Peddling junk

Aussie junk food companies strive hard to achieve positive press coverage while hampering efforts to restrict unhealthy food advertising, according to two papers by Australian researchers.

It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

UNSW experts say it’s never too late, nor too early, to adopt healthy habits that can delay the onset of dementia.

Low impact care for back pain

Women’s back pain is being taken increasingly seriously but common spinal surgeries can be costly and risky, encouraging the adoption of non-surgical, low-cost, low-impact alternatives.

After the final whistle

Sporting careers are always relatively short, and people forced to retire from their chosen sport at an early age are at an even higher risk of feeling bereft when their days on the field are over.

On the couch online

A new online mental health service sounds good in theory, but will it work in practice? Here’s what the evidence from the UK and elsewhere shows so far.

Health care or health scare?

Women’s health has been sidelined for centuries. But now that women are finally being heard, some unscrupulous companies are cashing in on the movement and scare-mongering medical marketing may drive more women to undergo unnecessary tests or treatments.

Beware trendy weight loss solutions

The diabetes drug Semaglutide (marketed as Ozempic) is being promoted by celebrity influencers and websites as an “empowering” weight loss aid but its long-term impacts remain to be seen.

Down the plughole

Wastewater analysis shows that Australia’s consumption of a range of illicit drugs continues to climb, despite the best efforts of law enforcement and harm minimisation schemes.

Australia’s healthy health sector

New research from the Productivity Commission has found Australia’s healthcare system delivers some of the best value for money of any in the world.

Five keystones of wellbeing

The “wellness” industry offers a thousand different solutions to our modern malaise, but true wellbeing is a product of the positive things we do in our lives, and can’t be bottled in an off-the-shelf product.

Preventing the next pandemic

Could protecting one group of people from disease, and exposing another to it, be the best way to prevent as many deaths as possible and reduce the impact of a future pandemic?

Parkruns not pills

‘Social prescribing’ sees health professionals connect patients to non-medical services and physical activities to improve their health and wellbeing.