An effective framework for allowing patients who use medical cannabis to drive is one that prioritises road safety while also recognising the importance of driving for freedom of movement and quality of life, write Dr Thomas Arkell and Associate Professor Vicki Kotsirilos AM. People who take cannabis…

AFTER working solidly for 3 years over the COVID-19 pandemic without a proper holiday, my husband and I decided to fly to Europe over the winter of 2022 to catch up with relatives and enjoy a well deserved break. But the decision did not come lightly for me. An international flight to Athens followed…

AT THE time of writing this article, many stringent restrictions for patient visitors that were in place during the COVID-19 pandemic have been lifted, but some restrictions continue in many hospitals, some limiting visitors to only two for a patient, and just one hour per day. These rules vary from…

I REFLECT upon my own mentors from early childhood days into adulthood and recognise the influence they had in shaping my confidence, passion, growth, and inner strengths. My earliest experience of mentorship was in high school Year 8 [then Form 2] about 46 years ago, when I passionately wrote an essay…

IT always feels like a relief moving towards the end of the year, doesn’t it? Like somehow viruses and other global players will take a break just because the calendar is counting down. But if 2021 has taught us anything, it’s that pandemics don’t have much respect for summer holidays. This is…

THERE are many patients who attend their GP practices not wearing masks appropriately. They may be ill-fitting, too loose, covering their mouths but not the nose, or poor quality, made of the wrong material. A patient has morbid obesity and cardiomyopathy with gross lymphoedema. He walks into the consultation…

THE Australian Medical Board’s Good Medical Practice guidelines clearly highlight the importance of professional, respectful and courteous behaviour among and towards medical colleagues and allied health professionals, including behaving professionally and courteously over social media and in other…

CANNABIS has a long history of use by humankind for fibre (eg, textile, rope, paper and fishing nets), nutrition (eg, hemp seeds and hemp seed oil), and for medicinal and spiritual purposes. The cannabis plant is thought to contain at least 500 potentially bioactive compounds, including more than 140…

CAN vitamin D supplementation reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection and reduce mortality? It’s a question that has received media attention and one which deserves exploration, given recent evidence. This article aims to explore that evidence. We know that vitamin D is important for bone and muscle…

HEALTH authorities and the government must be congratulated on the rapid response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, preventing many more deaths in Australia as a result. Risk factors identified for increased fatality are related to an ageing population, especially to the elderly over…

POPULAR vitamin supplements offer no cardiovascular benefit to well nourished patients and are not the “quick fix” many consumers believe them to be, says a leading Australian endocrinologist. Professor Gary Wittert, head of the discipline of medicine at the University of Adelaide and with special…

WOULD Hippocrates prefer modern drug technology to herbal medicines? It’s a question that occurred to me at — of all places — a Greek‒Australian law and medicine conference. The conference attracted an interesting gathering of people from both professions and both countries to the Greek Island…