A Sweet Dose of Antibiotics

Scientists are using synthetic sugar in their quest for the answer to drug-resistant bacteria. A team of scientists from The University of Queensland and Queensland biotechnology company Alchemia have discovered a potential new class of antibiotics inspired by sugar molecules produced by bacteria.

New Hope for Treatment of Mild Alzheimers

A drug developed by US pharmaceutical company Lilly has shown evidence of slowing the worsening of the disease. Current treatments for Alzheimer’s can alleviate symptoms but don’t slow underlying disease progression.

Forget Health Takeovers Here's How to Fix Hospital Funding and Chronic Disease Care

Stephen Duckett, Grattan Institute and Peter Breadon, Grattan Institute

New Acute Coronary Syndromes Clinical Care Standard

Poor Mobile Phone Hygiene Guidelines in Hospitals

The recent study in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene found that medical staff using mobile phones in hospitals help spread bugs through constant handling and poor cleaning habits.

Ethics and Choosing Wisely

5.2.1 Ensuring that the services you provide are necessary and likely to benefit the patient. 5.2.2 Upholding the patient’s right to gain access to the necessary level of healthcare and, whenever possible, helping them to do so. 5.2.3 Supporting the transparent and equitable allocation of healthcare resources. 5.2.4 Understanding that your use of resources can affect the access other patients have to healthcare resources.

Reducing the Risk of Lynch Syndrome

A paper published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association led by researchers from the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, reveals that women with one child are 60% less likely to develop uterine cancer, compared with women with no children, and even lower for women with more than one child.

Not all Alcohol-Based Hand Rubs are Equal

Weekend Operations have Worse Outcomes

A  lack of experienced staff, reduced availability of testing and increased waiting times for treatment of urgent cases has been blamed for the results of a study in BMJ indicating patients admitted to hospital on a weekend have a higher risk of death than those admitted during the week.

Marine Biology offers Vaccine and Drug Treatments

The CSIRO believes it has found the answer to the challenge of vaccine transportation in seashells.

Treatment Discovered for Girls-Only Epilepsy Condition

Girls suffering from a rare form of epilepsy due to a mutation in the X-chromosome will soon have access to their first chance at treatment, thanks to University of Adelaide researchers and Marinus Pharmaceuticals who are about to commence clinical trials.

Gene Therapy Success for Cystic Fibrosis Lung Function

Research from the UK has shown the improvement of lung function of Cystic Fibrosis patients through the use of gene therapy in a two year trial, according to The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Happiness and the Art of Care and Conversation on the Cancer Ward

A guest post from The Conversation, this is a touching and heartfelt story from the patient's bedside.

Boost to Mental Health Facilities for WA Mining Communities

The Western Australian government has announced funding for further support of the spiraling mental health problems affecting its mining workers in plans to expand the state’s subacute mental health beds to a total of 60 by 2017.

Regional South Australia Receives Diabetes Care Framework

In regional South Australia, populations have been identified has being at risk of potentially reaching “unacceptably high rates” of diabetes, with 30,000 in the Country South SA Medicare Local (CSSAML) area cited as currently living with type 2 diabetes, either diagnosed or undiagnosed.