Australia's specialist medical college for obstetrics and gynaecology is raising the alarm over proposed changes to abortion access in three Australian states.

How physical activity influences your 'biological clock' - and whether it can help you feel younger than you actually are.

Changes to how bulk billing is administered and what that could mean for community-run Aboriginal health services in remote parts of Australia.

And the withdrawal of a drug for breast cancer and endometriosis from Australia - why has it happened and what does it mean for patients?

References:

• Ebola Outbreak: Current Situation (US CDC).
• AI Chatbot Use and Disclosure for Mental Health Among US Adolescents and Young Adults
• AstraZeneca pulls critical breast cancer and endometriosis drug Zoladex from shelves
• Abortion Access Under Attack Again in Two Australian States - RANZCOG
• Physical activity and biological age measured by DNA methylation clocks: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This week, an update on the diphtheria outbreak across multiple Australian states. What's changed to allow the spread to occur?

How to build healthier housing for remote communities - and it starts with maintenance.

A new trial shows some everyday steps people can take to protect themselves against depression.

And reviewing the evidence on calcium and vitamin D when it comes to fractures and falls.

References:

• Ebola outbreak outpacing health response, WHO chief says
• Ebola-hit DR Congo faces 'catastrophic collision' of disease and conflict, WHO warns
• Ebola disease caused by Bundibugyo virus, Democratic Republic of the Congo & Uganda
• Ebola Outbreak: Current Situation (CDC)
• Calcium, vitamin D, or combined supplementation to prevent fractures and falls: systematic review and meta-analysis
• Diphtheria in Australia – Epidemiological update – 18 May 2026
• Impact of Restriction-Resumption Protocols on Mood and Anxiety in Healthy Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial

The popularity of peptides appears to be growing in Australia - what do we know about who is using them, what's in them and the risks?

A large study of Australians with Parkinson's disease finds links to certain pesticides and high-risk occupations.

For people with heart failure, there's a procedure that you can avoid with no ill-effect.

And an outbreak of diptheria across multiple states in Australia - how did this happen?

References

• Obesity and cardiovascular disease: A clinical consensus statement from the National Heart Foundation of Australia
• Impact and Effectiveness of Australia's 2025 Hybrid RSV Immunisation Program: Results from the PAEDS-FluCAN Network
• Diphtheria outbreak could be 'contained within months' but response criticised as too slow
• Responding to injectable synthetic peptide use among young people: priorities for clinicians and public health
• Insights from a cross-sectional population-based study of 10,929 Australians living with Parkinson's disease: risk factors, comorbidities, and sex differences
• Cardiac resynchronization therapy with or without atrioventricular node ablation in atrial fibrillation: the CAAN-AF trial

The World Health Organization has declared a public health emergency of international concern over an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

How does the disease spread, how can it be treated and how concerned should we be?

Further Information:

• Why is there no vaccine for this Ebola outbreak?
• Ebola vaccine could take nine months as death toll rises further, WHO warns.
• Ebola disease in DRC and Uganda.
• Epidemic of Ebola Disease caused by Bundibugyo virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda determined a public health emergency of international concern.
• Absence of USAID likely slowed Ebola detection and response, former officials say

ACL injuries are very common in Australia - and the common thinking has been that if you tear your ACL, you'll need surgery. Researchers are arguing the best evidence says we should be looking to rehab first, and that for many people they will recover without surgery.

Microplastics in our food supply - from processing and production - mean all of us are ingesting some level of plastic into our bodies. A new study out of Western Australia shows that it is possible to reduce your exposure, but it takes a lot of work.

There's a growing evidence base for the use of digital interventions for people with some categories of eating disorder. And they might have spillover benefits for mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, which can co-occur with an eating disorder. But how do you find one that you can trust?

Plus, the renaming of polycystic ovary syndrome and the implications for people with the condition.

References:

• Low-plastic diet and urinary levels of plastic-associated phthalates and bisphenols: the randomized controlled PERTH Trial
• Treatment of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rupture
• Acute, Longer-Term, and Transdiagnostic Outcomes After Digital Interventions for Eating Disorders
• Aluminium adjuvants in vaccines and potential health effects: systematic review
• Polycystic ovary syndrome renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome
• Thriving Kids - Services Australia

Urgent care clinics are getting $1.8 billion in this year's federal budget to make them a permanent part of Australia's health system. We speak to the Health Minister Mark Butler about the decision.

'Fitspo' content that sometimes glamourises a ripped bod or restrictive ways of eating could be flooding your social feed - what do we know about its effect on our mental health?

