The Sydney Morning Herald logo
The Sydney Morning Herald logo

Health

Advertisement

The Australians most likely to die from accidental drug overdoses

For the first time since records began, accidental fatality rates are being driven by this middle-aged group.

  • Annika Smethurst

Latest

Kate Daly and her husband, Hugh, with their son, Will and daughters Grace, Emmaline and Ellen in 2016.

The common but deadly virus most pregnant women have never heard of

Pregnant women with young children are at high risk of infection. There are three simple things that can reduce the risk in unborn babies.

  • Kate Aubusson
German shepherds and smaller breeds are being used to detect illicit drugs in psychiatric units.

Hospitals turn to sniffer dogs to combat illicit drugs in wards

The use of sniffer dogs inside closed psychiatric wards has divided mental health experts, as hospitals try to balance the invasion of patient privacy against the risks posed by illicit substances.

  • Grant McArthur and Kieran Rooney
Bronte and her mum, Bronwyn Cousins, at home.

Bronte calls for her mum in the dark of night, scared of dying. There is no cure for her condition

Bronte Cousins is the only child in Australia with ALS. She is just 14.

  • Emily Kaine
Cheryl Priest was diagnosed with pancreatic and lung cancer in 2021. She wonders if she would have been diagnosed earlier if she hadn’t skipped routine blood checks.

During COVID, Cheryl skipped tests. Then a ‘fake tan’ comment forced her to the GP

Oncologists are warning of waves of recurrent cancers due to later-stage diagnoses following the pandemic.

  • Henrietta Cook and Melissa Cunningham
Caroline Yarnell at her home in Manly Vale with her son’s teddy Grandpa Cuthbert.

What happened to Gus? Parents fight for answers over son’s death days after hospital discharge

Gus was the golden boy of his northern beaches community. Police told his father that his death was totally preventable.

  • Kate Aubusson
Advertisement
Staff at Westmead’s biocontainment centre are prepared for the next outbreak.

Inside Sydney’s future-proof quarantine centre

With separate plumbing and high-tech sanitisation, Westmead’s biocontainment centre was built to spare us from Ebola and hantavirus.

  • Rachel Rasker
Health workers carry a coffin with the body of Reverend Sylvestre Atama who died from Ebola in the DRC.

Inside the town at the frontline of the Ebola epidemic

Medical workers, armed with the most rudimentary equipment and a dwindling supply of protective suits, masks and water, are waging a desperate fight against a deadly disease.

  • Declan Walsh
Lyndsay Bourke sought the advice of a councillor to help guide her son, Billy through their family’s grief.

‘Did she look like me?’ How Lyndsay found the right words after her daughter died

Families grieving for lost babies too often move on rather than seek help.

  • Kate Aubusson
Many teenagers are learning about sex online instead of via effective parental and school education, according to a new study.

Safe sex decline: Teenage condom use hits 30-year low

Parental and high school sexual health education is failing to meet the needs of young people, who are increasingly learning about relationships and wellbeing online.

  • Bridie Smith