Montana governor wants Canadian drugs Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Thursday that he is seeking U.S. government permission to import cheaper drugs from Canada for use in state insurance programs. Schweitzer said he thinks the move could chop 40 per cent off the $100 million US the state spends each year on prescription drugs. 3/12/2010 9:51:38 AM
Doctor accused of sex assaults on patients under anesthetic Police are urging potential victims to come forward and North York General Hospital is boosting its patient hotline after a long-serving anesthetist at the hospital was charged with assaulting women during surgery. The ages of the alleged victims range from the mid-30s to late 80s. 3/12/2010 8:23:35 AM
B.C. women file lawsuit over Pfizer quit-smoking drug Three B.C. women are suing pharmaceutical giant Pfizer over a lucrative drug that is designed to help people quit smoking but which, the plaintiffs claim, causes suicidal tendencies as an unintended byproduct. "It's a scary drug," Vancouver lawyer David Klein said Thursday. 3/12/2010 6:41:29 AM
Thalidomide effect mystery solved Scientists have discovered the primary mechanism by which thalidomide causes malformed limbs in developing embryos. This side-effect was recognised after thousands of affected children were born to mothers who had been prescribed the drug for morning sickness. 3/12/2010 6:14:05 AM
Parents of baby awaiting heart transplant need help The parents of Victoria infant Chace Campsall need help. Little Chace, who is only seven months old, is at Stollery Hospital in Edmonton awaiting a heart transplant. He is being kept alive by an external, artificial heart known as a Berlin Heart. 3/12/2010 5:27:53 AM
NHL GMs agree on blindside hit rule (next year) The NHL's general managers agreed on Wednesday to introduce a rule banning blindside hits to the head. The proposal will be sent to the league's competition committee for review and then it will go to the board of governors in the summer for approval. 3/11/2010 7:41:42 AM
Women guilty of feeling too guilty, study shows Kim Moldofsky can feel guilt over just about anything — her children, stray cats, her work, her husband. “I am easily guilted,” she told me, laughing. Meanwhile, her husband, Brad, 41, remains blissfully guilt-free. “Sometimes I want him to get caught up in the emotion.” 3/11/2010 6:16:29 AM
B.C. pharmacies move cough medicine behind counters to curb teen overdoses Some B.C. pharmacies are moving cough remedies containing Dextromethorphan — known as DM or DXM — behind the counter following a rash of intentional overdoses by teens. In the last two weeks alone, four teenagers in the Victoria area have landed in treatment after overdosing. 3/10/2010 7:41:56 PM
Growing 'soda tax' movement seen by some as taxing the poor New York state is the latest American jurisdiction eyeing a "soda tax" to curb the obesity epidemic and some public health advocates in Canada are also calling for tax reform to encourage healthier eating habits here. New York's governor this week advocated the idea of a penny-per-ounce tax on soft drinks and other sweetened beverages. 3/10/2010 6:20:35 PM
Getting a BC hospital bed for a needed operation will get more difficult Can't get a hospital bed, or get scheduled for a needed operation? Well if Gordon Campbell and co. have their way it will be even more difficult. B.C. Health Minister Kevin Falcon says he has a plan to market health-care services to rich, offshore patients similar to selling higher education to foreign students. 3/10/2010 6:50:24 AM
Yawn! Daylight Saving Time begins this Weekend Time springs ahead one hour on March 14, but will you? Time changes reflect a change in social clocks not biological ones. Drivers, pedestrians and cyclists that have to be on time for work on Monday morning will be immediately affected by the time change. 3/10/2010 6:13:32 AM
B.C.'s fast food chains under the microscope More than 80 per cent of fast food franchises in a Lower Mainland health region were handed a critical health violation at least once over the past three years, according to a review of provincial health inspection data by CTV News. (Scroll down to story). 3/10/2010 6:05:27 AM
Tailored diet may slow DNA damage Mounting evidence on the effect of micronutrients on preventing DNA damage calls for a re-evaluation of recommended dietary intake values, say researchers. A lack or excess of antioxidants and trace elements, involved in DNA replication and repair, can exacerbate the problem. 3/10/2010 6:02:59 AM
How to stop your car when the throttle is stuck (Ed: Got a Toyota? You may want to read this.) - With fear of unintended acceleration approaching the dimensions of mass hysteria, now is a good time to review the fundamentals of operating cars so that drivers are prepared in the event of a stuck throttle, whatever the cause. 3/10/2010 5:16:32 AM
Ontario surgeon asks hospital to restore her privileges A Windsor surgeon who performed two unnecessary mastectomies is seeking to have her privileges reinstated at Windsor's Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital in the midst of three investigations into her practice. Hotel-Dieu is currently reviewing all of Barbara Heartwell's past cases. 3/9/2010 9:24:57 PM
Parents of head-injured B.C. hockey player sue helmet maker Darren More used to be an outgoing, fun-loving high school student who loved hanging out with friends, driving his vintage car and playing hockey — but after sustaining a head injury during a hockey game five years ago, the 22-year-old has yet to graduate. 3/9/2010 8:52:54 PM
Concussion effects linger for decades, study finds She remembers the collision with another player, the fall to the ice, the feeling of dizziness. Skating shakily to the bench, she told her coach she had a concussion. “How do you know?” the coach asked. “Because I've had them before,” Jessica Raymond replied. 3/9/2010 8:17:23 PM
Older men more interested in sex than older women: Study Women may live longer, but it appears men are more likely to go out with a smile. A study published Tuesday in the British Medical Journal found that the sex lives of men tend to significantly outlast those of women, even though women live about five years longer. 3/9/2010 7:08:11 PM
Virus eyed as new treatment for prostate cancer Canadian researchers are working on a fascinating new way to treat prostate cancer using viruses. And while it's still early days, they say their research opens the door to more effective cancer therapies with fewer side effects. 3/9/2010 6:49:45 PM
CTV News investigates B.C.'s filthiest restaurants More than 90 restaurants in Metro Vancouver were told to close their doors after they were found with rodent infestations, unsanitary conditions, or a failure to store food properly, according to an investigation by CTV News. And many more were repeatedly cited -- but not closed -- for other violations. 3/9/2010 12:00:53 PM
Companies faulted for food marketing aimed at kids Most food and entertainment companies do not have protections to guard against marketing their sugary treats to children. 128 large companies that market food to children were studied. No company earned an A. The highest grade — the lone B+ — went to Mars, Inc. 3/9/2010 11:47:54 AM
Chewing gum may give you wrinkles It freshens our breath and helps us quit smoking, but some cosmetic surgeons believe chewing gum does one more thing: It gives us wrinkles.
