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Articles

Read the latest articles relevant to your clinical practice, including exclusive insights from Healthed surveys and polls.

By reading selected clinical articles, you earn CPD in the Educational Activities (EA) category whenever you click the “Claim CPD” button and follow the prompts. 

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A/Prof Nicola Hancock
  • Clinical Articles

Mental illness and the NDIS

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) promises a life-changing opportunity for Australians living with disabilities to get the supports they need to engage and participate fully in their communities.

By A/Prof Nicola Hancock, A/Prof Jennifer Smith-Merry
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Dr Linda Calabresi
  • Clinical Articles

Fish-oil for future fathers

Prospective fathers might consider taking fish-oil supplements to improve their fertility, new research suggests. Danish researchers conducted the study into the reproductive function among over 1500 young men (aged 18-19 years) from the general population. They compared parameters such as total sperm count and motility, as well as serum hormone levels including testosterone and FSH among those men who had reportedly taken fish oil supplements regularly over the past three months with those who didn’t.

By Dr Linda Calabresi
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Dr Linda Calabresi
  • Clinical Articles

Major concerns over Australian study into transgender children

ome very well-respected psychiatrists have raised serious concerns about the ethics and methodology of a new prospective study into transgender children, taking place at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital Gender Service.

By Dr Linda Calabresi
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Dr Linda Calabresi
  • Clinical Articles

Online PTSD support

Online psychological therapy is becoming increasingly popular, with more options appearing every week it seems. It is particularly a good option for people who have difficulty accessing appropriate psychologists.

By Dr Linda Calabresi
pregnancy
Prof Sarah Robertson
  • Clinical Articles

Bushfire smoke and pregnancy – the risks

Smoke haze from Australia’s catastrophic bushfires is continuing to affect many parts of the country.

By Prof Sarah Robertson, A/Prof Louise Hull
plaster protectors
Dr Linda Calabresi
  • Clinical Articles

Plaster protectors

This resource is a little different to the usual guideline or website that is commonly discussed in this newsletter. This is a product that was recommended by a number of patients and has the potential to really improve the quality of someone’s life. Quite simply it’s a waterproof protector that goes over a patient’s plaster or dressing. Called Blocc’s protectors, these covers are made of a type of rubber that stretches over the cast or dressing to make a waterproof seal. And apparently they are excellent at keeping the dressing or plaster dry.

By Dr Linda Calabresi
Medical termination not an option in the country
Prof Jane Tomnay
  • Clinical Articles

Medical termination not an option in the country

Around one in six Australian women have had an abortion by their mid-30s. These women come from all age groups and demographics: some are mothers already, while others are child-free; some are partnered, others are single. Abortion was removed from the New South Wales Crimes Act in October and is now legal in all Australian states and territories, under certain circumstances. However, many women have difficulties accessing these services, especially in rural and regional areas. This needs to change.

By Prof Jane Tomnay, Dr Catherine Orr
SCCs more deadly in the immunosuppressed
Dr Linda Calabresi
  • Clinical Articles

SCCs more deadly in the immunosuppressed

Not only are immunosuppressed people at increased risk of developing skin cancer, new research shows the skin cancer they get is more likely to be aggressive and multifocal. According to the retrospective study of a cohort of almost 800 patients who had been treated for cutaneous SCC of the head and neck at a US tertiary cancer care centre, immunosuppression was found to be independently associated with a worse outcome.

By Dr Linda Calabresi
‘Safety signals’ may help slow down anxiety
Yale University
  • Clinical Articles

‘Safety signals’ may help slow down anxiety

A novel form of treatment has been identified for one of the most common mental health issues globally, anxiety. Roughly one in three people will suffer from the condition at some point in their lives, experiencing irrational fear brought on by stressors ranging from spiders to public speaking. Current treatment options are limited. Some medications provide relief, but can also cause side effects. Cognitive behavioural therapy can also be used, typically exposure-based therapies that allow patients to gradually face and overcome their fears. But for a substantial proportion of sufferers, these options are not effective.

By Yale University
Western Australia looks set to legalise voluntary assisted dying. Here’s what’s likely to happen from next week
Courtney Hempton
  • Clinical Articles

Western Australia looks set to legalise voluntary assisted dying. Here’s what’s likely to happen from next week

Western Australia is on the brink of becoming the second state in Australia to legalise voluntary assisted dying, with its upper house last night passing the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2019 (WA). A total of 55 amendments to the initial version of the bill were passed. The bill will return to the lower house next week to review the amendments. If these amendments are ratified as expected, WA will follow the historic introduction of voluntary assisted dying in Victoria, where the option has been available since June 2019.

By Courtney Hempton
Human BPA levels may have been underestimated
Dr Catharine Paddock
  • Clinical Articles

Human BPA levels may have been underestimated

Exposure to common industrial chemical and endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) has been linked to a range of health impacts, from reproductive disorders to heart disease. Although widespread, the level of exposure of most people to BPA was thought to be low enough that the potential for harm was minimal, but new research has indicated that the method of measuring exposure used thus far may be seriously flawed. As they relate in their report in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, when researchers compared the indirect method of measuring BPA exposure with a newer, direct method, they found that the indirect method consistently returned an inaccurately low reading. The direct measurement found levels of BPS as much as “44-times higher than the latest geometric mean for adults in the USA reported by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES),” note the authors.

By Dr Catharine Paddock
reversing antibiotic resistance
Dr Mina Bakhit, Prof Chris Del Mar, & Helena Kornfält Isberg, MD
  • Clinical Articles

Reversing antibiotic resistance? Here’s how Sweden is doing it

The antibiotic resistance threat is real. In the years to come, we will no longer be able to treat and cure many infections we once could. We’ve had no new classes of antibiotics in decades, and the development pipeline is largely dry. Each time we use antibiotics, the bacteria in our bodies become more resistant to the few antibiotics we still have. The problem seems clear and the solution obvious: to prescribe our precious antibiotics only when absolutely needed. Implementing this nationally is not an easy task. But Australia could take cues from other countries making significant progress in this area, such as Sweden.

By Dr Mina Bakhit, Prof Chris Del Mar, & Helena Kornfält Isberg, MD

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