Health

Human-caused climate change is responsible for killing about 1,500 people in last week's European heat wave, a first-of-its-kind rapid study estimates.Those 1,500 people "have only died because of climate change, so they would not have died if it would not have been for our burning of oil, coal and gas in the last century," said study co-author Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College in London.Scientists at Imperial and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine used peer-reviewed techniques to calculate that about 2,300 people in 12 cities likely died from the heat in last week's bout of high temperatures, with nearly two-thirds of them dying because of the extra degrees that climate change added to the natural summer warmth.WATCH | Europe swelters under heat dome...

This is a First Person column by Matthew Heneghan, who lives in Falkland, B.C. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.Sitting on my back patio, I can see a man every morning settle into his backyard chair, sipping tea beneath the elegance of a rising sun. Steam rises from his cup like an early morning stretch. His quietude shows contentment for the moment, and I can't help but smile.My neighbours, Rod and his lovely wife, Colleen, sit and enjoy their cuppa, woven in the other's company. It's a view most artists would fail to capture. But life — bless it — has granted me the quiet privilege of watching this real-life watercolour come to life daily.Matthew Heneghan was born in the U.K. and immigrated to Canada when he was five. He served in the Canadian Arm...

A review into workplace culture for doctors at Regina's hospitals has identified some of the ways it doesn't support work-life satisfaction, patient care or recruitment efforts.The report, released Monday, revealed high levels of distrust between the Saskatchewan Health Authority and doctors, and an inability for positive changes to be made to address "numerous examples" of unprofessional conduct among physicians.  "The themes that the reviewers mentioned in their recommendations are not new to us. We have heard them from our members," said Dr. Pamela Arnold, the president of the Saskatchewan Medical Association. "We've heard these concerns before and we're committed to working to make them better," said Arnold. The medical association will be working with the Saskatchewan Health Authority...

Legionnaires' disease is in the headlines this week after public health officials in southwestern Ontario declared an outbreak of the severe respiratory illness.What is legionnaires' disease?Legionnaires' disease is a respiratory infection caused by the Legionella bacteria.Early symptoms include fever, chills and a dry cough.It can lead to a serious chest infection or pneumonia, with symptoms that may include high fever. The symptoms usually develop days after being exposed to the bacteria — and can be fatal.The name of the disease comes from an outbreak of pneumonia that killed 29 people at an American Legion Convention in Philadelphia in 1976.How does it spread?Legionella bacteria live in various sources of water — both natural and man-made.People can get infected after inhaling water dr...

The head of emergency medicine for Alberta's doctors association is challenging Premier Danielle Smith to join him on shift to see the frustration of patients jammed for hours in hallways and the moral injury of doctors looking into the eyes of the those who wait."It's this kind of vicarious trauma, this inability to help when we're helpers, that is causing us to leave," Dr. Warren Thirsk said in an interview."Unless you experience it, you don't really get it."When the premier has a health emergency, do you think she's going to sit in my waiting room and wait 13 hours to be seen?"I would challenge her to come and sit in my waiting room for 13 hours."Thirsk made the comments in the wake of a new survey measuring patients' experiences released late last week by the Alberta Medical Associatio...

One person is dead and more than 40 people sick after a legionnaires' outbreak in London, Middlesex London Health Unit officials say. The health unit has declared an outbreak and said the cases were reported within the last week. Most of the cases live and/or work in a six kilometre radius of one another in the southeast side of the city, officials say. "The health unit is working in close partnership with Public Health Ontario and the Public Health Ontario Laboratories to investigate and identify the source of the outbreak," health unit officials wrote in a statement on Tuesday. "Environmental sampling of potential sources of legionella is ongoing. Since legionella can be found in many types of cooling systems, the investigation may take time." Legionnaires' disease is a serious respirato...

Michael Sellick has built an online community by sharing his passion for crochet.Now the founder of the Crochet Crowd says he's going a step further with Everyday Stitch, a new website set to launch later this year dedicated to the therapeutic benefits of crochet for those struggling with mental health challenges.Working from the home near Wolfville, N.S., he shares with his partner, Daniel Zondervan, Sellick has amassed a global following of 1.3 million online.Sellick's journey into crochet began when he was feeling lonely and went on YouTube to share his crochet skills.Sellick's YouTube channel The Crochet Crowd has 1.3 million subscribers. (Mark Crosby/CBC)To his surprise, it soon turned into a global movement.Sellick's approach is deeply personal. He initially struggled to be himself o...

Parents of children with disabilities are sounding the alarm as Quebec trims $570 million from its education budget. They fear cuts to specialists and support staff will deeply impact vulnerable students.

Saskatchewan women age 45 and older can now self-refer for screening mammograms without a doctor's requisition as part of a phased strategy to gradually lower the age for screening to 40 by June 2026. The latest age drop went into effect on June 30. Experts, advocates and survivors have been waiting for this change, but they are worried the province is not doing enough to let women in their mid-forties know they now qualify.Mandy Kasper, a cancer survivor and provincial manager of Saskatchewan for the Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists, tells CBC the provincial government needs to ramp up communication about the age drop. "It seems like right now, unless they self-refer based on the guidance of their physician, unless they're watching the news or really up on the lates...

Two charities that help organ transplant patients in Edmonton and Toronto say it's time that provincial governments rethink the way they offer housing support for patients who must temporarily move to access treatment.Their comments come after some Nova Scotia lung transplant patients started campaigning for more funding, saying people are selling their homes in order to get life-saving health care.It's a story Silvio Dobri has heard over and over again. He had a heart transplant nearly 30 years ago and has dedicated his life to paying it forward ever since.Dobri founded the GoodHearts Transplant Foundation in Edmonton, which now offers eight apartments near the University of Alberta Hospital at a subsidized rate to transplant patients.The patients pay $40 a day for the furnished apartment...