Indigenous forms of government among the Australian aborigines

RituaL mutilation. Subincision of the penis among Australian Aborigines.

Subincision of the penis is a traditional ritual mutilation unique to the Aborigines, the indigenous people of Australia. The mutilation is a urethrotomy in which the undersurface of the penis is incised and the urethra slit open lengthwise. Subincision is one element in the initiation of Aboriginal youths. In later ceremonies, repeated throughout adult life, the subincised penis is used as a s...

Pseudoexfoliation of the lens in Australian Aborigines.

The first cases of pseudoexfoliation of the lens to be found in Australian Aborigines are reported. The prevalence rate in the communities in central Australia is 1-3% and for those 61 years and older is 16-3%. Within the limits of our assessment glaucoma was an associated finding in 8-1% of these cases. A high incidence of old trachoma, previous trauma, and Labrador keratopathy was also noted ...

Gestational-age-specific stillbirth risk among Australian Aborigines.

BACKGROUND Previous studies have found that, for preterm babies, the risk of stillbirth among Australian Aborigines is similar to the risk for whites. In contrast, at full term, the risk for Aborigines is more than twice the risk for whites. However, these studies (like most other analyses of stillbirths) used the number of births at each gestational age to calculate the risk. For stillbirths, ...

Immune dysfunction in Australian Aborigines.

An examination of the prevalence and phenotype of immune disorders in different ethnic groups may provide important clues to the etiopathogenesis of these disorders. Whilst still conjectural the restricted and somewhat unique polymorphisms of the MHC (and other genetic loci involving host defences) of the Australian Aborigines may provide an explanation for their apparent heightened susceptibil...

The link between Indigenous culture and wellbeing: Qualitative evidence for Australian Aborigines