“Many of my patients who are gum chewers have a certain pattern of wrinkles around their mouth,” says Dr. Joel Schlessinger, a board certified dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon. 3/9/2010 11:24:30 AM
Religion in alcoholic's treatment sparks complaint A Winnipeg man who has struggled with alcoholism for decades says he has filed a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission over the lack of a treatment program that's free of religious or spiritual elements. Johnstone said his faith-neutral stance to his own treatment prompted him to be dismissed. 3/9/2010 6:26:18 AM
Doctors damaged by fallout of medical errors: Experts Medical errors can be traumatic and life-changing for the patients affected — as in the case of a mistaken mastectomy performed in Windsor, Ont., that recently made headlines — but they can also leave emotional scars on the doctors who make them. 3/9/2010 6:10:23 AM
Listeria leads to B.C. cheese recall A warning has been issued about a brand of Camembert cheese made in B.C. that could be contaminated with potentially deadly Listeria bacteria. The cheese was manufactured on Salt Spring Island by Moonstruck Organic Cheese. 3/9/2010 6:03:48 AM
Update: Kootenay Doctors offer to pay for OR Nurses The head of BC's Nurses Union says they applaud the creative thinking of doctors at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital when it comes to subsidizing the nurses wages. Deb McPherson says cuts to Operating Rooms across BC only fuels debate over private surgical clinics, who are eager to branch out. 3/9/2010 5:27:55 AM
Fat epidemic linked to chemicals run amok It's not just about calories in versus calories out. If that were all it took to lose weight — eating a little less and exercising a little more — then weight loss would be as simple as grade-school math: Subtract Y from Z and end up with X. 3/9/2010 5:16:16 AM
Windsor: First un-needed Mastectomies, now Drunk doctor in ER An emergency room physician barred from Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital after he allegedly walked into the ER on his night off and made "inappropriate comments" to female staff is under investigation by the Windsor police special victims unit. Sources told the Windsor Star he is John Jamal. 3/8/2010 6:46:13 PM
Cawston family makes additional generous donation to Keremeos Health Centre Gurdial Singh Dhaliwal of Cawston was grateful for the treatment he received from the Keremeos Diagnostic and Treatment Centre. Gurdial made a donation of $10,000 to the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation. He passed away last month. Gurdial’s family recently donated another $9,500 in memory of their father and husband. 3/8/2010 5:47:57 PM
Untrustworthy guy? It's in his face Is he trustworthy? Forget what the songs say about his kiss, and check out the breadth of his cheekbones. Men with wider faces are not only perceived as untrustworthy, they may deserve the reputation, according to a new study published in the journal Psychological Science. 3/8/2010 3:08:41 PM
Junk foods become less appealing as costs rise: study The higher the prices of junk foods rise, the less likely people are to consume them, a new 20-year-long study finds. The study found that when the prices of soft drinks and pizza rose, adults tended to eat and drink them less. 3/8/2010 2:09:52 PM
Women who drink gain less weight than teetotallers No one would ever think of alcohol as a diet drink, but new research suggests women who drink a light to moderate amount appear to gain less weight and have a lower risk of becoming overweight than non-drinkers. Women who drink on a regular basis are less likely to experience long-term weight gain. 3/8/2010 11:55:16 AM
Canada expands recall of flavour-enhanced foods The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which is closely following a U.S. investigation and recall of foods containing hydrolyzed vegetable protein, has expanded its recall of products that contain the flavour enhancer, which may be contaminated with salmonella bacteria. 3/8/2010 9:23:29 AM
Fake drug scam hijacks UK college websites UK academic institutions have unwittingly become the accomplices of criminals selling fake drugs online. A security firm has discovered many organisations using the .ac.uk domain are unknowingly pushing customers to websites offering the fake pills. 3/8/2010 8:36:27 AM
Study finds why ‘sunshine’ vitamin D is crucial Vitamin D is vital in activating human defenses and low levels suffered by around half the world's population may mean their immune systems' killer T cells are poor at fighting infection, scientists said. Most Vitamin D is made by the body as a natural by-product of the skin's exposure to sunlight. 3/8/2010 8:16:01 AM
Pumping iron can lift away back pain It may come as a surprise to hear that a promising solution for chronic lower-back pain, according to a series of recent studies from the University of Alberta, is lifting weights. A whole-body strengthening program dramatically outperforms aerobic exercise for those whose nagging back pain lingers for many months. 3/8/2010 7:31:55 AM
The real diagnosis: The myth of pill-pushing parents Parenting writer Judith Warner set out to pen an exposé of overmedicated children. Instead, she uncovered a different problem: underdiagnosis and undertreatment of mental illness....Six-year-old Johnny headbutts his grandma, throws fits in school and terrorizes other children. 3/8/2010 7:28:18 AM
Pretzel recall in Canada linked to huge U.S. salmonella outbreak The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning the public not to consume some pretzel products because the products may be contaminated with salmonella. The following foods, manufactured in the U.S., are affected by this alert: 3/8/2010 7:11:43 AM
5 surprising ways your TV is slowly killing you You’ve accepted the idea that TV makes you dumber. You know there are lots of more edifying things you could be doing with your time than cheering on the contestants on "Survivor." And unless you’re working out to an exercise video, hours sprawled out in front of the screen are going to make you fatter. 3/8/2010 6:24:59 AM
