Photo: Flickr Christopher Lance CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

What do newborn babies, children who have been severely deprived of human contact, people with autism, and blind mothers have in common? On the surface, not much. But they provide a common theme for understanding how social and communication skills develop in early life.

We are born with basic visual biases, which make us look at faces, as if by reflex (nature). By regularly looking at a parent who talks, smiles, and looks back affectionately at us, we come to understand more about each of these things (nurture). Through this combination of brain-wiring and early experiences, we are set up to become the adults we will be.

Photo: iStockphoto

Recently released government figures show levels of childhood vaccination have fallen to dangerously low levels in some areas of Australia, resulting in some corners of the media claiming re-ignition of “the vaccine debate”.

You can check how your postcode rates here.

Well, scientifically, there’s no debate. In combination with clean water and sanitation, vaccines are one of the most effective public health measures ever introduced, saving millions of lives every year.

Photo: iStockphoto

As healthcare professionals, we know that it is very difficult to quantify pain. In nursing school, we are taught that pain is present when the patient says it is, and we use various tools in an attempt to 'rate' a patient’s level of pain, such as numeric rating scales.

We are also taught that our own personal opinions and judgments have no place in treating our patients’ pain. We become skilled at reading non-verbal cues that may mean that pain is present, such as facial grimacing, moaning and body positioning.

Photo: iStockphoto

Australians are increasingly drinking alcohol to get drunk but just one in five believe they drink too much.

The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education’s annual alcohol poll, released recently, found that 40 per cent of Australians say they drink to get drunk, up from 35 per cent in 2011, with half of those defining being drunk as slurring speech or losing balance.

Photo: Flickr David T Jones CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Australia spends more than $130 billion each year on health, approximately 9.2% of our GDP. The outcome of this and other investments is that our life expectancy puts us very high on the global “league table”.

But a recent Grattan Institute report has pointed out that health expenditure is one of the major drivers of budget deficits. Growth in health spending above GDP over the past ten years was greater than the growth above GDP of all other spending combined.

Photo: iStockphoto

When it comes to sexual health, the virus that causes those tingling blisters and angry sores of genital herpes is often the most reviled and feared.

Most cases of genital herpes in humans are caused by the herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), which affects around 12 per cent of Australian adults.

With a reputation for causing unpredictable and unsightly outbreaks in the nether regions and the fact that it stays with you for life, it’s little wonder people are often reluctant to divulge that they have the condition. Telling prospective partners can be more excruciating than the condition itself.