Health Sciences News

How families cope with mental health care issues

The whole family can be affected when living with a family member with a mental disorder, disability or developmental delay. Mechanisms to cope with the resulting stress include escape, avoidance, denial or looking to religion.  This is according to Tshepang Modise, nursing science master’s graduate at North-West University (NWU). Tshepang has…

NWU AUTHeR successfully presents first Africa Conference on transdisciplinarity

With nearly 500 registered participants from all around the globe, the first Africa Conference on Transdisciplinarity (ACT-1) conference was a roaring success.

Hosted by the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Africa Unit for Transdisciplinary Health Research (AUTHeR), the online event themed “…

NWU superhero packs a punch for hypertension awareness

Is it Superman? Batman? Spiderman? No, it’s Captain Heart! He is a North-West University (NWU) Superhero on an important mission – to raise awareness about the dangers of hypertension and to inspire young children to pursue healthy eating habits.

This new superhero is the initiative…

Sixth National Autism Symposium

In a little over two weeks, the Centre for Health and Human Performance (CHHP) at the North-West University (NWU), together with Autism South Africa (A; SA), will host their sixth National Autism Symposium. The South African Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions will again join as a…

Prof Lubbe’s pioneering work is being recognised internationally

In the light of Women’s Month, we are proud of one of our own frontierswomen who is being recognised internationally for her groundbreaking work in the rainbow nation. Prof Welma Lubbe, professor in the School of Nursing Science at the North-West University (NWU), was recently approached by the Developmental Observer, the official newsletter of…

The price of bullying

Some children can easily process the impact of bullying behaviour, while others struggle with the aftereffects of these traumatic events for years. Tebello Mabusela, a counselling psychologist and psychology lecturer at the North-West University (NWU), discusses some of the consequences and the real price of bullying for some victims. She says…

NWU trailblazer in diatomology scoops prestigious award

Dr Roksana Majewska, a postdoctoral fellow at the North-West University (NWU), has been recognised as a trailblazer and groundbreaker in the marine biology and diatomology fields.

At the recent Africa Genome Challenge 2021, Dr Majewska walked away with first prize in the Invertebrates and Microbes category.

The Africa…

How does sugar-free chocolate make you feel?

Statistics show that 61% of the population living in South Africa is either overweight or obese. Excess sugar consumption leads to several health problems that include non-communicable diseases such as heart attacks, diabetes and cancers, to name a few. The easy answer would be for an overweight population to consume less sugar, right? 

Covid-19 virus variants and their impact on vaccines

North-West University (NWU) academic Dr Hazel Tumelo Mufhandu presented a public lecture on Covid-19 virus variants and their impact on vaccines as part of a National Science Week webinar series on 2 August 2021.

This year the National Science Week theme is “Making it possible…

Disease response projects aim to make Africa self-sufficient

In a time of Covid-19 fatigue, citizens are now confronted with an even deadlier and highly transmissible Delta variant. This new virus mutation impacts on already overburdened and under-resourced health systems. More alarming is that on day 460 of the lockdown in South Africa, less than 1% of the population was fully immunised.

Also,…