UBCO student’s study on frailty catches the eye of provincial government Kaitlyn Roland, a PhD student at UBC Okanagan studying the development of “frailty” in older adults, has been invited by the provincial government to present her research to key government officials at a student-led research symposium in Victoria on Monday. 3/8/2010 5:25:19 AM
New Location for Penticton’s Cardiopulmonary Wellness Program Almost a year-and-a-half after the South Okanagan Events Centre opened its doors, plans for a wellness centre at the facility have finally come to fruition. "When the events centre was just being built, this was part of the dream," said Penticton MLA Bill Barisoff. 3/7/2010 6:49:49 AM
DNA test 'may predict best diet' A simple DNA test may predict whether someone is more likely to lose weight on a low fat or a low carbohydrate diet The results from the small preliminary study of 101 women showed those on the best diet for their genes lost two to three times more weight than the rest. 3/7/2010 6:12:56 AM
Cosmetic surgery gets sliced in federal budget The nip-and-tuck business got nipped in the federal budget. Boob and nose jobs, liposuction and botox, hair replacements, teeth whitening and other procedures "purely aimed at enhancing one's appearance" are no longer eligible for a medical tax credit. 3/6/2010 11:07:42 AM
Actor Michael J. Fox named honorary doctor in Sweden for Parkinson's awareness work Sweden's Karolinska institute says it will give an honorary degree of medicine to Canadian actor Michael J. Fox for his work to raise funds and awareness for Parkinson's disease. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research has since 2000 given more than $175 million to research. 3/6/2010 10:01:51 AM
CFIA forced to detail flight by swine flu-infected agent The Canadian Food Inspection Agency tried to withhold specific details about a commercial flight taken by an inspector who was infected with swine flu and was carrying samples of the virus, CBC News has learned. The release of more records to CBC News is still pending. 3/6/2010 9:59:29 AM
When good food is bad for you Some of the vegetables championed for their vast and numerous health benefits are also responsible for the most cases of food-borne illness. CTV News examined 20 years of data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and found that leafy greens like spinach and lettuce were linked to the highest number. 3/6/2010 7:47:12 AM
B.C. budget cuts irresponsible: critics Premier Gordon Campbell said Friday every decision to cut spending is thoughtful and made for the long-term, but critics call the cuts irresponsible attacks on the most vulnerable. Jane Dyson, of the B.C. Coalition of People with Disabilities, said the cuts will mean people's health will suffer. 3/6/2010 5:57:30 AM
'Epidemic' of vitamin D deficiency: MUHC study A deficiency of vitamin D in study subjects has surprised doctors at the McGill University Health Centre. A study, released Thursday, found that 59 per cent of study subjects had too little vitamin D in their blood and nearly a quarter of the group had serious deficiencies. 3/6/2010 5:52:32 AM
B.C. woman blames Toyota for terrifying crash A B.C. woman is one of at least 156 British Columbians who have joined a class action lawsuit against Toyota, claiming faulty design. Port Coquitlam resident Shirley MacDonald, 76, wants compensation after her 2004 Toyota Echo suddenly accelerated when she was out for a drive last summer. 3/6/2010 5:50:40 AM
Lunchtime coffee break best for fighting diabetes Drinking coffee cuts diabetes risk, new research confirms, but you may need to enjoy your java with lunch if you want to get any benefit. A study in nearly 70,000 women found that those who drank at least a cup of coffee with lunch were one-third less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. 3/6/2010 5:25:36 AM
For Canada's obsese, exercise alone won't cut it The story of Francina Kehoe, a B.C. woman who has battled obesity for years, highlights a growing body of research that shows what matters far more is how much we eat — not how much we move. Kehoe is an extreme example of an overweight nation, that has been taught exercise is a surefire path to weight loss. 3/6/2010 4:56:52 AM
Women who took chemo drug say they weren't warned of permanent hair loss Women who took a drug to fight breast cancer say they were never warned of a side effect – permanent hair loss – that left them looking sick long after they were treated for the disease. “I had a normal head of hair and I am now completely bald,” said Cynthia MacGregor, 50, of Montreal. 3/5/2010 4:34:19 PM
Friends buy Surrey dad with 'terminal' throat cancer another chance In July, cancer patient Rick Sidoni sat down with his two sons and told them he had eight months to live. At Christmas, he told them the cancer was gone. "Those were sad tears, these were happy ones," says Sidoni. "My boys were so brave through all of this. I'm so proud of them." 3/5/2010 2:56:32 PM
Contamination scare leading to food recalls in Canada The recall in the U.S. of a commonly used food additive because of a risk of salmonella poisoning has sparked the recall of a number of food products in Canada -- and could lead to many more. The additive is a flavour enhancer called hydrolyzed vegetable protein. It's a common ingredient used in processed foods. 3/5/2010 8:03:30 AM
Kootenay doctors offer to pay for OR nurses Some B.C. doctors in the Kootenays are offering to pay out of their own pockets to keep nurses in operating rooms. Three operating-room nurse positions are being cut at the Kootenay-Boundary Regional Hospital in Trail 3/5/2010 5:31:31 AM
16 charges laid in B.C. Health Ministry probe A former assistant deputy minister, his adviser and a manager are facing a total of 16 criminal charges following a lengthy investigation into contracting practices at B.C.'s Ministry of Health. The charges were laid against Ronald Danderfer, Dr. Jonathan Burns and James Roy Taylor. 3/4/2010 3:06:28 PM
