News/Health

Making lifestyle adjustments could help you cut the risk of developing a stroke, dementia or late-life depression all at the same time, according to new research that has identified 17 overlapping risk factors for these brain-related conditions.Addressing even one of these risk factors, which range from high blood pressure to loneliness, can help with some of the others, researchers say. For instance, taking up biking to increase your physical activity could help with high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which are also risk factors. "This is actually quite a feel-good story about how much of these conditions could potentially be prevented," Anthony Levinson, a professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., who studies brain health, told CBC News. "The number of people with dement...

This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.A quarter of a million Canadians are diagnosed with cancer every year.When that happens, says Stephen Piazza, director of advocacy for the Canadian Cancer Society, people need to focus on their treatment plan and telling family members — not budgeting for medical expenses."The last thing you need is to then think about how do I balance my chequebook this month?" said Piazza.But a survey conducted for the society suggested about one in five cancer patients found it difficult to pay household expenses, and 40 per cent saw their retirement savings suffer.People accessing cancer care ...

It's only April, and 2025 is already shaping up to be the worst year for measles since the disease was declared eliminated in 1998 in Canada.Ontario continues to be the epicentre of the spread. Public Health Ontario is reporting 1,018 confirmed and probable cases of measles so far this year. The vast majority of those infected were not fully immunized. Six unvaccinated children and adolescents have been hospitalized with the virus.In Alberta, too, the virus is spreading. The province is reporting 129 cases as of April 24, in every zone in the province. In that province, most of those sick are not fully vaccinated. Nine people have been hospitalized. Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to man. Symptoms can include a fever, coughing and a runny nose, as well as a blotchy red...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants to phase out some food dyes.While some of that effort predated the second Trump administration — like banning red dye No. 3 from foods in January — U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Tuesday a list of eight artificial dyes to be eliminated from food and medications by the end of 2026.Kennedy, who has long criticized artificial food dyes, called them "poisonous compounds."Some of his views, including on vaccines and autism, promote ideas that have been widely debunked and criticized as harmful.This is a bit more nuanced though. Here is a fact check.Are artificial food dyes harmful?At the Tuesday announcement, Kennedy and FDA commissioner Marty Makary said there's a possible link between consumption of the d...

Adelynn Campbell's last plane trip ended with a panic attack that she got through largely with the help of a kind flight attendant.That was last year — before 67 people were killed in January when an American Airlines jet collided with a helicopter over Washington, D.C., in the deadliest U.S. air disaster in almost a quarter-century.Now, Campbell is even more hesitant to book a flight."It's definitely spiked my concern about getting on a plane, and it's making the whole situation a little more stressful than it used to be," said Campbell, 30, who manages a coffee shop in San Diego.Being at least a little nervous about flying is understandable. As Mel Brooks once said: "If God wanted us to fly, He would have given us tickets." But for some people, it causes deep anxiety that could require p...

Ahead of the federal election, Canadians are worried about access to health care. Some private clinics, which are growing in number, charge thousands a year for primary care and out-of-pocket fees, as many people struggle with a soaring cost of living.An estimated 6.5 million Canadian adults don't have a regular health-care provider like a family doctor or nurse practitioner.Dr. Rita McCracken, a family physician in Vancouver and primary care researcher at the University of British Columbia, said the shift toward private, for-profit clinics continues while principles of the Canada Health Act hang in the balance this federal election. She was recruited by what she calls a boutique clinic, though she never joined.The Canada Health Act prohibits charging for an essential medical service like ...

Members of the World Health Organization reached a landmark agreement on Wednesday on how to learn from COVID-19, which killed millions of people in 2020-22, and prepare the world for future pandemics.Sticking points on the road to the deal included how to share drugs and vaccines fairly between wealthy countries and poorer ones.The legally binding pact is widely seen as a victory for the global health agency at a time when multilateral organizations like the WHO have been battered by sharp cuts in U.S. foreign funding."After more than three years of intensive negotiations, WHO member states took a major step forward in efforts to make the world safer from pandemics," the health body said in a statement.U.S. negotiators left the discussions after President Donald Trump began a 12-month pro...

A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests autism diagnosis rates continue to rise in the U.S., sparking inflammatory rhetoric from government officials, while experts largely attribute the trend to improved screening and better understanding of the condition. The CDC reported Tuesday that an estimated one in 31 eight-year-olds in the U.S. have autism, using data from 14 states and Puerto Rico in 2022. The previous estimate — from 2020 — was one in 36.The CDC checked health and school records for eight-year-olds for its estimate, because most cases are diagnosed by that age. Boys continue to be diagnosed more than girls, and the highest rates are among children who are Asian/Pacific Islander, Indigenous and Black.The CDC acknowledges that its repor...

Babies and children up to age four could be breathing in plasticizers and other chemicals from their mattresses while they sleep, a Canadian study suggests.Federal regulations set limits on some phthalates or plasticizers, which are substances added to products to make them more flexible.Miriam Diamond, an environmental chemist at the University of Toronto, and her team designed an experiment to estimate how much of the compounds are released into a child's sleeping area from 16 different mattresses.In Tuesday's issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology, the researchers reported that two of the mattresses tested did not comply with Canadian regulations for two phthalates and two plasticizers in consumer products. The regulations are based on potential harm to human health...

Brenndon Goodman was nine years old when a doctor told him he would be dead by 30 if he couldn't get his weight under control."You're going through all the issues a normal nine-year-old goes through. On top of that, also being told you're overweight, you're an aberration. For me, I felt like I was a failure," said Goodman, 30, who lives in Thornhill, Ont.He said he remembers endless — and unhelpful — appointments at weight-loss programs that amounted to cookie-cutter diet plans and shame. What finally worked was when a team of doctors, dietitians, specialists and psychologists at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children started telling him about the psychological and genetic aspects of obesity.That kind of collaborative and inclusive approach should be what all doctors and nurses take when tre...