Can peptides keep you young and buff?

Summary

Podcast Summary: What's That Rash?

Episode: Can peptides keep you young and buff?

Date: February 24, 2026
Host: ABC News
Panel: Norman Swan (host), Tegan Taylor (co-host), Dr. Fiona McDonald (contributor)

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Episode Overview

This episode tackles the increasingly popular topic of peptides—short chains of amino acids often promoted online, especially on platforms like TikTok—as miracle solutions for everything from muscle growth and anti-aging to injury recovery and tanning. The panel addresses listener questions about the science, safety, legality, and regulation of peptides, focusing on the risks, the lack of clinical evidence, and the heavy marketing that surrounds many of these compounds.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. What Are Peptides? (03:22)

• Definition: Short chains of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Peptides are essentially "mini-proteins" that are typically injected because the stomach breaks them down if taken orally.
• Legitimate Use: Some peptides are regulated and approved for specific medical uses (e.g., insulin, GLP-1s like Ozempic, somatotropin for growth hormone, some for kidney disease and cancer treatments, oxytocin for inducing labor).
• Quote:
  “Peptides are not bad things. This is a class of compounds which are short chains of what are called amino acids. [...] Essentially a peptide is like a mini protein.”
  — Tegan Taylor [03:22]

2. Public Perception & Marketing Myths (03:53)

• Myth-Busting: Some narratives promote peptides as secrets the pharmaceutical industry wants to hide, but in reality, many legitimate peptides already exist.
• Marketing Claims: Current peptide marketing widely claims benefits for muscle growth, anti-aging, injury repair, improved libido, and more, while often being unproven and unregulated.

3. Legal and Regulatory Landscape (05:57)

• Direct-to-Consumer Market: Numerous services offer peptide prescriptions online, obscuring what is actually prescribed and promising health consultations for expensive fees.
• Prescription Confusion: Products labeled as "Schedule 4" (S4—prescription only) in Australia are not necessarily approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), just restricted due to assessed risk.
• Key Clarification:
  “Don’t think that because they’re S4 and prescribed that they’ve been approved by anybody or that there’s any significant research behind them that shows they’re effective.”
  — Tegan Taylor [10:35]

4. Underground and "Lab Use Only" Loopholes (10:02)

• Some retailers exploit legal loopholes by labeling peptides as "for laboratory use only," sidestepping regulation and opening the door for untested, potentially unsafe products to reach consumers.

5. Listener Questions: Specific Peptide Examples

a. GHK-Cu (Copper Tripeptide Complex) (11:24)

• Claims: Anti-inflammatory, boosts collagen, thickens skin, promotes wound healing.
• Evidence: Minimal. Only one small trial found no significant improvements post-laser skin treatment; study involved just 12 people.

b. MH2 / Melanotan (12:21)

• Claims: Injectable tanner.
• Risks: Serious side effects—induced erections (priapism), possible increased cancer risk, potential kidney dysfunction, nausea, loss of appetite, and risk of not knowing actual contents of the syringe.
• Memorable Quote:
  “This guy had melanotan that created an erection so bad that he went to the emergency department and needed, like, surgical intervention.”
  — Norman Swan [13:41]

c. BPC-157 (15:39)

• Claims: Promotes bone and joint healing, aids stomach ulcers, boosts athletic performance.
• Evidence: US Anti-Doping Authority notes lack of published clinical trials; most studies are in mice or test tubes. One small, uncontrolled human study.
• Legal Status: Schedule 4 in Australia due to high risk and limited safety evidence. TGA allows case-by-case unapproved use if other options are exhausted.
• Tegan's Take:
  “Putting it on the S4 to a casual observer legitimises it rather than makes it more safe.”
  — Tegan Taylor [17:16]

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On the risk of taking peptides: “If something’s powerful enough to have a positive effect, then it stands to reason that it could also have a negative effect.”
  — Norman Swan [12:36]

• On psychological drivers behind peptide use: “Simple solutions for complicated problems are just something that seems to be innate in human beings and we don’t necessarily think of the risk or we’re convinced by pseudoscience.”
  — Tegan Taylor [17:37]

• On the risk of buying peptides online: “When you’re acting in a regulation-free zone or in a low regulation zone, then that’s a massive risk, especially if you’re ordering something online.”
  — Norman Swan [15:31]