Magnetic pulses device helps treat migraine pain A hand-held device that delivers magnetic pulses to the head could be a promising new way to treat the crushing pain of migraine headaches. The device offers effective pain relief for up to 48 hours in some patients who get migraines with aura. What's more, the treatment is non-invasive and has no side effects. 3/4/2010 1:49:54 PM
Parents give kids vitamins, but don’t always tell doctors Parents often give children multivitamins and other supplements but don’t always share that information with doctors, even though there could be interactions between vitamins and other drugs, a new study says. For example, vitamin C can interfere with blood thinners by prolonging or boosting their effect. 3/4/2010 9:58:28 AM
Whoopi Goldberg has a wee problem Whoopi Goldberg has a wee problem and she's tackling it head on by enlisting the help of several "great women in history." It's all in the name of talking about what Goldberg calls "the spritz," or that "little bit of water" that is otherwise known as Light Bladder Leakage. 3/4/2010 7:32:34 AM
Health Fair goes this weekend in Penticton Health analyst and funnyman Dr. Art Hister is the keynote speaker for the South Okanagan-Similkameen Health Fair, being presented Friday and Saturday at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre. Hister is known for injecting humour into his presentations. He is one of more than 50 participants at the free, two-day event. 3/4/2010 4:15:54 AM
Where does our food come from? 25 countries that ship fruits and vegetables to our country violated Canadian pesticide standards last year. Documents show that China, France, Thailand, and Nicaragua are among the countries whose exported food is most likely to test positive for certain pesticides. 3/4/2010 4:12:47 AM
IHA Welcomes New Location for Heart Wellness Program Interior Health will be opening a new location for the Cardiopulmonary Wellness Program in Penticton. The program is aimed to help those recovering from a cardiac event or living with a lung condition become healthy. 3/3/2010 5:17:03 PM
Hepatitis C sufferers endangering health to get treatment Health-care workers who treat hepatitis C are raising the alarm about patients who are binge drinking and taking dangerous herbal concoctions to try to inflame their own livers in a desperate bid to get provincial governments to pay for their medication. 3/3/2010 4:49:16 PM
Patients should be "unafraid" to seek second opinion: Top MD Patients who question medical test results or diagnoses from their doctors should be "unafraid" to ask for a second opinion, because mistakes, although uncommon, can be made, according to the Canadian Medical Association. 3/3/2010 3:57:28 PM
'iShoe' aims to prevent falls Erez Lieberman-Aiden had a nagging feeling that his grandmother's death, which occurred after a hard fall, could have been prevented. Lieberman-Aiden invented a high-tech shoe insole to help older people manage their balance. 3/3/2010 3:26:29 PM
Anti-drinking ads boost boozing for some Health campaigns aimed at keeping teens and others from drinking and driving, smoking and other risky behaviors often use shame and guilt to get their messages across. But a new study finds anti-drinking ads can actually spur increased binge drinking for some audiences. 3/3/2010 2:31:29 PM
Chips, dips recalled due to salmonella concerns A brand of chips and another of dips have both been recalled by their producers due to fears they have been contaminated with salmonella. T. Marzetti Southwest Ranch and Spinach Veggie Dips, and Hawaiian Kettle Style Sweet Maui Onion potato chips 3/3/2010 12:07:38 PM
Marketing works on preschoolers: study Children as young as three years old are vulnerable to advertising, contrary to past research that suggested such marketing only had an impact on older kids. "Young children are able to identify brands, to know what it stands for, know what this company sells." 3/3/2010 11:09:11 AM
U.S. fish oil makers, drugstores sued over supplements A group including a California non-profit organization is suing fish oil manufacturers and pharmacies that sell the popular supplements over their purported toxicity. The lawsuit claims that the makers and sellers of certain supplements found to contain high levels of PCB compounds. 3/3/2010 6:41:59 AM
Shoppers Drug Mart cuts off Blue Cross in Maritimes A battle between one of the region's biggest drug stores and one of the biggest insurance companies will affect customers in Atlantic Canada as early as next week. Most Shoppers Drug Mart stores will no longer accept Medavie Blue Cross cards at their pharmacies beginning next Monday. 3/3/2010 4:43:16 AM
Over-protected children missing out on 'dangerous' childhood: author A few suggestions for anxious parents who typically hover on the edge of the playground with a first aid kit: Let your child lick a 9-volt battery, just to see what happens. Encourage them try to drive a nail. And by all means, let them play with fire. There is a belief that today's bubble-wrapped children are missing out. 3/2/2010 4:08:26 PM
Did the discovery of cooking make us human? Cooking is something we all take for granted but a new theory suggests that if we had not learned to cook food, not only would we still look like chimps but, like them, we would also be compelled to spend most of the day chewing. 3/2/2010 3:44:56 PM
Alberta sees 'disturbing' jump in syphilis infections Alberta saw a "profoundly disturbing" jump in the number of syphilis infections in 2009, officials said. Dr. Andre Corriveau, Alberta's top public-health doctor, said he's almost finished a report for Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky that will determine how to stop the skyrocketing rates of the sexually transmitted infection. 3/2/2010 2:34:50 PM
Wrongful mastectomy victim to sue hospital An Ontario woman whose case helped spark an investigation into wrongful mastectomies in Windsor is taking legal action. Laurie Johnston had a mastectomy in November, performed by Dr. Barbara Heartwell (pictured), even though it turned out she did not have breast cancer. 3/2/2010 2:26:57 PM
