Z

Tory MP Dan Poulter’s defection to Labour piles pressure on Rishi Sunak

Tory MP Dan Poulter’s defection to Labour piles pressure on Rishi Sunak - The Prime Minister is beginning what could be one of the most precarious weeks of his premiership, with local elections on Thursday.

2024-04-27T23:21:31Z