Health archive

Taha Samet Arslan/Pexels Have you ever wondered why savoury foods like chips, nachos and salted nuts go so well with a beer or glass of wine? And why sometimes you feel an insatiable appetite for junk food while drinking? Our new study examined the diets and alcohol intake of Australians to find out...

Have you heard someone say online or in casual conversation, when responding to someone’s struggles, “well, the body keeps the score”? For many people, this phrase is a useful way to name the physical toll stress and trauma can take when the body is in “fight or flight” mode. The everyday use of t...

Doing a load of laundry involves lots of decisions – from which cycle to choose to what detergent to use. These choices may seem like simple personal preferences. But in communities where skin and other infections are common, doing laundry is often part of medical advice. Washing clothes and beddin...

When it comes to Ebola outbreaks, it’s not often we have two pieces of good news in one week. First, we heard there’s new funding of up to US$62 million to fast-track the development of vaccine candidates against the type of virus circulating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and neighbo...

Getty Images Parents know how easily coughs, colds and other infections can move through a household after a child picks up a bug at childcare or school. This puts babies with older siblings at greater risk of serious infectious illness, especially while their immune systems are still developing du...

SDI Productions/Getty Images If you’ve ever taken your child to a maternal, child and family health nurse for a growth check, you might have felt a mix of curiosity and anxiety. As health professionals, we’re often asked: is my baby gaining enough weight? Am I feeding enough? Why did they drop a per...

Worldwide, at least 40 million children aged 13–15 use tobacco products, and young people’s use of e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches continues to rise. In advance of World No Tobacco Day – 31 May – the World Health Organization (WHO) urges governments around the world to protect a new generation fro...

To the people of DRC, especially to the people of Ituri  Jambo kwenu wakahaji wa Ituri  Mbote na bino, bato ya Ituri  My name is Tedros, and I am the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). But today, I am not writing to you as an official. I am writing to you as someone who knows y...

Roos Koole/Getty Images Some mornings when you wake up, your head is fuzzy, your body is heavy, and you don’t feel rested. It felt like you were dreaming all night. But did all that dreaming actually wear you out? Let’s look at what the science says. We all dream, but not everyone remembers it Most...