Radio/White Coat/ Black Art

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...

White Coat Black Art26:30What if palliative care was about living better?Palliative care has an image problem.Despite what people think, it's not some kind of "Grim Reaper service," say two of Canada's leading experts in this field of medicine.Ideally, it should focus on improving a patient's quality of life when they are facing a potentially "life-threatening illness," says Dr. Samantha Winemaker who, with researcher Hsien Seow, is on a mission to change the way patients and their physicians think about palliative care."I think people think palliative care is about dying and death, and by accepting it, you're giving up hope," Seow told Dr. Brian Goldman, host of CBC's White Coat, Black Art. But it's not about giving up on life-extending treatment options, Seow said."Really, when we break ...