• On prescribing unapproved peptides: “Presumably all prescribing is a case of professional misconduct and I’m not quite sure why we don’t see more court cases along these lines.”
  — Tegan Taylor [19:51]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:22] — Explanation of peptides and their basic science
• [05:57] — The rise of online peptide prescribing and regulatory confusion
• [10:35] — “Lab use only” loophole and prescription realities
• [11:24] — Discussion of GHK-Cu (Copper Tripeptide)
• [12:21] — Risks of melanotan as a tanning peptide
• [13:41] — Memorable medical emergency story: Melanotan-induced priapism
• [15:39] — BPC-157 and the lack of supporting clinical evidence
• [17:37] — Human psychology and the allure of peptide promises
• [19:51] — Legal repercussions, professional misconduct for peptide prescribing
• [20:06] — Closing admonition: Risks of buying and using unregulated peptides

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Conclusion: Panel’s Final Advice

• Injecting unregulated peptides is a major risk: you don't know what's actually in the product or what unintended side effects might arise.
• Most peptides with bold claims are not supported by solid clinical evidence and may only be legal due to loopholes, not medical safety.
• Doctors prescribing unapproved peptides (except those with approved medical use) may be in breach of professional standards.

“You’re flirting with danger.”
— Tegan Taylor [20:06]

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For more evidence-based guidance on health trends and products, listeners are encouraged to investigate further and consult medical professionals rather than be swayed by flashy, unsubstantiated marketing claims.

Transcript

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[Norman Swan]

podcasts, radio, news, music and more.

[Mark Fennell]

When the police raided the Stonewall inn back in 1969, they had no idea that it would eventually lead to the birth of gay pride.

[Stonewall Inn Narrator]

We started standing up for ourselves and said, this is who we are and you're going to accept us.

[Mark Fennell]

I'm Mark Fennell and I am the host of the ABC Radio national podcast no One Saw It Coming. Each week we unravel a moment in history that changed the course of the world and but, well, no one saw it Coming. To hear it, search for no One Saw It Coming on the ABC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Tegan Taylor]

So Tegan, you're always out there getting fit.

[Norman Swan]

Am I?

[Tegan Taylor]

Do you take any sort of assistive things, you know, to help you along?

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

Do you mean five serves of vegetables

[Norman Swan]

and two serves of fruit a day?

[Tegan Taylor]

Oh, as boring as that. So you're not taking any magical potion?

[Norman Swan]

No, no, no. I'm not a potion girl. I'm a. I didn't even bring my Mediterranean diet bell down with me today. But I am a ding ding. As much can I have to say. It's tempting when you hear the promises sometimes, though, especially for a particular class of supplements that we're going to talk about today. Although giant asterisks will apply as we'll explain as we get through to today's episode of what's that Rash?

[Tegan Taylor]

Which is the podcast that answers the health questions that simply everyone's asking.

[Norman Swan]

So today's questions are all about page peptides, which maybe you know a lot about, maybe you don't know very much about. It's certainly a lot of people are asking us about them. We've gotten questions from Ashley, Yonni, Laura and Nick, all asking about different peptides. Ashley says, I'm interested in a discussion about peptides, specifically GHKCU, otherwise known as RET and MH2. I've seen both pop up frequently on TikTok. Rett seems to be a cheat code for getting toned and ripped and having great skin. MH2 is a tanning injectable. Yonni wanting to know about peptides for everything from Bigger muscles to slower aging, to preventing hair loss, wants us to unpack what they are, how they work and whether there's good research supporting their use.

[Tegan Taylor]

But actually it's pretty sensible because he's asking, how safe are these products? I don't know that I can trust anything that needs to be reconstituted and then injected. Right.

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

And then finally, Laura and Nick together

[Norman Swan]

are asking about their adult son's. A professional dancer in this industry. They suffer from many injuries and they're often managing body pain that they have to push through. He's spoken about using a particular peptide, BPC157. I understand there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that it works, but I don't think it's legal, regulated and tested. There's so much information on the web about this product. Can you please explain and make sense of all the hype? Well, yes, legal, regulation, testing.

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

Strong themes for today's discussion, Norman.

