Health

The Current24:53Are you an explorer? Alex Hutchinson says we all areFor many, the word "explore" brings to mind daring feats: climbing towering peaks, plunging into ocean depths or soaring through the air on a skydive. But Alex Hutchinson challenges people to redefine exploration — suggesting it's not just for adrenaline junkies."There's a middle definition where it's not just about physical exploration — it's not just about extremes or anything like that," Hutchinson told The Current's Matt Galloway.Instead, he says exploration is any moment where we step into the unknown, take a risk, or seek growth.Alex Hutchinson is a Toronto based science journalist and author, with a focus on human performance, fitness, endurance sports and the outdoors. (Facebook )"There has to be some stakes — you...

This First Person column is written by Deepinder Singh, who goes by the name Deepi, and who lives in Regina. For more information about First Person stories, see the FAQ.I couldn't see what was right around the corner as I sat at the doctor's office, with the optometrist running through some vision tests. I'd booked this appointment after a long time noticing it had become a struggle to see parts of words and sentences. Google had told me the symptoms were similar to cataracts, so I didn't feel there was a big worry or hurry."Well doctor, is it cataract?" I asked, with the cocky attitude of a kid who trusts Google more than a scientist or doctor. "No," he answered, explaining that I was experiencing macular degeneration. "To put it in simple words, you have holes in your retina."He went on...

Researchers at the University of Toronto have found GLP-1 weight loss and diabetes drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro double the risk of a severe form of vision loss among diabetics, affecting daily activities such as reading and driving.

Health Canada issued a recall notice on Friday for some Seasonique birth control products due to some packages containing the correct blue-green pills coming with extraneous yellow tablets.The agency says the recall is for the 0.01-milligram ethinyl estradiol, 0.03-milligram ethiny lestradiol and 0.15-milligram levonorgestrel Seasonique pills made by Teva Canada.Health Canada said those who find the yellow pills should not consume them and return the product to a pharmacy for a replacement or alternative, adding that those who can't return them right away should continue taking the regular blue-green tablets as instructed until they are able to return them."If you took a yellow pill instead of a blue-green pill ... or if you are unsure, you should also use another method of non-hormonal ba...

Toronto's remaining supervised consumption sites say they've gotten busier in the two months since the province forced four sites to close  — part of a changing picture of drug use in the city as Ontario continues its move toward an abstinence-based treatment model. "We are seeing more people, and people are changing their behaviour," said Bill Sinclair, CEO of the Neighbourhood Group, which runs the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site. Sinclair told CBC Toronto that that site has seen a 30 per cent uptick in visitors since April 1, when nine Ontario supervised drug consumption sites — four of them in Toronto — were forced to close under provincial legislation that prohibits sites from operating within 200 metres of a school or daycare. LISTEN | What happened when supervised consump...

For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Nova Scotians dying from influenza exceeds the number of COVID deaths.According to the province's latest respiratory watch report, 124 Nova Scotians have died from influenza during the 2024-25 respiratory season, which runs from Aug. 25, 2024, and will go up until Aug. 29, 2025. There have been 108 COVID deaths so far this season.Dr. Lisa Barrett, an infectious diseases doctor, said the fact there are fewer deaths due to COVID than influenza isn't any kind of positive development for the general population."Some people have said, 'Oh, thank goodness, we're back to normal,'" she said. "And I'm like, 'Well, now we've got two viruses — not just one — that are still in the really important category for hospitalizations,...

Ottawa has paid Nova Scotia several million dollars in health transfers that were previously withheld because of people paying out of pocket for private MRIs and ultrasounds.According to the federal government, no one in Canada should pay for medically necessary diagnostic imaging services, and it's been clawing back money from Nova Scotia and other provinces for allowing it to happen.However, Nova Scotia and Ottawa have come to an agreement that recently resulted in a reimbursement of $3.79 million — the total amount clawed back over the past three years. The payment was finalized in March."It's been a long time coming," said Katherine Fierlbeck, a professor of political science at Dalhousie University who studies health policy. She noted many other provinces have already made arrangement...

The death of an Ontario infant born prematurely and infected with measles through the mother is raising questions about how the virus is transmitted during pregnancy.On Thursday, Ontario health officials announced the death of a baby who was infected with the virus while in the womb. It was the first fatality in the provincial outbreak that began on Oct. 28 last year and includes 2,009 probable and confirmed cases."While measles may have been a contributing factor in both the premature birth and death, the infant also faced other serious medical complications unrelated to the virus," Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, said in a statement released Thursday. Measles is a respiratory infection with symptoms that include fever, a blotchy rash, a cough and red, watery ...

A mother on Vancouver Island is warning people to double check their prescriptions after she was accidentally dispensed the powerful opioid hydromorphone instead of her son's regular ADHD medication. Comox, B.C., resident Sarah Paquin, 31, says she still shudders to think about what could have happened to her nine-year-old son had her husband not noticed the medication looked different before he gave it to him. "It was terrifying," Paquin said, standing in her front yard and playing with one of her three boys. "One simple little mistake like that could have ended horribly."WATCH | 9-year-old dispensed opioid in pharmacy mix-up: Pharmacy mix-up leaves child with hydromorphone pillsA mother on Vancouver Island is warning people to check their prescriptions very carefully after a close call f...

Among the dozens of people who testified at a coroner's inquiry into the death of Normand Meunier, Claude Labelle may be the only one who really understands what he went through. Meunier, a 66-year-old quadriplegic Quebec man, requested medical assistance in dying after developing a severe bedsore during a four-day stay in the ER at Saint-Jérôme Hospital last year.The inquiry has heard over the last several weeks about the unbearable pain he suffered, and how the system failed him before he died in March 2024."In my opinion, it was the right thing to do," Labelle said of Meunier's decision in an interview with CBC News after his testimony Tuesday."It was very, very, very hard for him — a big, severe wound." Like Meunier, Claude Labelle is quadriplegic and prone to bedsores. He told the cor...