We may not officially complete the first decade of the third millennium until the end of this year, but as we approach February 2010, the noughties are well and truly gone. No doubt also gone is all that cold turkey remaining with some of the other left-overs from Christmas dinner or New Year’s Eve celebrations. Of...
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Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world; and the use of sunscreen is an important strategy to help reduce the risk of skin cancer and premature aging. Sun protection factor (SPF) labelling provides a reasonable indication of the effectiveness of sunscreens. The higher the number, the more time we can spend...
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Health care costs sometimes occur at the most unexpected times; and with the medicines which might be prescribed, we don’t always anticipate what the cost might be and make appropriate allowance in our budget. For those of us required to take medicines regularly – perhaps for a chronic condition like arthritis, asthma, depression, diabetes, epilepsy...
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For many people, Christmas and New Year is a time of increased stress and anxiety. Writing in a recent edition of New Scientist magazine, Robert Rowland Smith, who is described as both a philosopher and management consultant, suggests that at least part of the reason for this state of anxiety is because we are forced...
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It used to be said that penicillin was the Christmas gift to give someone who has everything! Today penicillin is no longer the cure all that it once seemed to be. While penicillin – or at least penicillin in some modified form, is still a useful, or indeed the first choice, antibiotic for some infections,...
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The Australian Prescriber is a journal published four times a year and provides independent objective and up-to-date information about medicines to health care practitioners – doctors, dentists and pharmacists. The latest issue (December 2009) discusses plane travel and the possible problems with DVT – deep venous thrombosis. The topic is timely with many travellers heading...
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Twenty-one years ago the World Health Organization (WHO) declared 1 December the first World AIDS Day. Its aim was, and remains, to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS issues, and particularly the need for support and understanding for people living with HIV/AIDS. Since then, World AIDS Day has been established as one of the world’s most...
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