Health

Sask. NDP and ALS society calling on province to investigate Moose Jaw health centre
Health, News/Canada/Saskatchewan

Sask. NDP and ALS society calling on province to investigate Moose Jaw health centre

Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP and the province's ALS society are calling on Minister of Health Jeremy Cockrill to launch an investigation into the Dr. Goodenowe Restorative Health Center in Moose Jaw.Ā Last week, the CBC reported that Dr. Dayan Goodenowe, who runs the centre, tells patients with ALS that his supplements can stop and reverse the progress of the disease. On his YouTube account, he says, "stopping the progression of ALS actually isn't that hard."He backs up his claim by pointing to some patients who say they feel better on his supplements. He also told CBC he's working on studies to verify their effectiveness.Goodenowe charges ALS clients $75,000 US for his three-month live-in treatment program.Dayan Goodenowe says on his supplement program, ALS symptoms will stop progressing ...
Impact of high-potency cannabis rippling through courts, health-care system
Health, News/Canada/Saskatoon

Impact of high-potency cannabis rippling through courts, health-care system

Matthew Fox says he has two words for customers wanting to try Marvin's Premium Candy Co. Cherry edibles."Good luck."Fox works behind the counter at the Realeaf Cannabis trailer on Highway 11, just north of Saskatoon. The business is owned by the Saulteaux First Nation.Under the federal Cannabis Act, retailersĀ selling edible cannabis gummies in urban centres like Saskatoon and Regina have a limit of 10 mg THC per package. However, this capĀ is not typically enforced in stores owned and operated by First Nations. On its website, RealeafĀ says its cannabis stores are an expression of sovereignty."Several Indigenous communities have established their own cannabis regulations based on their inherent right to self-governance," it said.The Realeaf trailer offers a variety of colourfully-packaged e...
Anorexia is normally treated with therapy. Now a Canadian team is trying the gut
Health, News/Health

Anorexia is normally treated with therapy. Now a Canadian team is trying the gut

Anorexia is a life-threatening eating disorder that can manifest as an intense preoccupation on weight loss.It's classified as a mental illness and normally treated with talk therapy, known as family-based therapy, but that's only effective for about half of the mostly women and girls who have it.Those who don't improve may go to hospital and get locked into a relentless cycle of gaining weight and recovering from malnourishment, followed by weight loss and damage to organs, including changes to the brain from starvation.Now, Canadian researchers are testing a new approach, tapping into the growing understanding of the gut-brain connection.They're going to try treating teens with fecal transplants, to change the bacteria in their gut."We know that once the symptoms set in and the brain cha...
Measles ‘out of control,’ experts warn, as Alberta case counts surpass 1,000
Health, News/Canada/Calgary

Measles ‘out of control,’ experts warn, as Alberta case counts surpass 1,000

Alberta's measles outbreaks have now eclipsed the 1,000-case mark and infectious diseaseĀ specialists are warning the virus is "impossible to contain," given the current level of transmission.The province reported another 24 cases on Friday, including 14 in the north zone, nine in the south and one in the Edmonton zone.This brings the total confirmed casesĀ since the outbreaks began in MarchĀ to 1,020."It is a very grim milestone," said Dr. Karina Top, a pediatric infectious disease physician at the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, which has been treating children with measles."I'm very worried we're going to see more hospitalizations and some deaths soon because we know the death rate is about one to two per thousand. So it's likely that we're going to see that and that will be a ve...
National vaccine registry needed amid measles resurgence, Canada’s outgoing top doctor says
Health, Radio/White Coat/ Black Art

National vaccine registry needed amid measles resurgence, Canada’s outgoing top doctor says

