Episode Browser

Ep135: “Wherefore a Pomegranate?” and other classics from the last ten years

Another sampler from ten years of Pomegranate archives, starting with a historic deep dive to explain why the podcast is named after a fruit by way of Henry VIII and the first of his six wives.

Ep106: The whiskey fix and the apple of Granada

Strange tales from archives of medical history.

Ep93: The rise and fall of mpox

In 2022 a sexually transmitted form of mpox virus made its way around the developed world but it had long been endemic in African countries. In this podcast we talk about the conditions that allowed new strains to evolve and the rapid community health response that reigned the global outbreak in.

Ep63: the WHO’s Biggest Test

During the COVID-19 crisis there has been some criticism of the World Health Organisation as to whether it declared a pandemic soon enough or covered up for China’s failings. In this podcast we examine the role and responsibilities it shares with its member states and where the straining points have been.

Ep52: Opioids Part 2- Regulation and Marketing

This episode looks at influencers of opioid prescribing. First we ask which are the opioids most commonly leading to dependence and why are they prescribed. Then we discuss the mixed messages that prescribers are getting from guidelines and pharmaceutical regulation, not to mention promotional campaigns by pharmaceutical companies. In Tasmania these influences have be countered by education, regulation and real-time prescription monitoring.

Ep51: Getting off the Opioids- Part 1

Australia and New Zealand have seen a fourfold increase in opioid use over the last thirty years. Most of this prescribing has been for chronic non-cancer pain, but there is little evidence to support this indication. In this podcast we’ll discuss some of the latest studies that provide evidence against the efficacy of opioid use for chronic non-cancer pain. We explain how to identify patients that have developed dependence on or addiction to opioids and how to wean them off this medication. And we describe an alternative approach to therapy that involves breaking maladaptive pain associations in the nervous system.