Wildcard

  • No gym or regular routine? Here’s how to stay fit over the holiday break
    The festive season can throw our exercise routines out the window. You might be staying somewhere different, with no access to a gym. Maybe your yoga studio is closed or social sport is on a break. Or you might just be too flat out with social events to find the time. For some people, a…

  • Will the ‘Scandinavian sleep method’ really help me sleep?
    It begins with two people, one blanket, and two very different ideas of what’s a comfortable sleeping temperature. By midnight, one partner is hot and sweaty while the other is freezing. Sounds familiar? You’re not alone. Many couples have nightly arguments over blankets or doonas, bedroom temperature and differing sleep habits. Poor sleep and relationship…

  • Why does my hip hurt? Hip pain can have many causes and mostly doesn’t require surgery
    You can feel hip pain at any stage of life, including childhood, young adulthood and the middle years. This can come as a surprise; many people associate hip pain with old age. It can strike fear into the hearts of those in their 40s or 50s, who may suddenly wonder if old age – or…

  • Christmas is peak kidney stone season. Blame dehydration, the heat and all that food
    Christmas in Australia is a great time to spend enjoying the outdoors, with plenty of good food and drink. But such a combination contributes to this time of year being the peak season for kidney stones. But what exactly are kidney stones? Why is this painful kidney condition more common at this time of year?…

  • Wheelchair? Hearing Aids? Yes. ‘Disabled’? No Way.
    In her house in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Barbara Meade said, “there are walkers and wheelchairs and oxygen and cannulas all over the place.” Barbara, 82, has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, so a portable oxygen tank accompanies her everywhere. Spinal stenosis limits her mobility, necessitating the walkers and wheelchairs and considerable help from her husband, Dennis, who…

  • Is there much COVID around? Do I need the new booster shot LP.8.1?
    COVID rarely rates a mention in the news these days, yet it hasn’t gone away. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, is still with us. It continues to infect thousands of Australians each month, still puts vulnerable people into hospital, sadly still causes deaths and leaves a steady stream of people living with disability from…

  • I’m heading overseas. Do I really need travel vaccines?
    Australia is in its busiest month for short-term overseas travel. And there are so many things to consider when planning your trip. Unfortunately, it’s easy to overlook the importance of pre-travel vaccinations. That’s particularly the case for those visiting friends and relatives, who are less likely to get vaccinated before leaving the country. Unfortunately, this…

  • Can you only poo at home? A gastroenterologist explains what the Germans call ‘heimscheisser’
    Poo anxiety, bashful bowels, shy bowel syndrome: they’re all terms for what’s medically known as parcopresis or difficulty pooping when you’re not at home. The Germans have given a name to this condition: Heimscheißer (pronounced “heimscheisser”), which means “home shitter”. Sufferers experience distress and anxiety at the mere thought of having to use a toilet…

  • The United States CDC has abandoned science in its new advice about vaccines and autism
    The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revised its long-standing guidance about vaccines and autism. The guidance once stated clearly and correctly that the evidence shows no link between vaccines and the development of autism. Now it claims “studies supporting a link [between vaccines and autism] have been ignored by health…

  • How to handle teen ‘big feelings’ as the social media ban kicks in
    Watching your teenager grieve the loss of their social media account can be confronting. Many are genuinely distressed or struggling with the change, and many parents are unsure how to respond. Australia’s social media ban, which started this week, means teens under the age of 16, have lost accounts to platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat…

  • Parents find Health Star Ratings confusing and unhelpful. We need a better food labelling system
    Food labels are intended to support healthy choices. But not all labelling schemes are equal. Australia currently uses a voluntary Health Star Rating system. Food manufacturers can choose to add a star label to their packaging to indicate how it compares to other similar products. Or they can choose not to show a star rating…

  • If parents designed the new ‘Thriving Kids’ program, it’d look like this
    Thriving Kids is a planned national program for children aged eight and under with developmental delay or autism who are assessed as having low to moderate support needs. The idea is to move these children out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and into the new program, with its first services expected from July…

Learn to Age Gracefully

Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails: