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Fake news and celebrity fads 'put lives at risk’ — joint editorial
The editors of more than two dozen cardiology-related scientific journals worldwide have published a joint editorial to sound the alarm that medical misinformation is...
Provincial health services at risk over R80.4bn in medical negligence claims
A "near exponential" increase in medical negligence claims against the state has left provincial health departments with R80.4bn in contingent liabilities, equivalent to more...
Major study debunks race and class theories of intelligence
Babies of different races are born with equal intelligence. The seven-year, global INTERGROWTH-21st Project, led by the University of Oxford, says its research debunks...
Adopting modern marketing strategies to promote PrEP and avoid stigma
Current pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) strategies can slow roll-out and contribute to stigma surrounding PrEP use, found a study in The Lancet. The authors propose...
Aspirin risk in patients without cardiovascular disease — trials review
A systematic review of large trials found that among those with no known history of cardiovascular disease, regular aspirin use was associated with a...
Air pollution as bad as smoking for miscarriage risk
Short-term exposure to elevated levels of air pollutants was associated with 16% higher risk for miscarriage, equivalent to the effect of smoking in first...
'Compelling' evidence for a 'good-fibre' diet over a low-carb diet
A systematic review of studies over almost 40 years, commissioned to inform new World Health Organisation guidelines, found that higher levels of fibre and...
Obesity, especially around the waist, linked to brain shrinkage
Obesity, especially around the middle, was associated with lower grey matter brain volumes, a large British analysis found. Existing research has linked brain shrinkage to...
Breakthrough AI tools to detect cancers in women
A new artificial intelligence (AI) tool from the UK Institute of Cancer Research scans tumour cells to pick out women with especially aggressive...
Foreign-trained SA doctors head to court over lack of internships
Some 105 foreign-trained medical doctors battling for internship placements are heading to court, claiming they are being side-lined, reports The Times. The Health Department,...
No compelling evidence of health benefit from non-sugar sweeteners
There is no compelling evidence to indicate important health benefits - weight, glycaemic control, oral health, cancer, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease - of non-sugar...
Brain training does not halt mental decline
A Scottish study shows that people who regularly do intellectual activities throughout life have higher mental abilities. This provides a 'higher cognitive point' from...
Cosatu angered by delays and Health Dept divisions over NHI
The slow pace at which the government is moving on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill has drawn the ire of Cosatu, which plans...
McAlpine’s Law: Quacks rush to fill a vacuum
Science doesn’t have all the answers but the money-making quacks are quick to fill the vacuum, writes MedicalBrief columnist Alastair McAlpine. The unique dependency...
Ice Maidens show women can be as physically resilient as men
Women who underwent extreme physical training and completed a trans-Antarctic expedition did not show any more negative health effects than would be expected in...
Exit of more than 8,000 Cuban doctors puts Brazil in a 'state of panic'
A rupture between Havana and Brazil's new far-right president-elect has triggered the immediate withdrawal of all the more than 8,000 doctors that were part...
When common sense and sound judgment go up in smoke
Government’s proposed anti-tobacco bill lacks any scientific assessment as an underlying principle of legislation, argues Tim Cohen, senior editor of Business Day. In a...
Med scheme actions trigger practitioner calls to 'rein in' and 'rise up'
The SA Private Practitioners Forum has lodged a complaint with the Council for Medical Schemes that the two largest medical schemes — Discovery and...
Implant investigation shows costs of poor regulation and testing
The Prolift vaginal mesh implant was launched despite the company being warned it could shrink and harden inside the body, according to an international...
55% of former ICU patients report symptoms of psychological disorders
Patients who have survived critical illnesses requiring care in an intensive care unit (ICU) frequently report symptoms of anxiety, PTSD and/or depression, found a...
Motsoaledi lashed for saying illegals are burdening health system
Amnesty International and the Public Protector’s Office have lashed Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi over his statement that illegal and undocumented immigrants are putting an...
Mixed results from trials on cardiovascular benefits of fish oil
VITAL and REDUCE-IT – both highly anticipated trials revolving around the cardiovascular benefits of fish oil products – delivered mixed results at this year’s...
UCT in infectious diseases treatment breakthrough
University of Cape Town (UCT) scientists have offered the first hope of addressing the risk of tuberculosis-associated immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (TB-IRIS), which is...
GPs overwhelmingly incorrect in deciding on tonsillectomies
An analysis of over 1.6m children from more than 700 UK general practices over 12 years found that only 13% of children suitable for...
Scan may predict dementia risk a decade before symptoms emerge
A five-minute ulstrasoound scan of blood vessels in the neck could predict a person's risk of developing dementia a full decade before symptoms emerge,...
Link between appendix removal and development of Parkinson's
Removing the appendix early in life reduces the risk of developing Parkinson's disease by 19% to 25%, according to the largest and most comprehensive...
BMI strongly associated with all-cause mortality
Body Mass Index (BMI), a measure of body fat, is linked to risk of death from every major cause except transport accidents, according to...
Not to be sniffed at: Dogs diagnose malaria to better-than WHO standards
In recent tests trained sniffer dogs successfully diagnosed malaria infections simply by sniffing samples from socks worn briefly by children from a malaria endemic...
NICD rebuts research claiming an outbreak of MDR-TB in SA
The SA National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) says it “does not support” the findings of a research study reporting an outbreak of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB),...
Instead of gaining an edge, many competitors lose the plot
Hoping to gain a competitive edge has made weekend warriors and elite athletes, both, vulnerable to pseudoscience and dodgy marketing, writes Digital Clubbing Power...
Nursing failures fuel claims against private hospitals — Stellenbosch study
The failure of nurses at private hospitals to follow guidelines, as well as poor monitoring of patients, lies behind rocketing liability claims, according to...
Summit: A fixit plan by December and a pledge on private healthcare
President Cyril Ramaphosa that there would be a plan by December to tackle SA's public health crisis, speaking at a two-day health summit to...
Surge in the number of C-sections around the world
Globally, the number of babies born through caesarean section (C-section) almost doubled between 2000 and 2015 – from 12% to 21% of all births...
3D mammograms detect more invasive breast cancers
After screening 15,000 women over a period of five years, a major clinical study in Sweden has shown that 3D mammography, or breast tomosynthesis,...
'Discrimination' appeal puts CMS spotlight on obesity surcharge
A Council for Medical Schemes appeal accusing Spectramed of discrimination has spotlighted the 50% surcharge that that surgeons and anaesthetists can levy when operating...
Supreme Court judgment important for covering doctors
The ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal ordering a Durban gynaecologist Dr and Life Healthcare Group to pay R20m for medical negligence, contains...
It’s now your right to smoke marijuana — but don’t bluff yourself that it cures anything
It's not for the state to decide what individuals put into their bodies in their own homes, writes Digital Clubbing columnist Alastair McAlpine. But...
World-first SA liver transplant results support a review of ethics policies
The successful, world-first liver transplant between an HIV-positive woman and her HIV-negative infant, undertaken in South Africa has delivered results, reported in the academic journal...
The domino effect: Are you part of the resistance?
“Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is not just a health issue, it’s a societal issue – it involves all of us,” said Ian Wakefield, BD Africa...
The high lifetime risk of neurological disease
One in two women and one in three men will develop dementia, or Parkinson's disease, or have a stroke in their lifetime. according to...