Snacks turn kids into ‘constant’ eaters U.S. children eat an average three snacks a day on top of three regular meals, a finding that could explain why the childhood obesity rate has risen to more than 16 percent, researchers said on Tuesday. 3/2/2010 1:54:28 PM
Diets 'can help blocked arteries' Three diets - Mediterranean, low-fat and low-carbohydrate - are equally effective in helping reverse blocked arteries, say Israeli researchers. The study of 140 people, reported in the journal Circulation, found diet could reduce the fatty build up in arteries. 3/2/2010 5:28:06 AM
Why are we grinding our teeth so much? Some dentists are reporting that we are grinding our teeth more, as stress and even fears over the recession grip us. What's wrong with us? Dentists often call it bruxism. To the layman it is "teethgrinding", although it may only be clenching rather than grinding. 3/2/2010 5:26:16 AM
Is organic food better than non-organic? Despite numerous environmental and health claims in favour of buying organic produce, independent CTV News testing reveals that they may not be any more nutritious than regular produce. CTV News took organic and non-organic potatoes and snow peas to a lab. (Ed: Scroll down to story.) 3/2/2010 4:32:51 AM
Cancer patients face barriers to second opinions Cancer patients are often told to get another doctor's diagnosis, but getting a second opinion is not always easy. Windsor, Ont., surgeon Dr. Barbara Heartwell voluntarily left her position after it was revealed she performed unnecessary mastectomies. 3/1/2010 5:03:40 PM
Weed killer can turn male frogs into females, study finds Researchers in the United States say they have turned male frogs into females by exposing the amphibians to tiny amounts of atrazine, a weed killer widely used on corn fields in Canada and often found in water supplies in agricultural areas. 3/1/2010 3:40:09 PM
Liberalism, atheism, male sexual exclusivity linked to IQ Political, religious and sexual behaviors may be reflections of intelligence, a new study finds. People who identified as liberal and atheist had higher IQs. This applied also to sexual exclusivity in men, but not in women. 3/1/2010 3:00:25 PM
Stray cat credited in cancer diagnosis When Judy Danchura opened her door last summer to a hungry stray cat in Winnipeg, that simple act of kindness became a turning point in her life and the start of a battle with cancer. While she and her husband slept, the cat hopped onto the bed and walked across her body. 3/1/2010 2:12:05 PM
Nut allergy results in removal from plane A Calgary woman with a severe peanut allergy is upset that she was asked to leave a flight from Mexico last month after asking the flight attendants not to serve the snack to passengers. "It makes me very angry — very, very angry," she said. "It actually hurts me." 3/1/2010 2:06:15 PM
How to raise joyful kids: Reject perfection and let them fail Every parent wants their child to be happy. In a new book that is part science, part anecdotal testimony, Christine Carter, a sociologist, as well as the mother of two young daughters aged 7 and 9, offers advice on how to raise kids to be optimistic and kind adults. 3/1/2010 9:14:20 AM
The cult of omega-3 If there were a top 40 of good foods, a chart rundown of the right things to eat, then anything containing omega-3 fatty acids would have been number one for years. They even have their own international awareness day, which takes place this Wednesday. 3/1/2010 8:26:06 AM
Severe allergic reaction to meat may not be rare Eating meat may be a much more common trigger for anaphylaxis -- a severe and potentially deadly allergic reaction -- than previously thought. A study of 60 patients who had unexplained severe allergic reactions suggests that a compound in meat known as alpha-galactose may be the culprit. 3/1/2010 5:36:58 AM
Girls, read my text: `Your driving is getting worse' Allstate Insurance recently released the results of an independent study conducted in the United States. Long vilified as dangerous demons on the road, boys are actually getting better in some regards, and it's the girls who are getting worse. And I don't have to tell you the biggest game-changer, do I? Cellphones and texting. 2/28/2010 2:46:36 PM
Blood drug offers dementia hope Researchers believe a drug used to lower blood pressure could be even more effective against Alzheimer's disease than they previously thought. People taking angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) were up to 50% less likely to develop dementia than those taking other blood pressure drugs. 2/28/2010 5:53:18 AM
Hospitals urge Ontario-wide pathology review The association representing Ontario's public hospitals wants the province to extend an investigation into the pathology procedures at a Windsor hospital to the rest of Ontario's hospitals. Ontario's Ministry of Health announced last Thursday it was launching a review at Windsor's Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital. 2/28/2010 5:02:12 AM
University of Victoria expedites degree for student dying in Vancouver hospital There are a lot of things Eva Markvoort wants to do before she dies. Despite her failing health, the University of Victoria student, who has cystic fibrosis, wanted to finish her bachelor’s degree. In the end, it proved physically impossible. 2/28/2010 4:39:05 AM
Britain says Slimming sixties not a myth Despite fewer visits to gyms and a love of high-fat foods, people in the 1960s were slimmer simply because they were more active, the government says. Rates of obesity in English adults have risen from 1-2% in the 1960s to around 26% today, figures show. 2/27/2010 5:32:26 PM
Fears grip Windsor in wake of medical mistakes Imagine believing you're living with a death sentence when you're young, married and have big plans for your three children. That's what Justin DeRoy says happened to him in the fall of 2007, three weeks after neck surgery at Windsor Regional Hospital. 2/27/2010 8:51:06 AM
Top 5 excuses for not exercising, and how to beat them When it comes to reasons not to get out to the gym, Maureen Hagan has heard them all. She says she knows why people often drag their feet starting a new fitness program -- she's even been guilty of pulling out a few of these excuses herself. But she has the answers for talking yourself into building a more fit and active life. 2/27/2010 7:39:22 AM
