Q85 Medical and Other Health Care Services

Forever chemicals found in blood of 97 per cent of Victorians

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Original article by Adam Carey
The Age – Page: Online : 28-May-25

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that 97.1 per cent of people aged 12+ nationwide have a detectable concentration of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in their bloodstream. Some 98.9 per cent of Tasmanians were found to have the synthetic chemicals in their bloodstream, compared with 97.3 per cent of Victorians and just 91.2 per cent of Northern Territory residents. Professor Stuart Khan from the University of Sydney says the data is "shocking but not surprising", given that everybody is exposed to these chemicals. He adds that the findings are broadly in line with overseas studies.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

Sigma shareholders tick $34bn chemist deal

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Original article by Cameron England
The Australian – Page: 16 : 30-Jan-25

More than 97 per cent of votes cast at a meeting of Sigma Healthcare shareholders on Wednesday were in favour of the proposed $34bn merger with Chemist Warehouse. Shareholders of the privately-owned Chemist Warehouse subsequently backed the deal later in the day at a pub in Melbourne’s north. Sigma’s chairman Michael Sammells says the merger is expected to generate about $60m worth of synergies, but he notes that there will be a lot of integration work given that the two companies are very different organisations. The merged group is slated to list on the sharemarket in mid-February.

CORPORATES
SIGMA HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX SIG, CHEMIST WAREHOUSE

How we die in Australia

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Original article by Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 11-Oct-24

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the nation recorded a total of 183,131 deaths in 2023. This is more than four per cent lower than the previous calendar, which is primarily due to a sharp fall in the number of deaths from COVID-19. The number of deaths from heart disease – which has been the biggest cause of death in Australia for at least six decades – fell to 16,922. In contrast, the number of deaths from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease rose to 16,685; Lauren Moran from the ABS says current trends suggest that this will become the leading cause of death in Australia in coming years. She cities factors such as the nation’s ageing population and improvements in medical care and treatment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Nobel prize in medicine awarded to scientists for work on microRNA

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Original article by Nicola Davis
The Guardian – Page: Online : 8-Oct-24

The Nobel assembly has announced that the 2024 Nobel prize in medicine has been awarded to Victor Ambros of the University of Massachusetts medical school, and Gary Ruvkun of the Harvard medical school and Massachusetts general hospital. Ambros and Ruvkun won the award for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation, with Olle Kampe, vice-chair of the Nobel committee for physiology or medicine, commenting that "microRNAs are important for our understanding of embryological development, normal cell physiology, and diseases such as cancer".

CORPORATES
NOBEL FOUNDATION, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL

CSL wins global H5 avian flu vaccine contracts as outbreak risk rises

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Original article by Tom Burton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 16-Jul-24

CSL has secured a deal to supply 4.8 million vials of its avian influence vaccine to the US. The European Union has in turn agreed to buy 650,000 doses, with an option to buy an additional 40 million shots. Jonathan Anderson from CSL’s Seqirus subsidiary says the zoonotic vaccines can be given to high-risk groups in the US and the EU, such as poultry, dairy and healthcare workers. CSL’s deals come amid growing global concern about the H5N1 bird flu virus, which has spread to every continent except Australia. Three different strains of the less severe H7 strain of bird flu has been detected in Australia.

CORPORATES
CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, SEQIRUS PTY LTD

Early blood test to predict dementia is step closer as biological markers identified

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Original article by Ian Sample
The Guardian – Page: Online : 13-Feb-24

Analysis of blood samples collected from over 50,000 healthy volunteers enrolled in the UK Biobank project has resulted in researchers identifying patterns of four proteins that predicted the onset of dementia. When combined with traditional risk factors such as age and gender, it has enabled the researchers to forecast dementia with an estimated 90% accuracy almost 15 years before people received clinical confirmation of the disease. With over 55 million people currently living with dementia worldwide, the research is seen as a major step towards developing a blood test that can predict dementia years before a formal diagnosis

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‘King Charles effect’: Aussie prostate checks surge

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Original article by Adella Beaini
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 30-Jan-24

The Urological Society of Australia & New Zealand’s vice-president Damien Bolton has welcomed the decision by King Charles III to publicly disclose his treatment for an enlarged prostate. He says the news has had an immediate impact in Australia, with a sharp increase in the number of men seeking to have their prostate checked. Professor Bolton notes that men have traditionally been reluctant to speak about prostate issues and surgery, but the King’s announcement is ‘normalising’ the conversation about this health issue. He adds that prostate checks will save many lives in the long-run.

CORPORATES
UROLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

Aussie researchers make huge discovery in melanoma treatment

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Original article by Parker McKenzie
The New Daily – Page: Online : 23-Jan-24

More than 15,000 people in Australia are diagnosed with melanoma every year. However, a Melbourne-based research team has discovered a T cell that can migrate into tumours and eradicate melanoma. The CD4+ T cells have been injected into mice that have melanoma, and the study’s lead author Dr Emma Bawden says a very small dose of the cells has been able to cure the mice. The researchers are based at Melbourne University and the Peter Doherty Institute.

CORPORATES
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. PETER DOHERTY INSTITUTE FOR INFECTION AND IMMUNITY

Lung cancer is closely linked to smoking, so why are so many Australians who have never lit up dying of it?

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Original article by Katie Hampson
The West Australian – Page: Online : 15-Mar-23

About 80 per cent of people who develop lung cancer are smokers or ex-smokers. However, Melissa Treby from Cancer Council Western Australia says it is estimated that 16.1 per cent of lung cancer cases in men and 28.9 per cent in women that will be diagnosed in Australia between 2017 and 2026 will not be attributable to active smoking. She says other known risk factors include exposure to occupational carcinogens such as silica dust, asbestos and diesel engine exhaust. People may also be at heightened risk of lung cancer if they have a family history of the disease.

CORPORATES
CANCER COUNCIL WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Cochlear takes long-term view on China

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: 15 : 23-Feb-22

Hearing implant maker Cochlear has posted a 2021-22 interim net profit of $169.3m, which is 28 per cent lower than previously. However, its underlying net profit rose 26 per cent to $158m and revenue was 10 per cent higher at $815.3m. Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of $1.55 per share, which is 35 per cent higher than previously. Meanwhile, CEO Dig Howitt says the ongoing tensions between Australia and China will not affect Cochlear’s investment plans in China; the company is about to commission a $50m manufacturing plant in China, and Howitt says it is committed to China for the long-term.

CORPORATES
COCHLEAR LIMITED – ASX COH