[Tegan Taylor]

That's right. And peptides are not bad things. I mean, this is a class of compounds which are short chains of what are called amino acids. So amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. And essentially a peptide is like a mini protein, but it's not long enough to be classified as a protein and usually has to be injected because it's broken down in the stomach, because the stomach's very good at breaking down proteins. And we already have lots of peptides on the market.

[Norman Swan]

Yeah. So some of the narratives around peptides that we're going to talk about today is this idea like, oh, the pharmaceutical industry doesn't want you to know about this sort of thing. That's not really true. There's actually quite a few that are regulated and are approved for use in humans. The big one at the moment that I think everyone's heard of now are GLP1s. The P in GLP1 stands for peptide glucogen, like peptide 1. Who would have thought it? Which is the active ingredient in ozempic and related drugs, insulin. There's a peptide called somatotropin, which is a growth hormone. There's ones that are used to treat kidney disease. There's ones that are used to treat some cancers and sometimes in gender affirming care. Oxytocin, which is used for inducing labor, are all peptides that are around for us to use that sort of have gone through all of the hoops. I think what we're talking about today now are maybe off brand ones and the promises around them are quite. Well, they're many and varied as we Heard from our questions and they're all very much in. This is great. Your personalised kind of mix of these sorts of things. The marketing is very, very strong.

[Tegan Taylor]

So for a lot of these unproven products there's a kernel of truth. And the kernel of truth here is that peptides can be a very specific way of treating various conditions. But that doesn't mean that the peptides they're flogging are either safe or effective. Now, one form of peptide that we've spoken about before on what's that ration you can go and look at the episode is on collagen. There are collagen peptides that are being sold to replace the loss of collagen with aging. And we're not going to second guess what we did there, go and listen to that episode. But the number of peptides being sold and the services providing them are extraordinary. So the muscle health and strength, weight loss, injury repair, sexual health, libido anti aging, cognitive health and repair. You know, it's amazing, you know, truly amazing. Why aren't we taking these peptides in bulk? Tegan? They promise so much when you release

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

the promises off, I'm like, I mean, yeah, let's talk about it.

[Norman Swan]

So the question ask is asked about a couple of specific peptides and we'll get to them. But I think it's worth talking about how this semi underground market works in Australia because there's several companies that sell effectively direct to consumer prescription peptides and they promise the sorts of things that you just said. But it's very, very difficult to figure out exactly what they're prescribing and whether those things are even like regulated for use in humans in Australia.

[Tegan Taylor]

It was a really interesting journey researching this story because when you go into one of these websites that are offering them at least one, for example, you had to pay $500 before you even found out what they were prescribing and what the evidence was behind them. And they were also promising a consultation with a medical practitioner. Now, one of the reasons for that is it's illegal to market prescription products to the general public in Australia. In fact, there are only two countries in the world where it's legal, as far as I'm aware, New Zealand and the United States. States. But the thing that did my head in was these preparations are not approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, so they're unapproved products. And then what did my head in was how could an unapproved product be what's called an S4, meaning it requires a doctor's prescription.

[Norman Swan]

So this is like a Schedule 4

[Tegan Taylor]

substance which requires a prescription. So you think the automatic assumption was. And it took me a while to get this and I actually phoned up the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia to verify all this. It makes you think that if something's S4 that it's actually approved as a prescription product, which in fact is entirely misleading. The TGA does allow unapproved products to be prescribed in Australia. So a good example of that would be, say, a cancer drug that's only available in the United States, but you can prescribe it here for a very limited range of circumstances and there's a bureaucracy that the GP or the cancer specialist has got to go through to prescribe it. And that's a very limited set of circumstances. That's a product that's been tested and is on the market somewhere else as an approved medication. But these are unapproved medications and they're unapproved in many countries. And the reason they're on the, they're on S4 for prescription only is that they're on what's called the poison standard. Substance goes on the poison standard. If the TGA concludes that this is a high risk product that requires a doctor to assess very carefully whether or not you merit it. They're not making any judgment on the safety of the drug, they're not making any judgment on whether it works for the prescribed condition. All they're saying is you just can't buy it over the counter. You've got to see a doctor before getting the drug.

[Norman Swan]

So am I right in thinking the purpose of having that be to the law is that you allowing a doctor to use their professional judgment and not stifling them too much so that they can make a judgment call, which you could argue is a good thing, but in this instance, perhaps it's being abused.

