Medical

Every good marketer will tell you: it’s all about the packaging. In today’s consumerist society, we’ve come to expect that products however basic and functional must be branded in a way that resonates with us through an appealing and somewhat sexy packaging.

But can we think along the same lines when it comes to cancer? Should we judge the potency of a cancer based on its packaging and what makes some cancers sexier than other? Is this simply because some cancer types benefit from celebrity endorsement and that in turn makes the cause sexy? Or is it because the more common and widespread the cancer is, the more attention it receives from the media and consumers?

Every year we see a wave of support come through for cancer types like leukaemia, melanoma and breast cancer with prolific media coverage and increased public awareness whilst other cancers remain in the background, overshadowed either because they have lower incidence rates or because they occur in parts of the body we shy away from publicising.

Continue reading "Unsexy forms of cancer deserve our attention too" »

Scientists today published preliminary studies into a new contraceptive for men, designed to be worn as a slow release patch or as an implant under the skin. 

Previous efforts at male contraception have suffered from several drawbacks, namely compliance of the males, and lack of trust on behalf of the female partners to believe that their beloved male is actually taking the contraceptive.

Females have always been keen to be the primary users of contraceptive, since they are left holding the baby, so to speak.  This new form of contraceptive solves both these problems in a unique and stimulating way.

Continue reading "New contraceptive linked to men’s animal urges" »

Recently in South Australia, the local reproductive medicine outfit had, for want of a better term, a “sperm drive’‘.

The campaign, conceived on the cheap, pleaded with Aussie blokes not to “waste’’ their sperm.

It was wildly successful. The number of sperm donors in SA jumped 100 per cent. From two to four.

Continue reading "Should kids give a toss about their sperm donor dads?" »

I’m passionate about organ transplants in Australia and I reckon you should be as well.

Australia has had a terrible history of underperformance when it comes to organ and tissue transplants when compared with most other developed countries.

It has simply been un-Australian. The bottom line is that lives have been lost unnecessarily. Fortunately there are early signs we’re starting to turn that disgraceful underperformance around. But a lot more needs to be done. A lot more. And each and everyone of you has a role to play.

Continue reading "Hundreds of Australians die for want of organs" »