Guest Author • Mar 29, 2021 •
Jim Mann, University of Otago Type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in New Zealand and will get much worse unless action is taken now, according to a new report on the economic and social cost of the disease. Already 228,000 New Zealanders (4.7% of the population) have type 2 diabetes. The estimated annual cost is NZ$2.1 billion — … Read More
Public Health Expert • Oct 07, 2020 •
Dr Cristina Cleghorn, Dr Leah Grout, Dr Anja Mizdrak, Prof Nick Wilson Approximately 5.5% of NZ adults have been diagnosed with diabetes. In this blog we summarise our recent modelling work that suggests that further investment in interventions of proven effectiveness to prevent type 2 diabetes could substantially benefit health, reduce health inequalities, and save billions in health sector … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Jul 06, 2018 •
In the New Zealand media and social media people are talking about this genetically modified ‘Impossible Burger’. Except it’s not. Sorry everyone, but it really isn’t genetically modified. What was genetic engineered is a yeast that makes one of the ingredients used in the ‘Impossible Burger’. It’s just a different way of making that ingredient. The ingredient is the same … Read More
Guest Author • Apr 19, 2018 •
Aurelien Forget, Queensland University of Technology; Darling Rojas-Canales, University of Adelaide, and Tim Dargaville, Queensland University of Technology This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. We have developed “smart egg-carton” packages for transporting live human pancreas cells for transplantation to diabetic patients. The egg-cartons provide oxygen and … Read More
Jean Balchin • Apr 13, 2018 •
According to a study published in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, although global rates of mental disorders in children have remained stable over time, the decline of infectious diseases will place mental disorders among the main causes of disease in children aged 4-15 years. In the study, Marie-Laure Baranne and Bruno Falissard at INSERM, France describe the prevalence of mental … Read More
Public Health Expert • Apr 03, 2018 •
Prof Tony Blakely, Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Anja Mizdrak, Dr Cristina Cleghorn From 1 April 2018, the UK is putting in place a type of sugary drinks tax – actually a “soft drinks industry levy”. This blog reviews how they are doing it, early signs of its success, and ponders its relevance for NZ. We also take this opportunity to … Read More
Jean Balchin • Mar 26, 2018 •
A comprehensive study lead by a team of leading international researchers has found significant links between medical interventions used in the birthing process – such as caesarean section and induction – and a child’s long-term health. Illustration depicting Caesarean section. Blausen.com staff (2014). “Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014”. WikiJournal of Medicine 1 Western Sydney University collaborated with University … Read More
Guest Author • Mar 13, 2018 •
Kieron Rooney, University of Sydney This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. The World Health Organisation recommends limiting “free sugars” to less than 10% of our total energy intake. This equates to around 12 teaspoons a day for an average adult. But more than half of Australian adults exceed … Read More
Jean Balchin • Feb 23, 2018 •
It seems that almost everyone these days has a fitbit, or some other form of wearable sensor for personal fitness tracking. However, a research article published in the open access journal PLOS Biology has revealed that these finicky little devices can be used to gain new insights in several fields of biomedical research. Weng Khong Lim and colleagues from the SingHealth … Read More
Public Health Expert • Mar 24, 2017 •
Professor Tony Blakely, Dr Kirsten Coppell, Dr Cristina Cleghorn, Dr Andrea Teng Is body mass index (BMI) relentlessly increasing in NZ, or plateauing? In this blog we present trends in BMI by ethnicity in NZ going back to the 1980s. Over the last four decades the annual increase in BMI is linear, relentless increasing; no sign of a plateau, yet. Read More