[Tegan Taylor]

So there are quite strict regulations in every state and territory in Australia about the prescription, the distribution, the sale of drugs like peptides, and there are significant fines and sometimes imprisonment attached to breaking those regulations. But you're absolutely right, doctors have enormous latitude on what they can prescribe and why. At its most benign, it's off label prescribing. There's a lot of off label prescribing that goes on in Australia, particularly to children, where drugs haven't been tested in children, they've been tested in adults. So there are lots of situations where off label prescribing is almost mainstream practice, but with peptides and they cannot be described as mainstream practice and they're especially, you'd have to say dodgy ways that the services that are providing this operate.

[Norman Swan]

Oh, is this the lab use only stuff?

[Tegan Taylor]

Well, that's part of it. There are lots of peptides on the market that if you're doing legitimate medical research, you can buy these peptides in bulk.

[Norman Swan]

Yeah, but then it makes it these retailers. Well, one retailer in particular, I'm looking at their website right now and it's like, are the peptides for human use? No, they're for laboratory use only. Don't use them in humans, blah, blah, blah. But then later on the very same site it says, do you need to prove that you're a researcher? And it's like, no, no license is required. So it definitely seems like a pretty big loophole here.

[Tegan Taylor]

It's a loophole, but if they're found to be distributing peptides to the general public for medical use, they're exposing themselves to significant fines and perhaps even imprisonment. So there is a risk attached to that. Mind you, if they're overseas, you've got to go chasing them. So that's the legal situation is that don't think that because they're S4 and prescribed that they've been approved by anybody or that there's any significant research behind them that shows they're effective.

[Norman Swan]

So that's the landscape. But I think what's really evident from the questions that were being asked and the volume of content out there about peptides is that people are getting their hands on them, regardless whether or not that's a legal method. So let's maybe talk about the specific ones that our question askers asked about. The first one that Ashley asked us about was ghkcu.

[Tegan Taylor]

Okay, so one name for this is Copper tripeptide complex and it's thought to have anti inflammatory effects. It's thought to stimulate collagen, it's thought to thicken the skin, promote blood vessel growth, promote wound healing. So lots of things are promised for it. There's 2/3 of bugger all research into GHKCU. One trial that we found was after laser skin resurfacing using GHKCU made no difference to the inflammation after laser treatment. No significant improvement in wrinkles or skin quality with the use of this. You know, it was a huge study of 12 people, so that's that. Now the other, we don't know how specific some of these peptides are in terms of their influence on the body. And the one that actually calls MH2 is a classic example of the risks that you take with peptides.

[Norman Swan]

So this is melanitan.

[Tegan Taylor]

This is melanitan.

[Norman Swan]

So this one, if it does what it says on the tin, it helps you tan.

[Tegan Taylor]

That's why it's called melanotan. And the TGA actually has advice on this. Don't risk using tanning products containing melanotan.

[Norman Swan]

Like you've said before on this show so many times, Norman, if something's powerful enough to have a positive effect, then it stands to reason that it could also have a negative effect. And this is one where there seems to be quite a lot of pretty serious side effects you could have from melanin.

[Tegan Taylor]

And to explain why it has serious side effects is that it is an analog, in other words, very similar to a chemical messenger in the body called melanocortin. Now, melanocortin stimulates the pigment producing cells in the skin, but melanocortin has effects throughout the body. It has an effect on the brain, it has an effect on the cardiovascular system, may even an effect on appetite. But in fact, because you're using an analog of melanocortin, you can get all sorts of side effects. Headache, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, facial redness. Some people think it can increase the risk of cancers. It may cause kidney dysfunction, swelling of the brain. And the other function of melanocortin is that it has an action on the brain which causes erections.

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

Okay, so I think I know exactly

[Norman Swan]

where you're going with this, because there's a particular British Medical journal case study, and I love a BMJ case study, and I think this one might have taken the cake. My previous face favorite was a person who stifled a sneeze and blew a hole in their throat. But this one has eclipsed that completely. This guy had melanitan that created an erection so bad that he went to the emergency department and needed, like, surgical intervention.

[Tegan Taylor]

Well, he did his surgical, full blown surgical intervention.

[Norman Swan]

He needed some serious medical.

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

Look, the amount of invasive medical attention

[Norman Swan]

that this man needed, I don't think anyone wants that.

