Services are already available intended to triage patients dealing with health complaints, to avoid clogging up emergency rooms. An expansion of Healthdirect is on the cards, but what impact would it have?Also, an ongoing outbreak of melioidosis in northern Australia linked to wet weather and floods.
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7:26
Should we be paying more attention to this marker of liver function?
Liver disease is becoming more common, in particular fatty liver disease. It affects up to 1 in 3 Australian adults.A common test – ALT or alanine transaminase – is used as a measure of liver health.However there’s huge variation in what different labs considered concerning, meaning some people are being missed.Guest/sProfessor Simone Strasser, hepatologist and director of the Liver Foundation
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13:13
This could change the arm you get vaccinated
When going to get vaccinated, you're often asked which arm you'd prefer to be jabbed. Most people pick their least dominant arm so the pain from the injection site bothers them less. A new finding from a study on the immune system suggests that might give you a faster, and better, immune response. Guest/sProfessor Tri Phan, the Garvan Institute of Medical ResearchReferencesMacrophages direct location-dependent recall of B cell memory to vaccination
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9:11
Using metformin to treat knee osteoarthritis
It has been a struggle to find drugs that slow the progression of osteoarthritis, rather than just manage the symptoms. But a common drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, metformin, is showing promise, not just in pain reduction but in improving knee cartilage. Guest/sProfessor Flavia Cicuttini, Head of Rheumatology at Alfred Hospital and Musculoskeletal Unit at Monash UniversityReferencesMetformin for Knee Osteoarthritis in Patients With Overweight or ObesityA Randomized Clinical TrialMetformin as a potential disease-modifying drug in osteoarthritis: a systematic review of pre-clinical and human studies
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7:20
Mailbag: AI diagnoses
A look at some of the Health Report correspondence this week.You can email us at [email protected]
Australia