Heart damage curbed with blood pressure cuff Virtually everyone has had their blood pressure measured with a pumped-up cuff encircling their upper arm. But it turns out that this commonplace medical device could one day have another critical use — reducing the amount of damage from a heart attack, researchers say. 2/27/2010 7:18:04 AM
Montreal schools ban green cleaning products Montreal's public health department is warning school boards across the city not to use biodegradable cleaning products. Dr. Louis Jacques said that he has studied research on such products, and is worried the very thing that makes them green could cause allergic reactions in children. 2/27/2010 5:57:34 AM
Old mice run faster with supplements (Video) Researchers at McMaster University have developed a cocktail of ingredients that forestalls major aspects of the aging process in mice. Generally, aging diminishes the mind and physical capacity. A cocktail of 30 dietary supplements such as B vitamins, vitamin D, ginseng and garlic counteracts symptoms of aging. 2/27/2010 5:55:45 AM
Poll shows Canadians fear that health spending could be cut The Ipsos Reid survey conducted for the Canadian Medical Association shows 83 per cent of Canadians polled agreed they are worried health-care programs will be among those that suffer if Ottawa tries to reduce the deficit too quickly. "They don't want to see a repetition of what happened in the 1990s." 2/27/2010 4:43:46 AM
Fair puts focus on healthy lifestyle What does it take to change a life? There may be no single answer to a question like that, but the three featured speakers at the South Okanagan Health Fair next weekend will be looking at some very different approaches to a healthy lifestyle. 2/26/2010 12:03:50 PM
Failure of U.S. health summit satisfies both sides Barack Obama did not achieve the rapprochement he publicly hoped would come out of his day-long summit on health-care reform. If anything, the chasm separating the President from Republicans on how to fix the sickly U.S. system was only wider at the end. 2/26/2010 6:08:25 AM
Emergency transport helicopter fails to get off the ground The BC Ambulance Service is defending its decision not to designate a full-time medical-emergency transport helicopter in the Southern Interior, nor run a pilot program to test the viability. BCAS call volumes for the Interior Health Authority were 96,497, making the service area the second highest call volume in the province. 2/26/2010 6:00:51 AM
Drug testing needed for Okanagan Lake The amount of pharmaceuticals finding their way into Okanagan Lake will likely be a concern in the future, an environmentalist educator says. Though current water treatment standards suggest the issue isn‘t a problem, different criteria could be developed soon. 2/26/2010 5:36:01 AM
Windsor hospital probes other 'cases of concern' Two patients who had unnecessary breast cancer surgeries are not the only "cases of concern," says Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital in Windsor, Ont. The hospital uncovered seven serious cases of concern, five involving patients of Dr. Barbara Heartwell. 2/25/2010 6:54:40 AM
Caring for ourselves goes hand in hand with caring for the planet Ecosystems come in all shapes and sizes, often without distinct boundaries. And what happens in one ecosystem affects other ecosystems. We can even consider the human body as an ecosystem, or perhaps more correctly as a number of interrelated ecosystems. 2/25/2010 6:33:57 AM
Intense interval training could slash hours off your workout Some experts say intense exercise sessions could help people squeeze an entire week's workout into less than an hour. Intense exercise regimens, or interval training, was originally developed for Olympic athletes and thought to be too strenuous for normal people. 2/25/2010 6:27:24 AM
No fair! Why your brain hates inequities At some point in our lives, we've all cried "It's not fair!" In fact, it's human nature for us to dislike unequal situations, and we often try to avoid or remedy them. Now, scientists have identified the first evidence of this behavior's neurological underpinnings in the human brain. 2/25/2010 5:27:19 AM
Evidence That Little Touches Do Mean So Much Psychologists have long studied the grunts and winks of nonverbal communication, the vocal tones and facial expressions that carry emotion. A warm tone of voice, a hostile stare — both have the same meaning in Terre Haute or Timbuktu, and are among dozens of signals that form a universal human vocabulary. 2/24/2010 12:47:38 PM
Trail: Doctors seek council support Two doctors from Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital spoke to Trail city council Monday night about their concerns with the Interior Health Authority. General Surgeon Doctor Ron Cameron has practised in the community for 13 years, he says the proposed cuts to the OR time is unnecessary. 2/24/2010 10:48:45 AM
Superwoman syndrome fuels pill-pop culture Popping a couple of pain pills helped Laurie J. Besden study night after night. They helped her pass the Pennsylvania bar exam. They helped her get more done in a day than many of her colleagues. Then they helped her land in jail. 2/24/2010 8:06:52 AM
Decision to ban BPA in baby bottles was controversial: documents Canada's decision to become the first country to ban baby bottles with bisphenol A was in flux in the days leading up to the unprecedented announcement — and was secured after the intervention of senior Conservative political officials, internal government records show. 2/24/2010 6:04:18 AM
Hospital uncovers 2nd mistaken mastectomy by same doctor Windsor surgeon Dr. Barbara Heartwell is withdrawing from Windsor’s Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital’s operating rooms following revelation that she had performed another unnecessary mastectomy on a patient who did not have breast cancer. 2/24/2010 5:06:16 AM
