The Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute is dedicated to reducing ill health and mortality caused by the effects of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. With a focus on diagnosis, prevention and treatment, Baker’s work also extends to wide-scale community studies. Baker IDI and its researchers interact with and obtain funding from a variety of external partners, including government, private donors and industry partners.
Living in Australia, we’re used to flying long distances. So you’ve probably wondered about the risk of developing a deep vein thrombosis. Perhaps you’ve even considered buying some pressure stockings…
High salt diets make children more likely to drink soft drinks according to new research from Deakin University.
Dion Gillard
Sugary drinks may get most of the attention in discussions about Australia’s obesity epidemic, but new research from Deakin University has found salt may be a silent contributor to the problem. The study…
Prolonged sitting activates an alarm and light to encourage the user to move around.
Gemma Ryde, University of Queensland.
Researchers have developed a new office chair “sitting pad” that sounds an alarm when its owner has been sitting too long. Prolonged sitting can contribute to musculoskeletal problems such as back pain…
Many people die while waiting for dialysis, or after finding the daily visits to a dialysis unit impossible to manage.
Michael Coghlan
Diabetes rates in Australia are high but its prevalence in the Indigenous population is between three and four times higher than the rest of the population. And we are fast running out of time to stop…
Two weight-loss drugs are currently available in Australia, with another two recently approved by the American FDA.
HeavyWeightGeek
A new compound that leads to weight loss in obese mice could help in the development of a new class of anti-obesity drugs for humans, scientists say – though this could take many years. The drug works…
Men generally prefer higher concentrations of sweet compared with women.
Ethan
My wife says she has a sweet tooth. But doesn’t everyone? It’s universal to the human condition (as well as the human palate) to like something sweet. It may even be an evolutionary advantage to seek out…
Australians from higher socioeconomic backgrounds are less likely to struggle with excess weight.
Ed Yourdon
OBESE NATION: It’s time to admit it – Australia is becoming an obese nation. This series looks at how this has happened and, more importantly, what we can do to stop the obesity epidemic. Here, Kathryn…
One in four Australians are now obese. But when – and how – did we gain this weight?
Kyle May
OBESE NATION: It’s time to admit it - Australia is becoming an obese nation. Today we launch a series looking at how this has happened and, more importantly, what we can do to stop the obesity epidemic…
Many people blame laziness and ready access to attractive, energy-dense foods for the obesity epidemic.
modenadude/Flickr
Like politics, football and global warming, obesity is a topic that attracts huge attention in the media as well as talk on the street and in coffee lounges. This is not surprising since it is the most…
If any difference exists at all, it’s imperceptibly small, at less than 0.2°C.
Ms Cafe
Holding a body close to you, it’s easy to appreciate the warmth a human body can generate. Humans are “warm-blooded” animals. We’re able to effectively maintain a stable internal temperature, even on cold…
Researchers are only now investigating the link between type 2 diabetes and frailty.
nyxmedia
People with type 2 diabetes are at risk of a number of complications from the disease such as nerve damage, kidney disease and vision disorders. So it’s no surprise that clinicians devote a lot of time…
Aboriginal elders will help lay the path for health-care innovation in Indigenous communities.
aia web team
The notion of walking backwards into the future describes the value we can derive from remembering and understanding our past, in order to best prepare for a better tomorrow. We can’t do this without properly…
Those who continue to be physically and mentally active throughout their life seem to age more slowly.
Garry Knight
Ageing is the sum of many processes acting in concert to produce the signs and symptoms we know as “getting old”. Of course, there’s no way to stop the ageing process, but a better understanding of the…
At the turn of the 20th century, life expectancy in Australia was just 55 years for men and 59 for women. Thanks to medical breakthroughs and technological advances, the average Australian woman can now…
Listening to whale sounds on your in-flight earphones may just, and only just, get you through the main course without incident.
redjar
Many people find being high up an unpleasant experience. This is not just mountain sickness or acrophobia – it turns out our taste buds too have no head for heights. Taste is not just determined by the…
Peanuts may alleviate some symptoms but they won’t cure your motion sickness.
Jetstar Airways
At the start of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, the ever-resourceful Ford Prefect buys four packets of salted peanuts, ostensibly to prevent motion sickness. We sometimes get them on flights too…
Just getting off your chair regularly and moving around is enough to improve your health.
Victor1558
I’ve never been a smoker but lately I’ve started to take on some of the same zeal of reformed addicts. You see, a few years ago, I took a long, hard look at myself and decided to kick one of the most unnecessary…
Pharmaceutical companies are working in partnership with academia to bring drug candidates to clinical development.
Spark/Flickr
The 2008 global financial crisis and an impending “patent cliff” have had a profound impact on the profitability of the pharmaceutical industry – they have made it change how it works. So, to maintain…
There’s no biological evidence to show that chocolate can affect your libido.
Roxanne Cooke
There are many ways to a woman’s heart. But is a box of chocolates really one of them? What makes chocolate romantic is entirely contextual. Valentine’s Day is traditionally the time for couples to profess…
Successful weight losers have higher levels of nerve activity than those who struggle to lose weight.
Flickr/the great
If you put a group of people on a calorie-restricted diet, you’ll see that some seem to lose weight easily, while others struggle to shed each pound. This difference doesn’t just come down to how much…
Interventional Cardiologist, Alfred Hospital; Professor of Medicine and Immunology, Monash University; Professor and Head, Department of Cardiometabolic Health, University of Melbourne; Lab Head, Atherothrombosis and Vascular Biology and Deputy Director, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute