AUTISM-VACCINE LINK PAPER RETRACTED
A controversial scientific paper which linked autism to childhood vaccination was this week retracted by the world's most respected medical journal The Lancet.
The journal said it was acting in the light of a critical ethics judgment by Britain's General Medical Council against Andrew Wakefield, the study's lead researcher.
"We fully retract this paper from the published record," The Lancet's editors said in a statement published online.
The 1998 paper suggested there might be a connection between autism and a triple vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).
The paper prompted a slump in childhood vaccination rates, including in Australia, and then rising cases of preventable disease.
"It has become clear that several elements of the 1998 study by Wakefield et al are incorrect, contrary to the findings of an earlier investigation," The Lancet said.
CRY FOR HELP SOMETIMES IGNORED
Almost one in three Australians who survive a suicide or self harming attempt are not then referred for on-going mental health treatment, a survey shows.
More than half were not offered psychological therapy, and 80 per cent failed to receive any sort of suicidal crisis plan.
Mental Health group SANE surveyed 285 people diagnosed with mental illness who had attempted suicide or self-harm.
Executive director Barbara Hocking said it revealed a "hit and miss" approach of suicide prevention strategies.
"The alarm bells should be ringing very loud," she said.
The survey also found about three-quarters of the respondents said they had talked to someone about their suicidal thoughts, and more than half contacted a helpline.
* Contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) or visit www.beyondblue.org.au.
WARNING ON HEALTH SUPPLEMENT
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has been urged to review a popular body builders' supplement - linked to one death in the United States - after an Australian man fell ill.
The 23-year-old man needed treatment in a Sydney hospital for an inflamed liver, after he took a supplement promoted as a dietary and muscle-toning aid.
Doctors who treated the man say he was the "first reported Australian case of acute hepatotoxicity associated with the weight-loss product Hydroxycut Hardcore".
"... We advise medical practitioners and consumers in this country to be wary of the product and call on the TGA to re-examine its continued availability," said doctors N Nudrat Rashid, of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and Jason Grant of Ryde Hospital.
The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moved in May last year to warn US consumers to stop using the product.
Australian users were also then told to "exercise caution" by the TGA, which said the supplement sold here had a different formula than that sold in the US.
ARE YOU READING THIS ONLINE?
A UK study has probed the phenomenon of internet addiction, and found those who spent the most time online were also likely to show signs of depression.
Research by psychologists at the University of Leeds found internet addicts spent proportionately more time browsing sexually gratifying websites, online gaming sites and online communities.
It also found "excessive internet use is associated with depression, but what we don't know is which comes first - are depressed people drawn to the internet or does the internet cause depression?"
"What is clear, is that for a small subset of people, excessive use of the internet could be a warning signal for depressive tendencies," said lead author Dr Catriona Morrison.
The study took in internet users aged 16 to 51, and the average age of problem use was 21.
Just 1.2 per cent of the internet users were classed as being addicted. While small, this figure was double the UK's incidence of gambling addiction.
THE GOOD OIL ON SALT
About a third of Australians consume unhealthy levels of salt, the nation's food authority has estimated.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) said a healthy intake was no more than 2,300 mg of sodium a day, or the equivalent to about six grams of salt.
FSANZ said an estimated 34 per cent of Australians were consuming more than this recommended level of salt daily.
Among this group, five per cent consumed more than 8.5 grams of salt each day.
Most of the salt in a person's diet (80 per cent) comes from processed foods, with less coming from salt used at the table or in home cooking.
Yet more comes from naturally occurring sodium or sodium-containing food additives, and this is not included in FSANZ's estimates.
The average daily salt consumption of Australians aged over two years was 5.5 grams, within the recommended range.