Overdue: Winter tires now mandatory for N.B. school buses The New Brunswick government has changed its policy on the kind of tires that are required on multi-function activity buses transporting students. The change comes after a two-year dispute with parents of several students killed in a highway crash. 2/23/2010 5:20:18 PM
Are non-smokers smarter than smokers? Cigarette smokers have lower IQs than non-smokers, and the more a person smokes, the lower their IQ, a study in over 20,000 Israeli military recruits suggests. Young men who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day or more had IQ scores 7.5 points lower than non-smokers. 2/23/2010 3:38:19 PM
Toyota apologizes for handling of safety issues The president of Toyota's U.S. operations insisted Tuesday that electronic problems did not contribute to sudden acceleration of its cars, drawing sharp criticism from both legislators and a tearful driver who could not stop her runaway Lexus. 2/23/2010 3:12:20 PM
Some find controversial new weight-loss technique hard to swallow A controversial new weight-loss technique has tongues wagging — and feeling tender. The medical procedure involves stitching a small piece of polyethylene mesh onto a patient's tongue, making it painful to ingest solid foods and forcing a low-calorie, liquid diet. 2/23/2010 2:24:24 PM
U.S. pediatrician faces 471 counts of child abuse A Delaware pediatrician has been charged with multiple acts of child rape and abuse over the course of more than a decade in what may be the worst pedophilia case in U.S. history. A grand jury indictment charges Earl Bradley with sexually assaulting and molesting 102 girls and one boy. 2/23/2010 10:25:05 AM
Toyota, US lawmakers clash over electronics safety Toyota drivers also testified, including Rhonda Smith, a Sevierville, Tenn., woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop. Finally, her car slowed down before she crashed. She called it "a near death experience." 2/23/2010 9:45:39 AM
Is having a family a human right? Consider the predicament of the modern educated woman. She goes to school until she's in her 20s. She spends the next 10 years establishing a career. She settles on a guy, and they save up to buy a house. They are responsible and prudent. At last, it's time to have a family! 2/23/2010 9:37:58 AM
Heart condition played role in Ironman athlete's death A coroner has determined a heart condition played a role in the death of an athlete during last year's Penticton Ironman Canada Triathlon. Walter Eugene Wiwchar was pulled from the water of Okanagan Lake after he was observed in distress during the swim portion of the triathlon. 2/23/2010 9:03:20 AM
Canadians living longer, Stats Canada reports The average Canadian born between 2005 and 2007 can now expect to live to 80.7. That's up from a decade ago, when a baby born between 1995 and 1997 could expect to live to 78.4. It's also up slightly from a few years ago. Much of the gains in Canadian life expectancy come from men. 2/23/2010 8:31:12 AM
'My heart, my choice,' Williams says An unapologetic Danny Williams says he was aware his trip to the United States for heart surgery earlier this month would spark outcry, but he concluded his personal health trumped any public fallout over the decision. "This was my heart, my choice and my health," Williams said. 2/23/2010 8:03:36 AM
Hospital infections killed 48,000, report shows Pneumonia and blood-borne infections caught in U.S. hospitals killed 48,000 patients and cost $8.1 billion in 2006, according to a report released on Monday. The study is one of the first to put a price tag on the widespread problem, which is worsening. 2/23/2010 5:58:02 AM
Seniors turn to pot to fight pain as they age In her 88 years, Florence Siegel has learned how to relax: A glass of wine. A copy of The New York Times, if she can wrest it from her husband. Some classical music, preferably Bach. And every night, she lifts a pipe to her lips and smokes marijuana. 2/22/2010 2:26:30 PM
Obama unveils new U.S. health care push President Barack Obama tried to rejuvenate his stalled U.S. health care overhaul on Monday with a revised plan to make insurance coverage more affordable and bolster federal authority to regulate premium hikes. The proposal comes three days ahead of a bipartisan White House health care summit. 2/22/2010 8:12:57 AM
Pediatricians call for a choke-proof hot dog Nutritionists have long warned of the perils of hot dogs: fat, sodium and preservatives to name a few. Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics wants foods like hot dogs to come with a warning label because they pose a choking hazard to babies and children. 2/22/2010 7:11:06 AM
Maritimes: Paramedics worried by Ambulance speed limit The union that represents P.E.I. paramedics is upset with a new rule that restricts the speed of ambulances in the Maritimes. Even with sirens blaring, P.E.I. ambulances have to watch their speed. Island EMS first introduced a cap on how fast they can go four years ago. 2/22/2010 6:27:56 AM
Drugs 'could stop spread of Aids' Anti-retroviral treatments (ARVs) and universal testing could stop the spread of Aids in South Africa within five years, a top scientist says. Dr Brian Williams says the cost of giving the drugs to almost six million HIV-positive patients in the country would be $2-3bn per year. 2/22/2010 6:15:46 AM
Peanut allergies tackled in largest ever trial Doctors in Cambridge believe they may soon have a cure for peanut allergies. The largest ever trial to find a treatment for potentially fatal peanut allergies is to give sufferers tiny amounts daily to build up tolerance. Twenty out of 23 sufferers in an earlier study became able to eat more than 30 peanuts safely. 2/22/2010 5:45:40 AM
Singing 'rewires' damaged brain Teaching stroke patients to sing "rewires" their brains, helping them recover their speech, say scientists. By singing, patients use a different area of the brain. If a person's "speech centre" is damaged by a stroke, they can learn to use their "singing centre" instead. 2/21/2010 7:30:51 AM