White Coat Black Art32:37As Dr. Theresa Tam steps down, she urges Canada to stand strong on public healthAs Dr. Theresa Tam retires as Canada's top doctor, she's calling for a national vaccine registry.Tam says the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2020 and killed at least 60,000 Canadians, showed how badly one is needed to track vaccines and protect vulnerable communities.A national vaccine registry, she says, could help prevent and manage crises like the resurgence of measles that the country now faces.Tam says she's in favour of a "nationally interoperable network of vaccine registries" that connects all of the provincial and territorial health systems and helps identify pockets of the population where there is poor vaccine coverage.While the majority of measles cases so far have ...
How an Indigenous health centre in Montreal is making care more welcoming
Health, News/Health

How an Indigenous health centre in Montreal is making care more welcoming

As Shirley Pien-Bérubé walks through the halls of the Indigenous Health Centre of Tio'tia:ke, she pauses to point out all the ways the Montreal-based clinic has grown since it opened in 2023."Our services have expanded so much," she said. "We have a diabetic foot-care clinic, we have an optometry clinic, physiotherapy, mental health, clinical psychologist, addictions worker, a spiritual healer."Just inside the main entrance, a table is set up with sage and sweetgrass. Patients are invited to smudge or make their own medicine bundles. Care here is offered in several Indigenous languages, including Inuktitut and Cree.Pien-Bérubé works as a health navigator, accompanying patients and advocating for them within the health-care system. She says that's just one of the services offered here.The c...
Tire particles, perfumes, metals? Extensive study of Toronto air looks at what we’re breathing in
Health, News/Canada/Toronto

Tire particles, perfumes, metals? Extensive study of Toronto air looks at what we’re breathing in

Walking down Fort York Boulevard on a fresh, breezy afternoon, scientist Elisabeth Galarneau has no issue pointing out possible sources of air pollution.The manicured lawns and flower beds? A potential source of airborne pesticides.Ā The nearby high-rise apartment buildings? A source of pollutants from both heating and cooling, not to mention the cleaners and personal care products being used inside — remnants of which could be circulating down at street level.Ā Charcoal barbecues, restaurant stoves, fire pits, squealing tires, nearby highways?Ā They all contribute to the air Torontonians breathe.Ā Now, the first glimpse at an in-depth study conducted by Galarneau and over 100 other scientistsĀ looking at winter air quality in TorontoĀ is shedding light on rarely-measured air pollutants across t...
Deadly opioid 40 times more powerful than fentanyl smuggled into Canada inside PlayStations, basketballs
Health, News/Canada

Deadly opioid 40 times more powerful than fentanyl smuggled into Canada inside PlayStations, basketballs

The video call is grainy, but it's crystal clear what the person on the phone is trying to sell: illicit drugs, packaged and ready to be shipped to Canada.Ā The seller, who goes by the name Kim, says he sells cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA and nitazenes, a powerful class of synthetic opioids most people have never heard of — but which can be up to 43 times more powerful than fentanyl."It can kill people, right? So, I just want to make sure that you know that," the CBC journalist asks in a secretly recorded phone call."That is the game," the seller replies.The seller is one of the 14 people the CBC's visual investigation unit spoke to in text messages and phone calls after finding them through ads posted by users on major social media platforms such asĀ LinkedIn, X and RedditĀ and e-commerce w...
Class action on birth alerts gets green light against Ontario, but faces hurdles
Health, News/Canada/Ottawa

Class action on birth alerts gets green light against Ontario, but faces hurdles

A class-action lawsuit that hopes to help pregnantĀ mothersĀ who were red-flagged and had their newbornsĀ taken awayĀ by child welfare agencies has been certified to proceed against the Ontario government — but it's only a partial win for the plaintiffs.Part of the lawsuit — to hold 49 children's aid societies (CAS) across the province accountable for those "birth alerts" — failed to get the green light from an Ontario Superior CourtĀ judge.It's taken three years for theĀ proposed class action to reach thisĀ certification ruling — a step necessary before a group lawsuit can proceed to trial. Now, a lawyer representing the plaintiffsĀ says appealing the court's decision couldĀ delay justice for parents a bit longer.Birth alerts are notifications that child welfare agencies issued to hospitals about ...