Health

Itchy eyes, runny nose, congestion, and sneezing are all common symptoms of seasonal allergies. Dr. Angeliki Barlas, an allergist based in Port Moody, B.C., says that climate change is a contributing factor to worsening symptoms and longer allergy seasons. "People will often tell me I feel like I'm suffering almost year-round because pollen season is more prolonged and much more intense," "We're finding that with climate change, the warming of the environment has been causing pollen to become more inflammatory and affecting the immune system much more," Barlas told CBC's Daybreak North.Dr. Davidicus Wong, a family doctor in Burnaby, shared a similar message about climate change worsening allergy symptoms in an interview with CBC's Baneet Braich. He says that with a warmer climate, pollinat...

Jonathan Hickman received a kidney donation from his sister in January 2015. (Mark Quinn/ CBC)Jonathan Hickman talks about the kidney his sister gave him every chance he gets."I believe it's important to educate people about organ donation. You can change someone's life," he said.Hickman says that without the generosity of his sister, there is a lot he would have missed."I have two children and I have seen them grow up from high school to university to working in our family business and that's all because my sister made that unselfish move of offering up her kidney," he said.Hickman started life with damaged kidneys and knew that a life-extending transplant was inevitable."I was born with reflux and my first operation I was one-day old. At that point in time, I had done major damage to my ...

The Ford government has announced $235 million in new funding to support new and expanded primary care teams that will help connect more Ontarians to primary health care this year.The 130 primary care teams were selected through a call for proposals launched in April, focused on communities with the highest number of residents who do not currently have primary health care.Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced on Monday that the teams will help connect 300,000 people to primary care this year. "Our government is protecting Ontario's health-care system and helping connect everyone in Ontario to a primary care provider for years to come," said Jones. Jones says the new funding is part of the government's Primary Care Action Plan, which aims to connect everyone in Ontario to a publicly funded...

As people across Ontario, Quebec and major cities in the U.S. swelter under a June heat wave, medical experts urge people to take precautions in the potentially deadly weather.Much of eastern Canada is dealing with extreme heat and humidity, say meteorologists who point to how Environment Canada's heat record for June was broken on Sunday in Toronto. The temperature on Monday was expected to climb to 36 C at Pearson International Airport, with Environment Canada saying hot and humid conditions will likely continue until Wednesday.In summer 2021 in British Columbia, 619 deaths were attributed to a heat event, according to a B.C. coroner's report. Many of the people who died had chronic health conditions, especially schizophrenia, depression, substance use disorders, diabetes, heart disease ...

Much of Ontario and southwestern Quebec will continue to bake in high temperatures on Monday and Tuesday as a heat dome lingers over the region.Environment Canada issued a heat warning for the area on Saturday, saying hot and humid conditions will likely continue until Wednesday. The dangerously high temperatures are expected to affect communities from southwestern Ontario and north to Sudbury and Timmins.In Quebec, the hottest temperatures are expected to be felt from Montreal to Shawinigan and north to Abitibi.Environment Canada meteorologist Julien Pellerin said he expects Ontario and Quebec to hit their peak daytime highs on Monday and Tuesday with temperatures rising above 30 C, and the humidex making it feel more like 40 to 45 C, depending on the region."It won't last very long," he ...

This First Person column is the experience of Natasha Chiam, who lives in Edmonton. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.In the picture I don't even remember taking, my husband is standing at the entrance to a pediatric ICU patient room, his head resting on his arm as he leans against the frame of the doorway as if it were the only thing holding him up.Inside the room were at least 10 people, all doing their part to save our seven-year-old son who had just gone into cardiac arrest. One of these people, the soft-spoken yet confident senior resident doctor, is up on the hospital bed doing chest compressions on our boy, his large gloved hands covering the whole span of my child's chest.I remember standing about five feet behind my husband. I can't recall w...

The owners of Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C., have been fighting an order from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to cull their flock after it was hit with an avian flu outbreak last year.

Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP and the province's ALS society are calling on Minister of Health Jeremy Cockrill to launch an investigation into the Dr. Goodenowe Restorative Health Center in Moose Jaw. Last week, the CBC reported that Dr. Dayan Goodenowe, who runs the centre, tells patients with ALS that his supplements can stop and reverse the progress of the disease. On his YouTube account, he says, "stopping the progression of ALS actually isn't that hard."He backs up his claim by pointing to some patients who say they feel better on his supplements. He also told CBC he's working on studies to verify their effectiveness.Goodenowe charges ALS clients $75,000 US for his three-month live-in treatment program.Dayan Goodenowe says on his supplement program, ALS symptoms will stop progressing ...

Matthew Fox says he has two words for customers wanting to try Marvin's Premium Candy Co. Cherry edibles."Good luck."Fox works behind the counter at the Realeaf Cannabis trailer on Highway 11, just north of Saskatoon. The business is owned by the Saulteaux First Nation.Under the federal Cannabis Act, retailers selling edible cannabis gummies in urban centres like Saskatoon and Regina have a limit of 10 mg THC per package. However, this cap is not typically enforced in stores owned and operated by First Nations. On its website, Realeaf says its cannabis stores are an expression of sovereignty."Several Indigenous communities have established their own cannabis regulations based on their inherent right to self-governance," it said.The Realeaf trailer offers a variety of colourfully-packaged e...

Anorexia is a life-threatening eating disorder that can manifest as an intense preoccupation on weight loss.It's classified as a mental illness and normally treated with talk therapy, known as family-based therapy, but that's only effective for about half of the mostly women and girls who have it.Those who don't improve may go to hospital and get locked into a relentless cycle of gaining weight and recovering from malnourishment, followed by weight loss and damage to organs, including changes to the brain from starvation.Now, Canadian researchers are testing a new approach, tapping into the growing understanding of the gut-brain connection.They're going to try treating teens with fecal transplants, to change the bacteria in their gut."We know that once the symptoms set in and the brain cha...