New heart-health app revealed

A revolutionary new app that gives a “heart health check” in 60 seconds using only a smart phone camera could ultimately replace the currently used echocardiography, according to a new paper published recently. By holding the phone up against a patient’s neck for one minute, the technology measures the tiny amount of displacement in the…

How morning sickness feels!

Disclaimer – The author of this piece is male – he does not know what morning sickness feels like, but his wife does. This is his attempt to understand more. Pregnancy can be one of the most exciting times in the life of a pending new parent. As a male, you observe and work to…

Osher 1

Channel 10’s The Bachelor championing Australia’s mental health

Life’s not all a bed of roses for the host of Channel 10’s The Bachelor. The Bachelor host and member of Brisbane’s HIT 105 breakfast radio team, Osher Günsberg, has been battling mental illness for many years now. In 2006, at his colleague’s insistence, he sought professional help for his anxiety. He was subsequently diagnosed…

Cracking the genetic code of clinical depression

The Australian arm to a huge international study into the genetics of depression is on its way to recruiting 20,000 participants to try to crack the genetic code to depression. The interim data released today has shown that more than two-thirds of Australian study participants have tried at least two antidepressants to treat their clinical…

Man and flu virus

Reported flu cases at record high

Australia looks set for a record number of flu cases this winter with over 75,000 lab-confirmed incidences already this year. Shockingly, that number is twice as many as were recorded in the whole of 2016 and could lead to a record high for 15 years. Many more Australians are likely to have been suffering with…

Check-in fitbit

Conventional methods of dealing with mental health not working

According to the nation’s largest, proactive, online mental health check, conventional approaches to managing mental health are expensive, time-consuming and inaccurate. Australia’s Biggest Mental Health Check-in – an innovative digital public health initiative, in conjunction with Medibio’s world first wearable objective test for the diagnosis of depression and other mental health disorders, designed to measure,…

Tractor in a field

Occupational exposure link to COPD found

According to an Australian study released this week, workers exposed to herbicides in their workplace are more than twice as likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by the time they reach middle age. For those exposed to pesticides, there is a 74 per cent increased chance of developing COPD. The British Medical Journal…

VIVA! colleagues and John Seng

GHPR founder John Seng to be inducted into Hall of Fame

VIVA! Communications is thrilled to see the announcement today that GLOBALHealthPR (GHPR) founder, John Seng, is to be inducted into the National Capital Public Relations (NCPR) Hall of Fame. Seng will be honoured at the Public Relations Society of America’s annual gala in October this year following a decades long career in the industry. Working…

Stack of pills in blisters

Australian Government to implement “life-saving” real time monitoring for prescription medicines

Federal Health Minister, The Hon. Greg Hunt MP announced the Turnbull Government’s plan to invest over $16 million to deliver the national roll-out of real time prescription monitoring for medicines to address the needless loss of life from misuse of these drugs, today (July 28, 2017). A statement from the Minister’s office cites the ‘Real…