Radio/White Coat/ Black Art

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 ...

The Dose23:43Why are my allergies getting worse?Most people with seasonal allergies have likely noticed an uncomfortable trend over the past few years. In parts of Canada, allergy season not only seems to be lasting longer, it seems to be more intense. Experts like Dr. Anne Ellis, chair of the department of allergy and immunology at Queen's University, say the roughly one in five Canadians who experience respiratory allergies aren't imagining things. The past few years have brought some seasons with a lot more pollen than Canadians are used to, she told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of The Dose podcast. "Definitely last year's birch pollen season, and it looks like this year is going to be a doozy as well, has certainly been higher than we've seen in the last 10 years," said Ellis. Thankfully, n...

The Dose26:51What do women need to know about hair loss?London, Ont.-resident Marcy Gallant began losing her hair when she was around five years old. The alopecia advocate says she woke up one morning and noticed hair on her pillow. Her mother investigated and found a bald spot, and Gallant was soon diagnosed with alopecia areata, a condition sometimes called spot baldness. Over the course of the next decade or so, Gallant embarked on a journey that included numerous doctor visits. Her alopecia areata grew into alopecia universalis, and she eventually lost all the hair on her body. "When I was a kid, whether it was at school or at soccer, I was always constantly thinking about it," said Gallant, who co-ordinates youth engagement and special projects at the Canadian Alopecia Areata Foundati...

The Dose19:16What do we know about methylene blue?A chemical first synthesized in the 1800s as a textiles dye is making the rounds on social media as an easy way to boost mood and enhance cognition. However, experts say it's only really useful in treating very specific medical conditions, most notably a rare blood disorder called methemoglobinemia. Methylene blue received significant social media attention after a video began circulating in February showing U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. using a dropper to add a blue liquid to a glass of water. "To anyone who knows anything about chemistry, you look at that video and it's very clear that he's squirting methylene blue into the glass," said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University's Office for Science and S...

The Dose24:04Why do we smell (and how concerned should we be about it)?As the weather warms up and we start to spend more time outdoors, many of us will be reminded that people have a tendency to smell. Pharmaceutical companies have tried for years to convince people to purchase products that cover up their smells, even introducing deodorant for the whole body. "We all have B.O.," Sarah Everts, a Carleton University associate professor and author of The Joy of Sweat: The Strange Science of Perspiration, told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of The Dose podcast. While pharmaceutical companies continue to market products aimed at encouraging people to cover up their natural scents and help stop sweating, experts say that body odour and sweat are perfectly natural and people shouldn't worry about them...

The Dose25:35What do I need to know about tattoo health risks?Tattooing services are regulated and largely considered safe, but there's a growing group of experts concerned over links between tattoo ink and allergic reactions, as well as potential associations between tattoos and certain kinds of cancer. Current evidence largely shows associations — not causation — with cancer, but experts say people should be aware that tattoos do come with a small amount of risk, even if more research is needed to determine the severity of that risk. What are the risks of getting a tattoo? Tattoos are permanent because they're formed when a needle containing ink pierces skin and deposits the pigment in the dermis — the skin's middle layer — according to Dalhousie University dermatologist Dr. Kerri Purdy....

White Coat Black Art26:30Meet the people who help sedate youOne solution to a critical shortage of anesthesiologists in Canada could lie with increasing the ranks of anesthesia assistants, advocates say."In a situation where we have a serious ... access to surgical care issue, we have to think about creative solutions to move forward and get people the care they need," Dr. Sally Bird, pediatric anesthesiologist and chief of pediatric anesthesia at IWK Health Centre in Halifax, told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of CBC Radio's White Coat, Black Art.Although many Canadians may not yet be familiar with their work, the anesthesia assistant profession was established more than 50 years ago in Quebec and about 15 years ago in most other provinces. However, they are not yet available everywhere.As the ...

White Coat Black Art26:30Public healthcare is a national crisis. So why isn't it an election priority?In this federal election period, the twists and turns of tariffs, annexation threats and other surprises from the Trump administration have stolen focus from addressing the state of public healthcare in Canada. A leading expert on health law and policy experts says that's a shame."We are in an emergency situation in Canadian health care, and we have been for a couple of years post pandemic," said Colleen Flood, who is also dean of law at Queen's University. An estimated 6.5 million Canadians don't have access to a family doctor and one-third of those who do find it difficult to get an appointment. Patients waited 222 per cent longer to see a specialist in 2024 than they did in 1993, rankin...

The Dose25:07How do I deal with stress in situations I can’t fully control?Political science professor Julie Simmons is no stranger to stressful current events. Though she's active in discussions around Canada's current federal election campaign, Simmons says it's the U.S. government's unpredictability — including threats to the Canada-U.S. relationship — that have her stress levels especially elevated. "I feel …the humanity is lacking in the statements and the decisions that are made by the United States that have very real implications for people struggling around the world," said Simmons, who teaches at the University of Guelph. She isn't alone in her anxieties. A survey published in late March by Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC) found that 42 per cent of respondents experienced inc...

White Coat Black Art26:30Saving elderly patients from the hazards of the ERIt's 7 a.m. in the emergency department of St. Mary's Hospital in Montreal, and geriatric nurse Leeza Paolone is starting her day in front of a screen filled with patient names, taking note of each one highlighted in blue."We're fighting against the clock to get these patients seen, and hopefully out of there," Paolone told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of CBC Radio's White Coat, Black Art.  The blue names belong to patients 75 and over who've been identified by triage nurses as at risk of functional decline in the hospital. The longer these patients spend in the ER, the worse their outcomes are likely to be, due to a phenomenon known as hospital-associated deconditioning. It refers to physical and often cognitive decline...