A No Brainer
Many people are frustrated by the slow progress of the cause to legalise vaping and help smokers reduce harm in Australia. Whilst there is still a way to go, we have made a significant step forward. The WA Liberal party recently passed at its state conference, a...
10 Tips For Taking Good Care Of Your Teeth
It’s important to keep the sparkle in your smile! With family and friends gathered around, great food, drinks, andfestivities everywhere you go, it’s really important to take the time out to care for your teeth and gums. After all, an aching or broken tooth or...
Are Doctors Allowed To Have Freedom Of Speech?
Recently the code of practice of doctors proposed to restrict freedom of speech for doctors. Of course, such terms were not directly used in the proposition of the code, but in the newly introduced section of professionalism it stated that: “Community trust in the...
Disenfranchised Grief And Weight Loss
I want to talk about a type of loss that isn’t weight loss and yet it is profoundly linked to weight loss. It is the feeling of loss that people may experience when they once had lost significant amounts of weight, subsequently regained it often ending up with even...
Shooting The Messenger
Recently I had the honour of giving the Michael Russell Oration (click here to watch) at the Global Forum on Nicotine. This event was all about helping reduce the disease and death toll from smoking. Like many industries, the quit smoking one is ripe for disruption...
The Importance Of Mental Health First Aid
Did you know that one in five Australians experience a mental illness each year? In fact, mental illness is now the third leading cause of disability burden in this country, making it more important than ever to understand how to support a colleague, friend or family...
More is not always better
There is increasing interest in the over use of medical tests, medications and procedures. There has been a belief that more medicine equals better health. In reality it does not. Whilst we absolutely can and do benefit from the advances medicine has made, too much of...
Rethinking Nicotine
It was a great honour to be invited to give the Michael Russell Oration at GFN 18. The talk is about communicating tobacco harm reduction to different audiences. Ultimately our aim is to reduce the harm from the combustion of tobacco. ...
What A Conflict!
I really feel for anyone caught in the middle of this ideological, physical and emotional conflict. Lets say that for whatever reason you have decided you would like to lose some weight. And, you have decided this for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with...
The Lived Experience
Sometimes a person with cancer goes into remission and we do not know why. This does not mean it has not occurred. We don’t criticise them or suggest it better they went out of remission. A 2003 BMJ paper systematically reviewed trials of whether parachutes were...
Dealing With Disappointment
How often do you feel disappointed or let down by other people? Are you underachieving on your personal and professional goals and targets? Do you find it easy to bounce back from disappointment or do you stay stuck? Disappointment is an emotion that we feel when...
Do Epidurals Prolong Labour?
This popular question does not have a simple answer as there are different circumstances that need to be considered. First stage labour There is no reason an epidural block should prolong first stage labour. To the contrary epidural can result in a shorter first stage...