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5 days ago | 
medicalrepublic.com.au | Penny Durham
The true rates may be much higher than current Australian data suggests – especially for type 2 diabetes. Rates of diabetes in Australia, especially type 2, are substantially higher than estimated thanks to under-enrolment in the national registry. A team led by Emma Cox from the School of Public Health at Sydney University developed an algorithm to more accurately assess the burden of diabetes in NSW by using linked administrative data.
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1 week ago | 
puffnstuff.com.au | Penny Durham
A study from Harvard bolsters the evidence base for pharmacotherapy to get young people off e-cigarettes. Varenicline beats placebo in helping young people kick vaping without resorting to tobacco, according to a study that has piqued the interest of the RACGP. The paper, published in JAMA Network, claims to be the first pharmacotherapy trial for nicotine vaping cessation in young people.
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1 week ago | 
medicalrepublic.com.au | Penny Durham
A study from Harvard bolsters the evidence base for pharmacotherapy to get young people off e-cigarettes. Varenicline beats placebo in helping young people kick vaping without resorting to tobacco, according to a study that has piqued the interest of the RACGP. The paper, published in JAMA Network, claims to be the first pharmacotherapy trial for nicotine vaping cessation in young people.
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2 weeks ago | 
medicalrepublic.com.au | Penny Durham
The digital stethoscopes used to detect AI-generated videos have been missing a trick. It’s to my regret, and your probable relief, that I announce this will be my last Back Page, as I’m leaving The Medical Republic after six years. In that time I’ve been a political and clinical reporter, TMR editor and political news editor, clinical news editor, opinion editor, and most importantly, wrangler of the Humoural Theory and Back Page columns.
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2 weeks ago | 
medicalrepublic.com.au | Penny Durham
A ‘quest for significance’ is the unifying thread running through this mentality and other harmful behaviours, a new book posits. There are many theories about conspiracy theories, who is attracted to them and why.
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3 weeks ago | 
oncologyrepublic.com.au | Penny Durham
Clinical trial populations may revert to the homogeneity it has taken decades of effort to change. Have a look at this spreadsheet of recently cancelled NIH grants, and the keywords for which they were “flagged”. In the early days of the Trump administration’s war on “woke” – a pernicious catch-all that frees the user from having to specify whether they want more racism, misogyny or transphobia with that – we all heard about the supposed mishaps with transgenic mice.
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3 weeks ago | 
medicalrepublic.com.au | Penny Durham
You thought they’d let it go? You may not have had cause to look at the official US government covid website, covid.gov, in a while. Take a quick look now. Changed a bit, hasn’t it? If you don’t remember its previous look, thanks to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine you can choose any random date during the Biden administration and find a governmenty-looking website with helpful advice on testing, masking and vaccination. Now it’s more like covid.gov brought to you by Oliver Stone.
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3 weeks ago | 
puffnstuff.com.au | Penny Durham
Sorry, could you repeat the question? Filtering out distractions is something your Back Page correspondent struggles with. Sucks at, frankly. An ardent work-from-homer (a pre-pandemic early adopter) with previously documented misophonia and misokinesia, I’m writing this from my local library to escape loud and relentless roadworks near my house and the even louder and relentlesser pinging of colleagues’ devices at the office.
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1 month ago | 
dermatologyrepublic.com.au | Penny Durham
Clinical trial populations may revert to the homogeneity it has taken decades of effort to change. Have a look at this spreadsheet of recently cancelled NIH grants, and the keywords for which they were “flagged”. In the early days of the Trump administration’s war on “woke” – a pernicious catch-all that frees the user from having to specify whether they want more racism, misogyny or transphobia with that – we all heard about the supposed mishaps with transgenic mice.
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1 month ago | 
dermatologyrepublic.com.au | Penny Durham
All patients should undergo a psychiatric assessment before starting isotretinoin. The TGA has reinforced warnings about the risk of psychiatric side effects with oral isotretinoin and reminded clinicians to conduct a mental health assessment on every patient before prescribing. In advice published earlier this month, the regulator also warns about the potential sexual health side effects of the acne drug.
