Health Report

How far would you go to save your dog? One owner has used ChatGPT and other AI models to find a treatment for his pup's cancer. 

Also, we could be missing cases of liver disease because of differences between pathology centres. 

The final instalment of Stroke of Luck, a series on the experience of having a stroke and the recovery process. 

And a look back at the year: does artificial intelligence have a place in your local doctors' office?

References

• What AI scribes can (and can't) do for healthcare - the Health Report
• Paul is using AI to fight his dog's incurable cancer - UNSW

People with osteoarthritis used to be told to take it easy and avoid overdoing exercise. But the advice has changed drastically. 

Also, should everyone going onto GLP-1 medications for weight loss be screened and monitored for eating disorders? 

Another instalment of Stroke of Luck, a series on the experience of having a stroke and the recovery process. 

And a look back at the year: Robert F. Kennedy Jr and his hyperfixation on autism as an epidemic. 

References

• Trump links paracetamol to autism, urges parents to delay vaccines
• The EPIPHA-KNEE trial: Explaining Pain to target unhelpful pain beliefs to Increase PHysical Activity in KNEE osteoarthritis – a protocol for a multicentre, randomised controlled trial with clinical- and cost-effectiveness analysis
• Management of eating disorders for people with higher weight: clinical practice guideline

Eating disorder resources:

• The Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673 or webchat.
• Eating Disorders Foundation Victoria
• Eating Disorders Families Australia — 1300 195 626
• Professionals Credentialed in Eating Disorders
• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800

Anxiety can manifest in an excessive worry about your health, and it can be debilitating. But there are effective treatments. 

Also, antidepressants can be difficult to come off because of the withdrawal symptoms. An expert highlights the need to better educate patients and doctors on deprescribing. 

Another instalment of Stroke of Luck, a series on the experience of having a stroke and the recovery process. 

And a look back at the year: infectious diseases. 

References

• Why the US measles outbreak is so concerning
• How Australia's measles vaccine coverage compares to the US
• Antidepressant prescribing in Australian primary care: time to reevaluate
• RELEASE information and resources
• Health anxiety information and workbook
• Health anxiety in Australia: prevalence, comorbidity, disability and service use | The British Journal of Psychiatry
• The global economic burden of health anxiety/hypochondriasis- a systematic review
• Increase in the prevalence of health anxiety in medical clinics: Possible cyberchondria
• Cognitive behavior therapy for health anxiety: systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical efficacy and health economic outcomes
• A clinician’s quick guide to evidence-based approaches: health anxiety

There's a paradox in neurodegenerative disease  – sometimes as the brain deteriorates, creativity flourishes.

Researchers have used imaging techniques to map creativity in the brains of people with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Also, the exercise program that could change the game for colorectal cancer survivors. 

And a look back at the year: GLP-1 medications for weight loss. 

References

• Answering common questions about GLP-1s for weight loss
• Weight loss drugs could help people with schizophrenia
• GLP-1s and eating disorders — what are the risks?
• Structured Exercise after Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer - NEJM 
• Mapping Neuroimaging Findings of Creativity and Brain Disease Onto a Common Brain Circuit

Substituting your table salt for something with lower sodium could drive down your risk of heart attack and stroke. 

Also, what expectant parents might not know about screening for genetic diseases before conceiving. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) could soon be used to help predict decisions a person might make at the end of life. 

And a look back at the year: Make America Health Again. 

References

• Salt Substitution and Recurrent Stroke and Death: A Randomized Clinical Trial
• Mackenzie's Mission
• Nationwide, Couple-Based Genetic Carrier Screening - NEJM
• Unlocking the secrets of your DNA - the Health Report
• Can Artificial Intelligence Speak for Incapacitated Patients at the End of Life?
• Should artificial intelligence guide surrogate decisions in healthcare? - Journal of Medical Ethics blog
• A Personalized Patient Preference Predictor for Substituted Judgments in Healthcare: Technically Feasible and Ethically Desirable

Despite facing an increased risk of chronic disease later in life, remote Indigenous babies start life with a more diverse gut microbiome. 

A new study in Nature also found the infants have bacteria that have completely disappeared from non-Indigenous populations. 

