Superannuation tapped to fund weight-loss surgery
LUCY CARROLL Cost-of-living pressures forced more than 10,000 Australians to raid their superannuation last year, with many paying for medical treatments including radical weight-loss surgery.
Supplementary questions: The vitamin D scare
JULIE POWER Experts say fears of deficiencies in vitamin D are overblown.
Shedding some light: vitamin D pills useless, say researchers
JULIE POWER It is good for your bones, it wards off rickets in children, but spending money on vitamin D supplements to prevent cancer and other non-skeletal diseases could be a waste of money, the medical journal The Lancet says.
John Glover voices fears GP fee will make poor suffer
JONATHAN SWAN Australia's leading expert on health inequality has warned the Abbott government against introducing $6 co-payments for doctor visits, saying it could have dangerous consequences for the poorest and sickest.
Beware, there's something in the Sydney air
NICKY PHILLIPS On a summer's day in Sydney, the air in the inner city can be cleaner than taking a breath in suburban Richmond, Campbelltown or parts of the lower Blue Mountains. In warmer months we also breathe in more salt, as sea spray travels around the Sydney basin on onshore winds.
Ecstasy use on the rise in new powdered form called molly
RACHEL OLDING A powerful, powdered form of ecstasy is gaining prominence in Australia as a dramatic rise in police seizures shows the party drug is coming back into fashion.
Superbug showdown: the time is nigh to get serious about antibiotics
Julie-anne Davies It's difficult to know precisely when Maria Jarchow should have died but didn't. It might have been in 2000 after she was diagnosed with cancer in her spine and spent months lying in a hospital bed so sick from the chemotherapy that her oncologist told her there was nothing more to be done. Then a neurologist who had heard about Jarchow's case came to see her on the ward and proposed a surgical solution: a metal frame inserted inside her body to support her spine, which hopefully would then allow her to regain her strength to be able to cope with the rigours of stem-cell treatment.
Why IVF parents are choosing girls over boys
AMY CORDEROY Parents are increasingly asking to choose the sex of their children in an attempt to lower their baby's risk of diseases ranging from cancer to autism, IVF doctors say.
Science
Man flu: it affects manly men, research suggests
Lydia Hales "Manlier" men are less resistant to the effects of one strain of the flu, new research suggests.
Health insurance soars
TOM ALLARD The Abbott government has approved the biggest increase in health insurance premiums in almost a decade, as it walks away from any early implementation of its election promise to scrap the means-testing of the 30 per cent rebate for health fund members.
Science
Australian scorpion venom could be the next painkiller
BRIDIE SMITH Scientists have found the venom of Australian scorpions could help alleviate pain.
Public hospital boards struggle with patient care and safety, study finds
JULIA MEDEW Some Victorian public hospital boards and executives are struggling to deal with quality of care and patient-safety issues despite the buck stopping with them if things go wrong, according to a study published in an international journal.
Hospital emergency units tell how alcohol-related cases disrupt treatment of others
LUCY CARROLL Emergency patients are having treatment disrupted and delayed because hospitals are overwhelmed by alcohol-fuelled incidents, doctors have warned.
Drunk
Shaken and slurred: James Bond likes too many martinis
NICK GALVIN James Bond was a hopeless drunk who would barely have been able to shoot straight most of the time and was almost certainly impotent.
NSW health funding cut by $150 million
AMY CORDEROY NSW will miss out on more than $150 million in funding for vital health services that has been cut by the federal government.
Antibacterial soaps aren't more effective and may be dangerous, says US FDA
AMY CORDEROY Antibacterial soaps and washes are no more effective than regular soap and water and may even pose a threat to human health, the US drug regulator has warned.
Junk food may hurt your memory along with your health
LUCY CARROLL Forget the damage to your waistline - over-indulging at Christmas could take its toll on your brain cells, too.
Peak period sees long delays in answering triple-0 calls
JAMES ROBERTSON An ambulance triple-0 call went unanswered for up to 20 minutes during a period of peak demand for emergency help earlier this year.
Drug experts say new illegal drugs should be tested then allowed to be sold
Charmaine Wong Drug users are experimenting with newly-invented psychoactive drugs because they cannot get more ''traditional'' products such as ecstasy, a study has found.
Lutate provides a breakthrough in treating rare cancer but treatment is struggling for finance
AMY CORDEROY A new 'drug' is bringing startling results for some sufferers, but retaining steady funding is proving difficult.
Jellyfish stings are best treated with nice hot shower
Tim Barlass After being stung by a jellyfish, many of us will apply vinegar or maybe an ice pack.
New South Wales Health Ministry denies funding for 'miracle' cancer treatment
AMY CORDEROY Patients who have the cancer that killed Apple founder Steve Jobs may be denied what doctors describe as a "miracle treatment" because the NSW government refuses to fund it.
Death rate determined by where you live
Dan Harrison A baby born on Wednesday in Hunters Hill can expect to live two years longer than one born in Bankstown, according to data to be released on Thursday.
Drug kills cancer in quarter of leukaemia patients
Kate Hagan A new drug has eliminated cancer in almost a quarter of patients with advanced leukaemia, early trial results show, in a breakthrough that also shows promise for the treatment of other cancers.
Catalyst: Heart Foundation survey raises more concerns over ABC's controversial cholesterol medication episode
AMY CORDEROY A controversial ABC television program that called cholesterol medication "toxic" could be responsible for causing 2000 more heart attacks and strokes in Australia over the next five years, the Heart Foundation says.
Air travel
Flight attendants seek legal advice over Parkinson's disease fear
AMY CORDEROY Flight attendants fear they could have been put at risk of long-term brain disorders including Parkinson's disease by regular exposure to insecticides sprayed on long-haul flights.
Healthy eating revealed to be costly option
Lydia Hales A healthy diet hits wallets harder than an unhealthy one, although opting for the latter may not be a bargain in the long run, a study suggests.
Researchers say a simple test could help to prevent stillbirths
JULIA MEDEW Australian researchers are confident they have found a blood test that could help prevent stillbirth, a tragedy that affects millions of people globally every year.
The fat's in the firing line as McDonald's home delivers
SARAH WHYTE Healthy eating in Australia has a new enemy: home-delivered McDonald's.
