How the opioid crisis is disrupting hospital care

Nov 08, 2018 17:25 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

… there is always soma, delicious soma, half a gramme for a half-holiday, a gramme for a week-end, two grammes for a trip to the gorgeous East, three for a dark eternity on the moon… In Aldous Huxleys...

No butts – it’s time to help people with mental health conditions quit smoking

Nov 08, 2018 17:23 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

Australians with mental health conditions are more than twice as likely to be smokers as the general population. About 22% of people with a mental health condition smoke daily compared to a national rate under 13%. And the...

The arts are a shadow health service – here's why

Nov 08, 2018 17:20 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

The UKs Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has said that doctors should prescribe dance classes and trips to concert halls as well as pills and physio and set out plans to make this social prescribing a reality. He clearly...

Salt: how to cut back without losing that delicious flavour

Nov 08, 2018 17:19 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

One of the targets of the UK governments new health strategy is salt. Your body needs salt to function normally, but an excess leads to raised blood pressure and an increase in the risk of stroke and heart disease. Since...

Concussion prevention: Sorting through the science to see what's sound

Nov 08, 2018 16:56 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

As his helmet collided violently with his opponents shoulder, Luke Kuechly looked like a life-size bobblehead doll. In an instant, the Carolina Panthers star linebacker suffered yet another concussion. His season, and...

Why inability to cope with uncertainty may cause mental health problems

Nov 08, 2018 16:55 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

Not knowing is an uncomfortable experience. As human beings, we are naturally curious. We seek to understand, predict and control it helps us learn and it keeps us safe. Uncertainty can feel dangerous because we cannot...

Students with hearing loss get a raw deal: a South African case study

Nov 08, 2018 16:51 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health

Hearing loss is the fourth highest cause of disability globally. The World Health Organisation estimates that there are currently 466 million people with a disabling hearing loss. Two thirds live in low and middle income...