[Tegan Taylor]

No. So he had a priapism. So priapism is an erection that won't go away. And an erection that won't go away is actually a surgical emergency.

[Norman Swan]

Why? Like why?

[Tegan Taylor]

Because it can actually wreck the erectile apparatus of the penis, and it's hard to walk around.

[Norman Swan]

Two good reasons.

[Tegan Taylor]

I don't know why I'm laughing, because the treatment, if I describe the treatment, even women would be crossing their legs. Certainly men would be.

[Norman Swan]

Okay.

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

So I had to do a fair bit of Google Translate to myself to

[Norman Swan]

understand this very, very medical thing. But basically, they the words aspir irrigation and injection are all tabernausal injection.

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

Basically they're really getting up in these guys business in a very literal way.

[Tegan Taylor]

And sometimes urologists have to go in and shunt the blood away from the penis in order to actually stop the priapism. And the complication of priapism is you can't get an erection again.

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

Yikes.

[Tegan Taylor]

So that's a pretty strong recommendation against using Melanoton.

[Norman Swan]

Right.

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

So that's a big billowing red flag

[Tegan Taylor]

there, but it's illustrative. And that's assuming that what's in the syringe, remember you're getting a syringe here to be injected is actually what they say is in the syringe.

[Norman Swan]

Ah, this is the thing. When you're acting in a regulation free zone or in a low regulation zone, then that's a massive risk, especially if you're ordering something online.

[Tegan Taylor]

And then there's BP157, which is what both Laura and Nick asked about.

[Norman Swan]

So this one claims to help with bone and joint healing, helping stomach ulcers and increasing athletic performance. And Laura and Nick was asking because their son is a dancer and, you know, is trying to recover from injury, as are his colleagues. So what do we know about this one?

[Tegan Taylor]

Well, the US Anti Doping Authority has looked at it and they're concerned that there's lack of published clinical trial data and they've found studies that have been cancelled or stopped without any published conclusions. Small study on knee pain, but the knee pain was caused by lots of different things and there was no control group. There have been studies in the laboratory in test tubes and in mice or rats suggesting that it might help healing, but it hasn't been supported by studies in humans. And just remember, what happens in a mouse or in the test tube does not mean it happens in a human. We are much more complicated. But it is a Schedule 4 prescription only medicine in Australia. So we have received a response taken from the TGA Therapeutic Goods Administration and it says that BPC157 was listed as a Prescription Only Medicine Schedule 4 in the Poison standard because of the high risks of misuse and the limited evidence of safety. So there you have it. It also said that certain registered health practitioners may access unapproved therapeutic goods under defined pathways if all other clinically appropriate treatment options on the artg, that's the registered goods have been considered. So that looks like a loophole that you could drive a truck through. But I mean, the issue here, Tegan, is whether or not putting it on the S4 to a casual observer legitimises it rather than makes it more safe.

[Norman Swan]

It's so tempting when you hear the top line promises to kind of go, but maybe I'll be the. Maybe I'll be a lucky one. What's the psychology here of kind of taking these risks in the quest of hotness?

[Tegan Taylor]

Well, simple solutions for complicated problems are just something that seems to be innate in human beings and we don't necessarily think of the risk or we're convinced by pseudoscience. So it's not the fault of the individual, but we're convinced by pseudoscience we don't go. They'll say there's peer reviewed research. There might even be a reference at the bottom of the document. How many people go and look at that reference? Do you know how to look at that reference? And does a study of 12 people sound a lot? Well, it doesn't sound a lot to you and me, but it might sound a lot to some other people. And then you go through the research and you find, well again, you and I can recognize this is a journal that nobody's ever heard of. When you click on the authors, the author affiliations, they belong to a company and then they make these bold statements without them being referenced. There's all sorts of signs like that, but that takes time and effort. And then you go to these websites and they offer you a consultation with a doctor and the doctor reassures you that, you know, says, yes, absolutely, this will fit with you and it's absolutely fine and I'll give you a script for it. And you have to wonder about why doctors who prepare to do that with unproven products like peptides are still on the medical register.

[Norman Swan]

So the fact that this is still an active open ended thing in Australia, we are talking about things that are currently available to be bought. If you're prepared to jump through these particular hoops, what, if anything, is being done to regulate them better? Cause it sounds like that's what we're calling for here.

