Lives could be saved with hepatitis C treatment

In a letter to the Medical Journal of Australia published on May 18, 2015, a Monash University-led team is asking for hepatitis C virus patients to gain improved access to drugs to prevent liver related deaths.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major public health burden in Australia, with estimates of 230,000 people chronically infected.

The research team are calling for the government to subsidise a new therapy which has high cure rates, known as direct acting antiviral (DAA) therapy.

Monash University Professor William Sievert said a delay in access to DAA treatment means that thousands of HCV infected patients could die or develop advanced liver disease.

“If we delay just one year, there will be an extra 900 liver related deaths, 800 new cases of cirrhosis and 500 new cases of liver cancer. These staggering numbers double if we wait for two years,” he said.

“During this decade, the therapy should become the norm for the HCV-infected population. However, the high cost of DAA regimens and competing public health priorities may limit the potential impact of new HCV therapies.”

Currently, the cost of DAA treatment is out of reach for most HCV patients.

“The large number of liver-related deaths every year caused by HCV places an enormous burden on our health system,” said Professor Sievert, Department of Medicine at Monash Medical Centre.

“Our research team modelled how the HCV disease burden and associated health care costs in Australia will increase as the infected population ages.”

Monash to conduct study of the health of Morwell residents

 Monash University has been contracted by the Victorian Department of Health to undertake a comprehensive study of the long-term health of Morwell residents following exposure to the smoke from the Hazelwood coal mine fire.

On February 9 this year the Hazelwood open cut brown coal mine in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria, caught fire resulting in the nearby town of Morwell being covered in plumes of smoke and ash over a period of six weeks.

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Vale Dr William (Bill) Orchard

1956 Olympics men's waterpolo team. 
Bill Orchard front row, 2nd from right. 
Photo courtesy ow.ly/DBdlF

Renowned psychiatrist and former Olympian Dr Bill Orchard died last week at the age of 84. Dr Orchard was the driving force behind the development of mental health services in Victorian general hospitals in the 1970s.

Dr Orchard studied to be a psychiatrist in the US and UK as a Fulbright scholar and was later appointed Honorary Psychiatrist, Head of Unit at Prince Henry’s Hospital.

Premier Denis Napthine pledges $120m for specialist cardiac wing at Monash Medical Centre - Herald Sun

Australia’s first specialised cardiac hospital will be based at Melbourne’s MonashHeart under a State Government plan. Full story here.

Second chance at life

The Australian Transplant Games was held in Melbourne last week and School of Biomedical Sciences’ PhD student and kidney transplant recipient Brooke Huuskes competed in a host of events and organised logistics behind the scenes.

Brooke, 29, set herself a huge challenge, competing in the 3km fun run, 20 km cycle, archery, badminton, ten pin bowling, darts, swimming and athletics.

“I wanted to get fit as one side effect of immunosuppressive drugs is weight gain,” Brooke said.

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Bill Gates blogs about Monash medical students and their innovative app to detect anaemia

Jarrel Seah and Jennifer Tang show Bill Gates
the technology behind their winning app,
(Photo credit: Microsoft)

Jarrel Seah and Jennifer Tang have recently become a well known pair of names around Monash since their win at Microsoft's Imagine Cup competition last month. The two medical students won the competition after developing the Eyenaemia app which gives users an anaemia risk assessment based on a self-taken photograph of their lower eyelid. 

IVF and stem cell pioneer set to inspire medical students

Monash medical students in Gippsland are set to be inspired by one of Australia’s pioneers in IVF and stem cell technologies, at an event later this month.

Monash Emeritus Professor Alan Trounson, who led the Australian team responsible for the discovery of human embryonic stem cells in the late 1990’s, will discuss Australia’s contribution to the global revolution of treatments at the free event on Monday 29 September.

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Yearly treatment could slow osteoarthritis

Researchers are trialling a once-a-year treatment to slow osteoarthritis.

Led by Monash University Professor Flavia Cicuttini, the researchers are looking at whether medications currently used to treat osteoporosis, a progressive bone disease, might be able to treat osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis is the most common cause of knee pain in people over 50. It is the third leading cause of disability after depression and dementia, and affects around 1.95 million Australians.

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'Epidemic' proportions of diabetes in Victoria

Professor Leon Bach (Department of Medicine, Monash University; Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Alfred Health) has published research in the Medical Journal of Australia which indicates that diabetes mellitus affects one quarter of patients in Melbourne hospitals. 

The survey was of 2,308 patients over a two year period. The patients are not always in hospital because of the diabetes, but 80% of the diabetic patients already had at least one complication of diabetes, including damage to the heart, circulation, kidneys, eyes, or nerves. Bach says the figures will likely be reflected across Australia, and a national audit is needed.

Journal reference
14 September 2014 Herald Sun article

A/Prof Michael Farrell to appear on ABC's Catalyst for research about the brain's reaction to thirst

Acting Monash Biomedical Imaging Research Platform Manager A/Prof Michael Farrell will be appearing on ABC's Catalyst program on September 25 for his research about the brain's response to thirst.

The study looks at what happens in people's brains at the time they quench their thirst and when they drink more water than they want.

According to A/Prof Farrell who did the research during his time at the University of Melbourne, MRI scans show the brain clamps down on the swallowing reflex once a person has had enough to drink, so we actually have to force ourselves to drink more than we need. 

Click here to read the full study. 

The Michael Kirby Centre for Public Health and Human Rights discusses surrogacy in The Conversation

The Michael Kirby Centre for Public Health and Human Rights' Dr Liz Bishop and Assoc. Prof. Bebe Loff discuss the rights of the child in commercial surrogacy arrangements in The Conversation. The article focuses on the rights of children rather than the rights of parents which has recently been the concerning factor in the debate about surrogacy laws. 

The full article can be read here. 

Dr Liz Bishop Discusses Commercial Surrogacy on ABC’s RN Breakfast with Fran Kelly

Michael Kirby Centre for Public Health and Human Rights' Dr Liz Bishop was interviewed on ABC’s RN Breakfast by Fran Kelly about commercial surrogacy in light of the unfolding debate surrounding baby Gammy. In this interview Liz discusses the potential commodification of a child in a surrogacy arrangement, competing interests of surrogates and parents, and the importance of reorienting the national surrogacy debate to focus on the overarching welfare, best interests and rights of the child.

Listen to the full interview here.