Health Report - Full program podcast

Our joints are capable of making a cacophony of sounds, even more so as we get older. Is it ever a cause for concern?Research shows once more that vaccination protects against long COVID, but the timing of the jab may be important. Generations of teenagers have found a way to smoke weed — legal or not. So what do we know about the effects on the brain?And the Declaration of Helsinki has turned 60 years old. Are these ethical principles that guide clinical research up to scratch?

Donald Trump's re-election could spell big health policy changes for the United States, including the rolling back of a 20th century intervention.  Also, a major review into how health professionals operate in Australia, and how we can do better. How checking blood pressure in childhood could prevent heart disease down the line. Concerns about a common heart procedure. And, the last word on asthma treatment?

Spray-on skin already helps many burns patients, but what about those with deeper burns? Meet the team trialling a technique to grow sheets of replacement skin.Takeaways from the inquiry into Australia's COVID-19 pandemic response, and a dip in childhood vaccination rates.A new gene variant among some First Nations peoples in Oceania that could explain susceptibility to some diseases.And how physiotherapists are helping women who experience pain during or after sex.

What keeps some people running while others drop off? New data from parkrun groups shows why some keep coming back to jogging.New draft limits on 'forever chemicals' PFAS in Australia's drinking water from national medical research body.Type 2 diabetes incidence seems to be edging down in Australian adults — but this decline isn't the same across all ethnic groups.And juvenile arthritis is as common as type 1 diabetes among children, but diagnosis is much slower and there are vastly fewer specialists to treat this autoimmune disease.

The ancient practice of blood letting is still a vitally important treatment for some people. But for years that blood was being discarded.The viruses behind the recent burst of infections this Spring, and why your recent blood pressure reading might have been incorrect.Self-harm is on the rise among for young people, a major new report recommends addressing social and cultural contributors to halt this rise.And meet the 'breech whisperer' helping deliver babies in the breech position — bottom first instead of head first. He wants to preserve the delicate art of this manoeuvre.

There are plenty of app games on the market claiming to help kids with ADHD, depression or anxiety, a review examines if they do.MicroRNA researchers have won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. What's the big deal with these tiny molecules?Despite being common, there are few treatments for functional seizures and functional neurological disorder (FND). A new program is changing that.The rate of skin infections in Aboriginal children living in remote communities has halved over the course of a major five-year study, and this could prevent more severe life-threatening illnesses.

There's long been an assumed link between ADHD and dyslexia, and now a study has looked at the genes of thousands of people to find the overlap. Radon is a naturally occurring gas that can be found in homes and workplaces. Researchers have looked at a potential link between domestic levels of radon and childhood leukaemia.Can period-tracking apps be trusted to give you information about your fertility?And science fiction is becoming science fact in the field of brain-computer interfaces. 

There are areas known as 'Blue Zones' where people were thought to live very long lives. It was thought to have something to do with lifestyles in these spots, but one demographer has debunked the entire notion. Also, we discuss the best way to maintain weight loss in adolescents with weight-related health problems. How to screen for prostate cancer better, with fewer false alarms. And a new protocol that could reduce the toxicity of Hodgkin lymphoma treatment. 

The government bans life insurers from using genetic testing results to demand higher premiums. Inflammation in childhood is linked to metabolic disorders and mental illness in later life. Australian invention could revolutionise X-ray market. And COVID antiviral gets put to the test. 

A scientist carbon dated his own kidney stone to better understand the mysterious, and painful, formations. How a new approach could curb the biggest killer of young people. The Ebola vaccine is put to the test.And diabetes drugs now available for weight loss prescriptions in Australia.