Australian health experts warn Trump’s unfounded autism claims about paracetamol may harm pregnant women

TGA confirms drug is safe for use in pregnancy as doctors worry about effect of White House misinformation

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‘We are horrified’: proposed lead mine in NSW wine region has community living in fear for children’s health

Following revelations the environment watchdog buried a report on lead mining, parents wonder if they can ‘trust that our children’s safety is coming first’ over mining interests

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Community fights lead mine near primary school as report highlights Australia’s failure to protect children

Report commissioned by Mudgee health alliance suggests mine’s health and environmental assessments accepted by NSW government contain errors and outdated evidence

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Environment watchdog buried report on lead in children’s blood to placate mining companies, emails show

Documents tabled in parliament show NSW agency took four years to publish report and told miners it would be put online ‘quietly’ but EPA says it was released to community earlier

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Environment watchdog buried report on lead in children’s blood to placate mining companies, emails show

Documents tabled in parliament show NSW agency took four years to publish report and told miners it would be put online ‘quietly’ but EPA says it was released to community earlier * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The NSW environment watchdog sat on a report for four years linking elevated levels of lead in children’s blood to current mining, and promised mining companies they would not do any “finger-pointing”, new documents tabled in state parliament show. The documents include internal emails released under freedom of information laws that show the scientist who produced the report into lead exposure in Broken Hill was at one point texting the Environment Protection Authority every two days asking when it would be published. Continue reading...

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Misdiagnosis of iron deficiency can lead to years of debilitating illness. Could nanodiamonds be the solution?

Exclusive: A new test offers hope for the one in five Australian women who have been misdiagnosed with depression and other chronic illnesses * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast At about the age of 14, Lily* started to feel tired a lot of the time. She would regularly oversleep and lacked the energy to do basic things. It was also the time she started menstruating and having heavy periods. At 25, Lily was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and prescribed antidepressants for her symptoms. While they helped her, she also had to put up with the side effects of memory loss, low sex drive and weight gain. Continue reading...

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‘Slip, slop, slap for brain health’: Australia needs a major prevention campaign for dementia, doctor says

Prof Henry Brodaty of UNSW says managing risk factors such as diet and anxiety is a cost-effective way of curbing the disease * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A “slip, slap, slop”-style preventative campaign is needed for dementia, as new research shows cases of the disease could be delayed with no added cost, a leading doctor has told the National Press Club on Wednesday. In the speech titled “Hope Beckons”, Prof Henry Brodaty, a co-director of the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA) at the University of New South Wales, said there was much more Australia could be doing to help prevent dementia in its ageing population by addressing risk factors that can be managed, such as poor diet. Continue reading...

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Is ‘office air’ to blame for your limp hair and spotty, flaky skin? | Antiviral

Air conditioning, heating and poor ventilation in the office can contribute to drier skin and greasier hair, but other factors such as the commute may play a part too * Read more in the Antiviral series Still life paintings known as vanitas, popular in the 17th century, served as reminders of the transient nature of everything on earth, doomed to wither and fade. It’s a lesson most of us get when we catch our reflection in the office mirror and are shocked to find our neatly groomed appearance has rapidly deteriorated somewhere between the commute and an 11am meeting. Social media has recently questioned whether this phenomenon is really an inevitable consequence of nature, or if a more modern culprit is robbing hair and skin of beauty and vitality. Continue reading...

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Is the inquest into the Bondi Junction murders further stigmatising schizophrenia?

Sandy Jeffs ‘bought into the pessimism of my diagnosis because that’s what I was told by all those clinicians’

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NSW’s sole women’s-only clinic dedicated to trauma ends ‘gamechanging’ focus

Specialists at Ramsay Clinic Thirroul have reportedly resigned against backdrop of larger shortage of psychiatrists across state

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With a drip in his arm, this patient came out of a Sydney hospital to support striking doctors

Tuesday is the first of three days of industrial action being taken by public sector doctors in NSW

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Psychiatric care in NSW facing ‘collapse’ because of poor pay and conditions, court hears as arbitration battle begins

At least 10 hospitals in NSW risk being stripped of accreditation to train junior doctors as ‘serious concerns’ raised in Industrial Relations Commission court

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Social media’s gut feeling is all wrong: there is no fast track to a healthy microbiome | Natasha May

A diet high in fibre from different food sources is far more effective for maintaining a healthy gut than supplements and online fads, experts say

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Trevor felt ‘invisible’ after his wife died – now experts are trying new ways to tackle Australia’s loneliness epidemic

One in four Australians report feeling persistently lonely, with doctors increasingly ‘prescribing’ non-medical activities to improve wellbeing and social connection

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Learning CPR on manikins without breasts puts women’s lives at risk, study finds

Analysis of training models on global market found all had flat torsos with just one having a breast overlay

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Social media influencers are ‘fearmongering’ to promote health tests with limited evidence, study finds

Researchers warn of harms of overdiagnosis for generally healthy people as well as the cost of tests themselves

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The high cost of Australia’s dental care divide - podcast

Guardian Australia health reporter Natasha May speaks to Reged Ahmed about why more people are putting off going to the dentist, or can’t get the care they need

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How much does the gender health gap cost? For Alyse, it’s $400,000

Exclusive: Women twice as likely to delay seeing a GP compared with men, with the high cost of living delaying treatment

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