Health Report

There's a paradox in neurodegenerative disease  – sometimes as the brain deteriorates, creativity flourishes.Researchers have used imaging techniques to map creativity in the brains of people with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.Also, the exercise program that could change the game for colorectal cancer survivors. And a look back at the year: GLP-1 medications for weight loss. ReferencesAnswering common questions about GLP-1s for weight lossWeight loss drugs could help people with schizophreniaGLP-1s and eating disorders — what are the risks?Structured Exercise after Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer - NEJM Mapping Neuroimaging Findings of Creativity and Brain Disease Onto a Common Brain Circuit

Substituting your table salt for something with lower sodium could drive down your risk of heart attack and stroke. Also, what expectant parents might not know about screening for genetic diseases before conceiving. Artificial intelligence (AI) could soon be used to help predict decisions a person might make at the end of life. And a look back at the year: Make America Health Again. ReferencesSalt Substitution and Recurrent Stroke and Death: A Randomized Clinical TrialMackenzie's MissionNationwide, Couple-Based Genetic Carrier Screening - NEJMUnlocking the secrets of your DNA - the Health ReportCan Artificial Intelligence Speak for Incapacitated Patients at the End of Life?Should artificial intelligence guide surrogate decisions in healthcare? - Journal of Medical Ethics blogA Personalized Patient Preference Predictor for Substituted Judgments in Healthcare: Technically Feasible and Ethically Desirable

Despite facing an increased risk of chronic disease later in life, remote Indigenous babies start life with a more diverse gut microbiome. A new study in Nature also found the infants have bacteria that have completely disappeared from non-Indigenous populations. Also, a guide to living healthy after a fatty liver disease diagnosis. And why fewer people are getting the HPV vaccine. ReferencesEating For Your Liver - Liver Foundation2025 Cervical Cancer Elimination Progress ReportIndigenous infants in remote Australia retain an ancestral gut microbiome despite encroaching Westernization

Historically women have had a hard time being heard in the doctor's office, with dismissiveness and delays in diagnosis all too common. The state government in Victoria has held an enquiry into women's pain to come up with recommendations aimed at shifting that experience to a more positive one. Also, we get a better sense of what's nature vs nurture when it comes to our attributes and our disease risks. And research suggests antibiotics, and their effects on the gut microbiome, could weaken vaccine response. ReferencesThe effect of shingles vaccination at different stages of the dementia disease course WHO issues global guideline on the use of GLP-1 medicines in treating obesity Product warnings updated for GLP-1 RA class - TGA Inquiry into Women's Pain - Victorian GovernmentGovt backs green whistle during IUD insertion in response to women’s pain inquiryEstimation and mapping of the missing heritability of human phenotypesBifidobacteria support optimal infant vaccine responses - NatureAntibiotics-Driven Gut Microbiome Perturbation Alters Immunity to Vaccines in HumansThe Antibiotics and Vaccine Immune Responses Study (AVIRS) – people must be in Adelaide to participate!

The dentists' chair is not everyone's favourite place. Have you ever sat there wondering, why would anyone become a dentist?We take a trip to dental school to find out why so many people get into dentistry, and the skills it takes. Also, are we doing enough to weigh up the risks vs benefits of CT scanning? And how an autoimmune skin condition actually affects the whole body, particularly the heart.References:Stronger safety controls to be introduced for products containing vitamin B6 - TGABird flu confirmed in elephant seal population at Heard IslandDecades of data missing: Metastatic breast cancer cases double previous estimatesProjected Lifetime Cancer Risks From Current Computed Tomography ImagingStudy on current CT scanning practices and the incidence of future cancersMediterranean Diet and Patients With Psoriasis: The MEDIPSO Randomized Clinical Trial