Author: healthprofessionalradio

Overview

• AMA President, A/Prof Brian Owler, yesterday today condemned The Australian’s front page promotion of smoking and Big Tobacco, and its constant attacks on tobacco plain packaging legislation, one of the greatest public health initiatives in Australia’s and the world’s recent history.

• The more robots and 3D-animated characters look like humans, the creepier we find them. This so-called ‘uncanny valley’ has major implications for the field of robotics, according to cognitive scientist Ayse Saygin, who is researching the phenomenon.

• Most cancer vaccines are therapeutic. They are after the fact. That’s why they don’t work. Stephen Johnston is taking a different approach. He’s hoping to produce a vaccine to prevent cancer.

Overview

• An American study of more than 200 people has found that a person’s genetics can affect how they act when betting and investing.

• A US study has found the e-cigarette market has more than 500 brands and is expanding at a rate of more than 10 a month with the product often purchased online.

• As flagged in the Federal Budget in May, the Federal Government has announced a two per cent indexation increase in fees for a number of general practitioner services, which will take effect from 1 July 2014.

Overview

• The death of a woman after receiving respite care at a New South Wales nursing home has sparked calls for an overhaul of the accreditation system for aged care facilities.

• Scientists at the University of Exeter said their work suggested that exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones negatively affected sperm quality – but further research was needed.

• Researchers want to unleash a swarm of mosquitoes on the north Queensland city of Townsville with the goal of curbing the spread of dengue fever.

Overview

• The genetic blueprint of an iconic Australian tree opens the way for better production of wood, medicines and possibly even eucalypt-based jet fuels.

• Bird flu viruses are just a few genetic steps away from the flu virus that caused the deadly 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, a new study shows.
  

• The Garvan Research Foundation is urging Australians not to become complacent about medical research, following the Federal Government’s long term commitment to establish a new multi-million dollar Medical Research Future Fund.

Overview

• Just days before the Prime Minister is due to meet president Barack Obama, a senior US Democrat has criticised Tony Abbott’s stance on climate change.

• The way the brain “boots up” from anaesthesia has been detailed in a new paper that shows the return to consciousness is a staged journey rather than a direct leap.

• The AMA has written to Prime Minister Tony Abbott asking the Australian Government to call on Turkish authorities to immediately drop legal action against Turkish doctors who provided emergency medical care to people injured during protests in Istanbul in May.