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Study on first birth cohort to receive HPV vaccine
Girls in the first birth cohort to receive the HPV vaccine showed a lower degree of dysplasia which may eventually lead to cervical cancer...
SA makes history with 'bold' move on DR-TB drug
South Africa's 'bold' announcement that all drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) patients will be eligible to receive the new medicine, bedaquiline, move may influence the World Health...
Motsoaledi says resignation calls are 'orchestrated' by medical schemes
A group of 99 doctors and academics has sharply criticised public health management and 'unresearched' plans for the introduction of National Health Insurance,reports The...
SA's silence over high stress and burnout among medical professionals
South Africa may be slowly changing the way it speaks about suicide but mental health issues among medical professionals rarely make the headlines. Two...
No benefit from chemo for 70% of those with early breast cancer — TAILORx
Findings from the ground-breaking Trial Assigning Individualised Options for Treatment (Rx) (TAILORx) trial, show no benefit from chemotherapy for 70% of women with the...
Loneliness links to poor heart outcomes and doubled mortality risk
Loneliness is bad for the heart and a strong predictor of premature death, according to a study presented at EuroHeartCare 2018, the European Society...
SA healthcare: It's not collapsed, merely distressed — Motsoaledi
While Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi this week claimed that government health services were just 'distressed', a Office of Health Standards Compliance (OHSC) report...
Motsoaledi slams 'murderers' but Nehawu is defiant
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union’s (Nehawu’s) is under fire over last week's violent protests in Gauteng hospitals, with Health Minister Dr...
Ground-breaking immunotherapy clears advanced breast cancer
A woman with advanced breast cancer which had spread around her body has been completely cleared of the disease by a ground-breaking therapy that...
WHO, EMA and FDA warn on 'wonder' drug and birth defects
Within a week, the 'revolutionary' HIV drug dolutegravir has gone from being highly regarded to being the subject of international warnings. Health-e News reports that recent...
Sex differences in the human brain — long-awaited Edinburgh study
The largest single-sample study of structural and functional sex differences in the human brain has been attracting attention for more than a year, but...
Cancer services take strain as radiation oncologists leave SA state sector
SA has just 38 state-employed radiation oncologists, of which 16 are in the Western Cape, according to the annual survey conducted by the...
As-needed combo-drug inhaler a viable treatment solution in mild asthma
A large international trial has found an as-needed combined-drug inhaler treatmet that is a viable option with mild asthma, where up to 80% of...
Clopidogrel and aspirin lower risk of major stroke after TIA
After a minor stroke or a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), taking the clot-preventing drug clopidogrel along with aspirin may lower risk of having a...
Antibiotics the main cause of anaphylaxis during surgery
Antibiotics are the main cause of life-threatening allergic reactions during surgery, according to a Royal College of Anaesthetistsreport. More patients are claiming to be...
Partial knee replacement often better and cheaper alternative
A large University of Oxford study found that many more patients could be given a partial knee replacement instead of a total knee replacement,...
Violent hospital blockades continue despite Parliament's 'concern'
While a parliamentary committee has decried the blockading of hospitals by strikers, demands by North West doctors that the SA Department of Health guarantee...
Five healthy habits may increase life expectancy by at least 12 years
Maintaining five healthy habits – eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, keeping a healthy body weight, not drinking too much alcohol, and not smoking...
Significantly higher death rates in blood type O severe trauma patients
Blood type O was significantly associated with high mortality in severe trauma patients and might have a great impact on outcomes., according to a...
Hospital staff bear brunt of anger after death of Alfie
The British baby Alfie Evans has died, bringing into the spotlight a host of legal and ethical issues around the treatment of patients in...
Certain anticholinergic drugs increase dementia risk
Use of certain anticholinergic drugs – that help to control involuntary muscle movements for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease – is associated with an...
Chronic inflammation in middle age linked to increased frailty when older
A study, led by Johns Hopkins Medicine investigators, of nearly 6,000 Americans followed for 24 years from middle to late adulthood found that having...
Doctors plead for resolution of North West Health crisis
Doctors in North West Province have broken their silence over the ongoing health crisis in the province, calling for urgent intervention to resolve the...
London summit pledges $4.1bn to eradicate malaria
The worldwide resurgence of malaria, which kills half a million people a year, has sparked philanthropists, business leaders and ministers from donor and malaria-affected...
Motsoaledi ends port testing for listeriosis, despite more deaths and infections
The death toll from South Africa's listeriosis outbreak has reached 199, with 50 new infections reported since the recall of implicated products on 4...
SA takes first step towards producing its own vaccines again
The Biovac Institute (Biovac) has been awarded a manufacturing licence by a South African regulator, taking it one step closer to realising the government’s...
Research explores lifestyle effects – preconception – on future children
Couples who are obese, as well as those who smoke and drink alcohol, could be risking the health of their future children, reports The Guardian....
Progressive interventions needed to stem medical litigation 'explosion'
As Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi described soaring medical malpractice litigation claims in South Africa as an “explosion”, it was revealed that Gauteng Health...
Pertussis resurgence: Incomplete coverage and vaccination 'hesitancy'
The resurgence of whooping cough in the US is a predictable consequence of incomplete coverage, especially among schoolchildren with a highly effective vaccine, research...
'Fateful Life Events' affect ageing and mortality risk
A sudden substantial financial loss in middle-age or older people, is associated with an up to 50% higher risk of death, found a US...
Meat protein increases CVD risk by 60% but nut and seed protein beneficial
A large US/French study found that meat protein is associated with a 60% increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) while while people who consumed...
NICD refutes DA claims on listeriosis source; death toll still rising
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) expressed 'major concern' over Democratic Alliance claims that the primary source of the outbreak was still unknown and that the Minister...
Losing teeth in middle-age linked to CVD risk
Losing two or more teeth in middle-age is associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's...
NSAIDs could prevent onset of Alzheimer's — Canadian study
Once identified, those at risk of Alzheimer's disease can prevent disease development through self treatment by consumption of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), adhering to...
AMD stem cell treatment restores reading vision
The first patients to receive a new treatment derived from stem cells for people with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) have regained reading vision...
Statistics SA: The swings and roundabouts of how we die
In 2016 women in South Africa were 36% more likely to die from diabetes than from the combination of car accidents, violent crime, suicide,...
SA targets cerebral palsy claims to staunch flood of negligence actions
Cerebral palsy (CP) claims form more than half of Gauteng Health medical negligence payouts this year, says the province's legal director Mpelegeng Lebeloane, in...
Flu injection lowers mortality risk in people with heart failure
For people with heart failure, getting a seasonal influenza (flu) vaccine in a given year was associated with a 50% drop in the risk...
Respiratory virus contagion risk while flying
A US study of transcontinental flights found that Passengers seated within one row and within two seats laterally of a passenger with flu had...
Regimen change may halve cryptococcal meningitis deaths
The Advancing Cryptococcal Treatment for Africa (ACTA) Trial shows relatively simple regimen changes can cut mortality rates in the region of 70% to 25-30%....