Blog

Social media bots and Russian trolls promoted discord and spread false information about vaccines on Twitter to sow division and distribute malicious content, according to new research led by the George Washington University. Using tactics similar to those at work during the 2016 United States presidential election, these Twitter accounts entered into vaccine debates months before U.S. election season was underway. 

The five to ten percent of Australian women who have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) not only face challenges with pregnancy, obesity and diabetes, now a new study by researchers from Cambridge University's Autism Research Centre shows that women with PCOS are more likely than other women to have a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Like many countries, Australia’s healthcare system is facing major challenges. An ageing population and high burden of chronic disease have driven the need for service development and innovation. Nurses in particular have responded by reshaping healthcare services, and the last decade has seen a proliferation of advanced practice roles and nurse-led services seeking to improve patient experience and address gaps in health services.

The early 2000s saw a significant breakthrough in the treatment of certain kinds of lymphoma. The addition to standard treatment of a monoclonal antibody that depletes B-cells, known as rituximab, was shown in clinical trials to improve 5-year survival by around 20% for both diffuse large B-cell and follicular lymphomas. Rituximab is now on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for these cancers. 

Once neglected by researchers and underdiagnosed in practice, there is renewed interest in the chronic lung disease bronchiectasis, according to the authors of a narrative review of the condition published in the MJA.

Another piece in the puzzle that is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease has been solved by a University of Queensland researcher in a step towards developing treatments for a disease that affects about one in every five Australians.

Whether they like it or not, nurses are often expected to be public role models for healthy lifestyles. Although this expectation is often expressed in professional journals, there is little research on whether it is reasonable and realistic. UK researchers investigated the views of different stakeholder groups on the subject, with their study finding that opinions on the matter differ widely among participants talking from different viewpoints.

Giving pregnant women on-demand access to the synthetic opioid remifentanil during labour could not only halve the number needing an epidural but could also substantially reduce rates of instrumental deliveries, according to the results of a large scale trial in the UK.

Have you ever felt unprepared to navigate nursing encounters with patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)? If so, you're not alone. Many healthcare professionals report a lack of self-confidence when caring for patients with ASD.

Malaria rates have soared among some of Australia's closest neighbours as complacency risks undoing a decade of sustained and extraordinary progress towards eradicating the disease, experts warn. In 2016 there were an estimated 216 million malaria cases globally. Papua New Guinea recorded a staggering 400 per cent surge in malaria between 2010 and 2016, WHO figures show, with an estimated 1.4 million malaria cases and 3000 deaths in 2016.