An in vitro fertilisation milestone, a new form of sex therapy for older women and no-cut, no-scar heart surgery for Australians topped medical news in Australia.
New vaccines found success while other potential lifesavers failed, and a handful of controversial drugs were linked to bizarre and dangerous side effects.
Here's a rundown of Australian and international health and medical developments that made headlines in 2008.
IMMUNE SYSTEM CHANGES
A young Australian transplant patient defied medical doctrine by spontaneously switching blood types and taking on her donor's immune system. NSW teenager Demi Brennan is believed to be the first person in the world to completely accept a donated organ to the extent where her immune system entirely changed. She has recovered from liver failure and is now drug free.
PATCH BOOSTS SEX DRIVE
A worldwide trial of testosterone patches found that the therapy can boost the sex drive of older women who had lost their libido with age. Researchers from Melbourne's Monash University found that post-menopausal women who used the stomach patch had twice as many satisfactory sexual events as women using a placebo patch. They had some unwanted hair growth but no change in voice pitch.
SKIN CANCER VACCINE
Pioneering Australian scientist Ian Frazer revealed he was on the verge of unveiling the world's first vaccine for skin cancer. As with Professor Frazer's celebrated cervical cancer blocker, Gardasil, the new vaccine would be given to children aged 10-12 to stop them developing skin cancer later in life, but he said this goal was still 10 years away.
TOP DRUGS OF THE YEAR
The most widely used drug among Australians was the cholesterol medication atorvastatin, sold under the brand name Lipitor. More than 10.5 million prescriptions were filled. Next on the list was another cholesterol drug, Zocor, then Nexium for gastric ulcers, the blood pressure lowering pill Coversyl, and a second gastro drug Losec. The common painkiller paracetamol was the sixth most prescribed.
HIV VACCINE FAILS AGAIN
The hunt for an HIV vaccine was thwarted for a second year running when trials of the world's most advanced formula found that not only did it fail to protect against HIV, but it actually increased the risk of infection. In 2007, another trial involving Australians also failed.
OBESITY LEVELLING OFF
The obesity epidemic among children in the United States appears to have plateaued at 32 per cent either overweight or obese. Researchers say the population has hit a ''genetic ceiling'' for weight gain. Australian statistics continue to climb, from 21 per cent in 2000 to 25 per cent in 2006, but researchers say there is some evidence the increase is slowing.
IVF MILESTONE
The world's first in vitro fertilisation baby, Briton Louise Brown, was born moments before midnight on July 24, 1978, 30 years ago. In the ensuing three decades, IVF grew from a tentative therapy which worked in just 5 per cent of cases to a booming global baby business responsible for more than three million children worldwide. In Australia, about 500,000 couples have sought the treatment, resulting in 80,000 babies.
BABY TROUBLES DOG MEN
Sydney researchers confirmed men have a ticking biological clock, too, with semen tests showing male fertility starts a steady decline from the age of 35 when sperm fragments. The changes make it more difficult for couples to conceive and more likely a baby will be born with a developmental disorder.
BREAD GETS ADDED EXTRAS
New laws ordering bakers to add folic acid and iodised salt to bread came into effect in September. Aimed at women of reproductive age, the changes are designed to reduce neural tube defects such as spina bifida in babies and learning difficulties in children. However, critics say it ''medicalised'' the food chain and could lift the price of bread.
CLOSED HEART SURGERY
A 92-year-old NSW woman became the first Australian to have a heart valve replaced without open-heart surgery in a procedure set to revolutionise cardiac treatment for the frail and elderly. In the radical procedure, a new aortic valve is attached to a long rod and fed through a small incision in the groin up to the the heart, where it defrosts and expands. Kathleen Condon says she now plans to join a gym.
ASTHMA POORLY CONTROLLED
A report on asthma found two million Australians had the condition but only 22 per cent had an asthma action plan designed to help them control it. There was some good news in review, however, with mortality rates slipping 69 per cent since 1989, and hospitalisations also declining.
YAWNING GAP IN SLEEP
Roller-coaster sleeping patterns are making children fat and starved of shut-eye, according to a sleep report of 4000 Australians aged under 18. The South Australian study confirmed Saturday night as the biggest snooze and Sunday as the most sleep-deprived night for all ages. Teenagers had a yawning gap between weeknight and weekend sleep times, leaving them with a constant sleep debt.
ABORTION RATES DOWN
Young Australian women are as unlikely to have an abortion today as their grandmothers were half a century ago, according to national data showing a dramatic decline in the procedure. Researchers behind the findings credit increasing condom use and the nation's newfound enthusiasm for making children for the remarkable trend.
ANTI-SMOKING DRUG TROUBLED
Champix, the pill designed to curb nicotine cravings, had a rocky first year in Australia. About 210,000 scripts have been filled since January, with 339 adverse reactions reported, including 255 with psychiatric symptoms including depression, anger and abnormal dreams. Warnings have been strengthened but manufacturer Pfizer says there is no evidence the drug triggers the reactions.
SLEEPING PILL WARNINGS
Warnings were stamped on packs of the controversial sleeping pill Stilnox, which has been linked to sleepwalking, binge eating and dangerous sleep-related behaviour. The upgrade warned of the dangers and recommended it not be taken for any longer than four weeks. Another specialist urged Stilnox not be used as a first-line treatment for insomnia.
CANCER RISKS CONFIRMED
Fears that breast implants, deodorant and coffee can cause cancer are largely unsubstantiated, according to a risk report designed to allay panic that everything can be carcinogenic. Cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and deliberate exposure to sunlight sat in the highest risk bracket for proven carcinogens.
DIABETES DRUG UNDER CLOUD
The popular diabetes drugs Avandia and Avandamet were linked to heart attacks and deaths for the second year running. More than 30,000 Australians taking the drugs were told to have their treatment reviewed. Under new guidelines, no patients with any degree of cardiac failure should take the drugs, and they must not be taken with insulin.
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