[Tegan Taylor]

So it's not as if they're ignoring it. They have got regulations about this. A GP was suspended for nine months for professional misconduct for inappropriately prescribing peptides. It was actually to 10 patients and to himself itself. But I'm not sure how you inappropriately prescribe a peptide when it's unapproved and unproven. I would assume that all prescriptions of peptides apart from the ones that have gone through phase three clinical trials and have been approved. So if you're going to get insulin. You get insulin for a legitimate purpose or GLP1 or somatotrophin, but these are non proven, so all prescribing is inappropriate. So presumably all prescribing is a case of professional misconduct and I'm not quite sure why we don't see more court cases along these lines.

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

Do you think we will?

[Tegan Taylor]

I've certainly seen some law firms making commentary on it. They're obviously looking for work, so it's

[Norman Swan]

obviously on their radar. So watch this space. But I guess in the meantime, Ashley, Yoni, Laura, Nick and anyone else who's asked themselves about this group of peptides, what do we have to say to them?

[Tegan Taylor]

Norman, you don't know what's in the bottle. You're injecting something which is inherently less safe than swallowing it and you don't know what side effects you're going to get because you don't know what effects these peptides have on other parts of your body. So you're flirting with danger.

[Norman Swan]

Go. Well, question askers. Thank you so much for asking us about that. You can ask your questions by emailing [e-mail] au what have we got in the mailbag? So we had quite a few responses to our episode last week on flossing, starting with Alan. Alan said, many years ago in one of my pharmacy journals, I read an article that the way to maximise the effect of fluoride was to have fluoridated water washing over your teeth many times a day. Therefore, don't drink bottled water unless it's fluoridated. Despite having a mouthful of fillings, by the time I was 16 years of age, I was very lucky to have four fillings in the last 53 years.

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

Helen says I floss about once a

[Norman Swan]

month and only drink fluoridated water in my tea, coffee and the odd glass of water. What do you make of Alan's oral hygiene habits? Norman?

[Tegan Taylor]

Well, I think fluoridated water is really important. I've often had a concern about bottled water, but you can get bottled water which is fluoridated, which is a good thing.

[Norman Swan]

John says, I'm a longtime listener since the coronacast days and fellow inter dentor speaking to you here, Norman. Cause you spoke at length last week

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

about how you take care of the gaps between your teeth.

[Norman Swan]

Norman, John asks, how do you know when to discard your interdental brush? I d when it's visibly starting to bald.

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

So what I so what I really want to know is where do those little plastic bristles go surely not all to my testicles, which I think is a reference to microplastics being found in testicular tissues.

[Tegan Taylor]

So for the second time in this episode, I'm now crossing my legs. So, yeah, I just scarred mine. When it's going, I'm the same as you, John, it's going a bit bald. I wash my teeth, keep the fluoridated toothpaste in my mouth while I floss. An interdental brush and then I spit out. So I'm hoping that my testicles are floss free.

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

Floss free. Finally, Margaret says, following on from today's

[Norman Swan]

broadcast, I was reminded of a job I had in a dentist surgery over 50 years ago in a small market town in Yorkshire. The dentist had picked up in a routine check that one patient was pregnant, even though she herself wasn't yet aware. And another patient who was advised to get a GP appointment for a blood test. The dentist suspected leukemia, but obviously didn't say that to the patient. How on earth could they have known this?

[Tegan Taylor]

Norman the mouth can tell you a lot about the rest of the body. And the tragedy about dentistry around the world and in Australia is that the health system doesn't think the mouth is part of the body. So dentistry has really been almost excised from the system, apart from public dentists attached to hospitals and public health care systems systems. And you can diagnose a lot from the mouth.

[Norman Swan]

Well, thank you for your feedback via that rashbc.net au One last item of

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

business the World Science Festival in Brisbane.

[Norman Swan]

We are having a live show in Brisbane on March 28. We were giving away two tickets. Thank you for everyone who entered in our ticket giveaway.

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

We had so many responses, we have

[Norman Swan]

emailed the winners, so check your inboxes. But if you didn't win, it's okay. You can just buy tickets to the

[Dr. Fiona McDonald]

event at the Queensland Museum for World Science Festival Brisbane.

[Tegan Taylor]

So I'll see you next week.

[Norman Swan]

See you then.