Tue Feb 21, 2012
Clinical trials are a fundamental step in bringing new drugs to market in Australia. What is the difference between a Phase 1 and Phase 2 trial? How safe are they and should Australians be participating in them? What are the economic benefits to having clinical trials conducted in Australia?
To answer these questions and [...]
Fri Feb 10, 2012
A research article suggests that acute cannabis consumption is associated with an increased risk of a motor vehicle crash, especially for fatal collisions. The authors state that this information could be used as the basis for campaigns against drug impaired driving, developing regional or national policies to control acute drug use while driving, and raising [...]
Sun Feb 5, 2012
A number of media outlets are reporting that scientists want to create designer babies with the DNA of three parents to prevent children inheriting life-threatening diseases.
Here an independent expert responds.
Thu Feb 2, 2012
EMBARGO LIFTED 5am AEDT Thursday 2 February, 2012
In a comment piece, international scientists argue that added sweeteners pose dangers to health that justify controlling them like alcohol. Here Australian experts puts the arguments into context for Australian readers.
Tue Jan 24, 2012
US scientists report in The Lancet the first successful use of embryonic stem cells to treat eye disease (macular degeneration) in humans. The study was done on two patients with advanced eye disease, reporting some vision improvement after four months of the stem cell treatment. Below Australian and UK experts respond.
Tue Jan 17, 2012
EMBARGO LIFTED at 10.30am AEDT, Tue January 17, 2011
In the ongoing debate over the benefits and harms of hormone replacement therapy, an international team of researchers has suggested that findings from the Million Women Study, which were used to establish that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) causes breast cancer, do not in fact prove a causal [...]
Fri Jan 6, 2012
EMBARGO LIFTED 10.30am AEDT Friday 6 Jan, 2012
International researchers report that the brain’s capacity for memory, reasoning and comprehension skills can start to deteriorate from age 45, which is 15 years earlier than it is normally thought to begin. They assessed the onset of cognitive decline by observing more than 7,000 men and women [...]
Thu Jan 5, 2012
EMBARGO LIFTED 11.00 AM AEDT Fri Jan 6 (The journal has made a special concession for Australian media on this occasion, allowing Australian newspapers to run the story on Friday as long as nothing appears online before 11am AEDT on Fri 6 Jan)
ONLINE NEWS BRIEFING - Thu Jan 5 at 10.30 AM AEDT
A series of [...]