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Women giving birth at home or in birth centres are more likely to have a normal vaginal birth, with no difference in adverse infant outcomes compared with hospital births, a meta-analysis shows. The choice of homebirth means women with low-risk pregnancies are nearly three times more likely to have a non-instrumental delivery than if they have a...

A cheaper thrombolytic appears to double the chances of reperfusion in patients with ischaemic stroke prior to thrombectomy, compared with the standard drug, Australian research shows. The double-blinded, randomised controlled trial of 200 patients found tenecteplase was non-inferior to alteplase, and patients had better functional outcomes afte...

OPINION Dr John Dwyer, one of founders of the Friends of Science in Medicine, argues that regulators need to do more. You can read Universal Medicine's response to this article here. In 1999, a tennis coach from Maroubra, Serge Benhayon, supposedly experienced a series of awakenings that imparted to him detailed understanding of how the body wor...

The Federal Government’s claims of a record health budget don’t stand up to close scrutiny because funding is actually falling on a per-capita basis, health economists say. In its budget analysis, Macquarie University's Centre for the Health Economy (MUCHE) warns that while the budget has no short-term losers, it has deferred the reforms and inv...

They’ve come in for some bad press, but health star ratings are actually doing a fairly good job of defining what a nutritious packaged food is, a study reveals. Sydney researchers have found that, in most cases, the five-star rating system aligns with the Australian Dietary Guidelines, and where they’re misleading, it’s the guidelines that have...

GP rebates for post-bronchodilator spirometry tests are set to double after the Federal Government finally accepted calls by the Medicare Review Taskforce to improve the detection of serious respiratory conditions. The MBS funds about 280,000 tests a year but there has been long-running concern that the $20.55 rebate is inadequate for the time i...

What is Insulin? As we know there are three different types of Diabetes whereby each as its own associated mechanisms of development and risk factors. It’s important to firstly consider the role of Insulin, how it is produced and what systems are affected. The Role of Insulin: Main Regulation of Glucose after it has been converted via Carbohydra...

HPV vaccination confers no more risk of serious side effects than placebo, say Cochrane reviewers who have condemned scaremongering over the jab. The largest review to date shows the risk of serious side effects was about 7% in both HPV-vaccinated and control groups among the 73,400 women enrolled in 26 studies. The review, covering both quadriv...

GPs are questioning whether elderly patients will have optimal protection from influenza this year given that the virulent B/Brisbane strain is not included in the funded vaccine. The Federal Government is funding two boosted trivalent flu vaccines, Fluzone and Fluad, for the over-65s’ National Immunisation Program. However, Melbourne GP Dr Shik...

The deal echoes those agreed in secret by the RACGP and AMA last May The Federal Government is promising to review the pay and incentives of rural doctors as part of a 'compact' signed with ACRRM ahead of next week’s federal budget. It has also pledged to urgently finalise all outstanding legislative amendments required to grant the college full...