And 'phage therapy' - a novel form of treatment aimed at providing an alternative to antibiotics. What are bacteriophages, how does this therapy work and how far off is it from showtime?

Plus, success for Australia in eliminating trachoma - an infectious eye disease - as a public health issue. 

References:

• Australia becomes the 30th country to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem
• Mpox disease epidemiology, vaccine uptake and vaccination coverage in Australia 2022–2024: a descriptive study
• Hantavirus-hit cruise ship leaves Cape Verde after three evacuated
• Major budget boost means Medicare Urgent Care Clinics are here to stay
• Lifting the Screen on Fitspiration: A Meta-Analysis
• Cross-reactive anti-prophage antibodies and bacterial heteroresistance implicated in phage therapeutic failure

A new review suggests there may be biomarkers linked to irritable bowel syndrome, typically a diagnosis of exclusion.

How you get followed up after going to the doctor with symptoms of bowel cancer is shaped in part by where you live.

People can now access their diagnostic and pathology results digitally, and for one woman in Brisbane that meant spotting a breast cancer finding that might otherwise have been missed. 

References:

• Serological and faecal markers of irritable bowel syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis
• Variations in the investigation of colorectal cancer-related symptoms in Australian primary care: a retrospective cohort study
• Outbreak of diptheria in the Kimberley.
• Nine-Valent Human Papillomavirus Vaccination and Related Cancers in Males
• An estimated 450,000 diabetics will miss out on subsidised Mounjaro after negotiations stalled

Two thirds of women report concerns over memory loss, concentration or other cognitive symptoms during menopause. What do we understand about what's going on, and how can it be managed?

A new plan for improving asthma outcomes in Australia and ending that reliance on the blue puffer.

Understanding how the genes we're born with could shape our risk of some cancers in childhood - with implications for adults too.

And the links between home cooking and dementia - with studies suggesting slicing and dicing at home (instead of eating out more often) could have a protective effect for your cognition.

References

• RSV Vaccine - Department of Health
• Home cooking, cooking skills and dementia requiring long-term care: a population-based cohort study in Japan
• Typology of out-of-home eaters: a description of sociodemographic, lifestyle, nutritional and environmental characteristics in the NutriNet-Santé cohort
• Gender and age differences in weekend eating habits: associations with fat mass percentage in a cross-sectional study
• Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and risk of substance use disorders among US veterans with type 2 diabetes: cohort study
• Heart-nosed bat alphacoronaviruses use human CEACAM6 to enter cells
• Advances in understanding of cognitive symptoms during menopause
• A Bold Blueprint for Asthma Reform in Australia
• Integrated germline and somatic molecular profiling to detect cancer predisposition has a high clinical impact in poor-prognosis paediatric cancer

Can you trust the advice ChatGPT Health gives about whether you should go to the hospital or not?

Who is using GLP-1 weight loss drugs and how common are they?

New guidelines for supporting young people with suicidal ideation or who self-harm.

And more findings that drugs removing amyloid from the brain don't help prevent dementia.

References:

• Intensive LDL Cholesterol Targeting in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease
• Municipal water fluoridation, adolescent IQ, and cognition across the life course
• Andrographis paniculata (Andrographis) and anaphylaxis - updated safety review and supplementary report
• Amyloid‐beta‐targeting monoclonal antibodies for people with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease
• ChatGPT Health performance in a structured test of triage recommendations
• Initiators of Semaglutide in General Practice in New South Wales, 2020–2023: A Retrospective Cohort Study
• Suicide and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in Children and Adolescents
• Suicide and intentional self-harm hospitalisations among young people
• Generational effects in self-reported age of onset for youth suicidal ideation, self-harm and attempted suicide: A retrospective analysis using data from the Australian National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 2020–2022

When a medical emergency happens in space, how is it treated? And what does life in Antarctica have to teach us about staying healthy on a spaceflight?

Findings from a large study of Australian teenagers find links between school connection, sleep and mental health trajectories through adolescence.

If you have a shoulder injury and suspect it's the rotator cuff, should you have a scan? You might find more than you bargained for.

And how badly should you want to hang on to your appendix in the case of appendicitis? Is it better to jettison it or keep it in there?

References:

• Association between GLP-1 receptor agonist use and worsening mental illness in people with depression and anxiety in Sweden: a national cohort study
• Retraction: Cosmetic talc powder
• Oncologic Risk of Missed Appendiceal Tumors in Acute Appendicitis
• Future Proofing Study - Research Insights 2026
• Incidental Rotator Cuff Abnormalities on Magnetic Resonance Imaging