Also, a guide to living healthy after a fatty liver disease diagnosis. And why fewer people are getting the HPV vaccine. 

References

• Eating For Your Liver - Liver Foundation
• 2025 Cervical Cancer Elimination Progress Report
• Indigenous infants in remote Australia retain an ancestral gut microbiome despite encroaching Westernization

Historically women have had a hard time being heard in the doctor's office, with dismissiveness and delays in diagnosis all too common. 

The state government in Victoria has held an enquiry into women's pain to come up with recommendations aimed at shifting that experience to a more positive one. 

Also, we get a better sense of what's nature vs nurture when it comes to our attributes and our disease risks. 

And research suggests antibiotics, and their effects on the gut microbiome, could weaken vaccine response. 

References

• The effect of shingles vaccination at different stages of the dementia disease course 
• WHO issues global guideline on the use of GLP-1 medicines in treating obesity 
• Product warnings updated for GLP-1 RA class - TGA 
• Inquiry into Women's Pain - Victorian Government
• Govt backs green whistle during IUD insertion in response to women’s pain inquiry
• Estimation and mapping of the missing heritability of human phenotypes
• Bifidobacteria support optimal infant vaccine responses - Nature
• Antibiotics-Driven Gut Microbiome Perturbation Alters Immunity to Vaccines in Humans
• The Antibiotics and Vaccine Immune Responses Study (AVIRS) – people must be in Adelaide to participate!

The dentists' chair is not everyone's favourite place. Have you ever sat there wondering, why would anyone become a dentist?

We take a trip to dental school to find out why so many people get into dentistry, and the skills it takes. 

Also, are we doing enough to weigh up the risks vs benefits of CT scanning? 

And how an autoimmune skin condition actually affects the whole body, particularly the heart.

References:

• Stronger safety controls to be introduced for products containing vitamin B6 - TGA
• Bird flu confirmed in elephant seal population at Heard Island
• Decades of data missing: Metastatic breast cancer cases double previous estimates
• Projected Lifetime Cancer Risks From Current Computed Tomography Imaging
• Study on current CT scanning practices and the incidence of future cancers
• Mediterranean Diet and Patients With Psoriasis: The MEDIPSO Randomized Clinical Trial

No coffee for six months, not even decaf. That's what participants of a trial looking into the effect on atrial fibrillation were asked to do.

Also, could we be on the verge of changing guidelines for asthma care in children? Or is it too early to call?

And catching cancer early can be important. How far away are we from harnessing blood, urine and even saliva tests to help?

References

• PFAS inquiry hands down 47 recommendations to better regulate 'forever chemicals' in Australia - ABC News 
• The Lancet series on ultra-processed foods
• Orforglipron, an oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, for the treatment of obesity in people with type 2 diabetes (ATTAIN-2): a phase 3, double-blind, randomised, multicentre, placebo-controlled trial
• Caffeinated Coffee Consumption or Abstinence to Reduce Atrial Fibrillation: The DECAF Randomized Clinical Trial
• Budesonide–formoterol versus salbutamol as reliever therapy in children with mild asthma (CARE): a 52-week, open-label, multicentre, superiority, randomised controlled trial

There has been a rise in people that cut gluten out of their diet to address gut symptoms, despite not having a diagnosis of coeliac disease. 

New research is shedding light on what might actually be at play in non-coeliac gluten sensitivity. 

Also, how a common antibiotic might lower the risk of developing schizophrenia when given to young people at risk. 

And a look at the cancer prevention strategies that could have a big impact, but that most countries aren't taking on board. 

References

• Government expenditure on public health activities in Australia 2023–24 - AIHW
• Global prevalence of hypertension among children and adolescents aged 19 years or younger: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
• Non-coeliac gluten sensitivity - the Lancet
• Global prevalence of self-reported non-coeliac gluten and wheat sensitivity: a systematic review and metaanalysis
• Doxycycline Use in Adolescent Psychiatric Patients and Risk of Schizophrenia: An Emulated Target Trial
• Cancers attributable to alcohol - IARC
• Alcohol: a major preventable cause of cancer (IARC Evidence Summary Brief No. 6)