Nap 'boosts' brain learning power A nap during the day doesn't just beat tiredness, but actually improves the brain's ability to absorb new information, claim US scientists. Volunteers who slept for 90 minutes during the day did better at cognitive tests than those who were kept awake. 2/21/2010 7:28:43 AM
Public to get its say about Westside health centre plan A public hearing is scheduled to take place this week concerning proposed rezoning for the site of the future Westside health centre. To date the municipality has heard little but support for the project, although some neighbours have expressed concerns about increased traffic and parking. 2/21/2010 5:10:49 AM
Ski and snowboard culture eschews helmets "Despite compelling evidence that shows wearing a helmet significantly reduces the chance of head and brain injury, there are still those who argue that helmets are not fashionable or part of the ski culture," according to a commentary by a Toronto neurosurgeon published Thursday. 2/20/2010 6:10:39 PM
Placebo effect broader than thought: Study Drugs may cure the sick, but patients can also benefit from the warmth and wisdom of the doctors treating them, according to a new Australian study into the impact of placebos released Friday. Damien Finniss led a team who reviewed scientific papers dating back to the 1700s. 2/20/2010 6:07:22 PM
Toyota's are killing people, Crashes are ‘huge red flag’ Jean Bookout couldn't control her revving car, even after she pulled the emergency brake. It slammed into an embankment beside an Oklahoma interstate, killing her best friend. Bulent Ezal was about to park his car for lunch when it plunged over a 70-foot cliff beside the Pacific Ocean, killing his wife. 2/20/2010 5:15:09 PM
Health Canada wasting our money, slammed in eHealth audit Health Canada handed out millions of dollars to a national eHealth agency without properly accounting for how the money was spent. The finding raises doubts about Health Canada's own record of accountability even as it decides whether to give Canada Health Infoway Inc. another half-billion dollars. 2/20/2010 5:03:12 PM
Seasonal flu virus takes a holiday: ‘nothing, nada’ There is something distinctly missing from this year’s flu season – the flu. After a busy fall, when the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus infected thousands, dominated headlines and caused hysteria, it has dropped off the radar. But there doesn’t seem to be much seasonal flu circulating either. 2/20/2010 10:14:19 AM
When a Weight-Obsessed Partner ‘Keeps You Fat’ Previously on the Consults blog, Dr. Kathryn Zerbe, professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University, took readers’ questions on a binge eating, anorexia and other eating disorders. Here, Dr. Zerbe responds to a man who wrote that his former wife, who suffered from bulimia, was trying to “keep me fat.” 2/20/2010 9:20:37 AM
U.S.: Controversial diabetes drug harms heart Hundreds of people taking Avandia, a controversial diabetes medicine, needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month, according to confidential government reports that recommend the drug be removed from the market. 2/20/2010 9:16:12 AM
HIV vaccine facility won't be built A planned multimillion-dollar HIV vaccine manufacturing facility won't be built in Canada. The federal government was to contribute $88 million towards building the facility. It was to be a joint venture between Canada and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 2/20/2010 8:33:44 AM
Alberta judge gives time for second opinion on brain-damaged infant An Alberta judge has given the parents of a brain-damaged infant more time to consult with medical experts to review whether their son should be unhooked from life support. Rebecka May, mother of baby Isaiah May, said they should have a much better idea of their infant son's prognosis when they return to court on March 11. 2/20/2010 5:49:26 AM
Coma 'miracle' false, say medics A Belgian man who stunned the world last year by apparently communicating after 23 years in a coma cannot in fact communicate, researchers say. The doctor who believed that Rom Houben was communicating through a facilitator now says the method does not work. 2/20/2010 5:40:23 AM
Surgery cancelled: Contaminated tool scare in Kamloops Elective surgeries will resume at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, B.C., on Monday. Surgical instruments that were about to be used in operations and were supposed to be sterilized were found to still have bone fragments and surgical cement on them from previous surgeries. 2/20/2010 5:23:22 AM
Leprosy diagnosed on Olympic security cruise ship A crew member aboard a cruise ship housing police and Canadian Forces personnel assigned to the Vancouver Olympic Games has been diagnosed with leprosy, provincial health officials confirmed tonight. 2/20/2010 5:16:50 AM
Sex addiction real — or excuse for cheating? Tiger Woods’ shocking cheating admission and subsequent parade of alleged paramours has resulted in more than just unending fodder for the tabloids. The golf superstar has also given comfort to spouses who have long suspected their partners are incapable of fidelity, says Maureen Canning. 2/19/2010 6:44:26 PM
US Government was told of Toyota claims in ’04 The largest U.S. auto insurer alerted regulators earlier than first believed about a worrying trend of accidents involving Toyota Motor Corp vehicles, while the Obama administration's top transportation official said on Friday he would not relax pressure on the carmaker. 2/19/2010 6:16:59 PM
Genetically modified pork one step closer to dinner table Genetically engineered pigs are one step closer to becoming meat on Canadian kitchen tables with the federal government poised to declare that they do not harm the environment. The so-called "Enviropigs," official declaration will be made on Saturday. 2/19/2010 5:39:07 PM
Dolphins have diabetes off switch A study in dolphins has revealed genetic clues that could help medical researchers to treat type 2 diabetes. Scientists said that bottlenose dolphins are resistant to insulin - just like people with diabetes. But in dolphins this resistance is switched on and off. 2/19/2010 7:39:55 AM
Zinc in denture creams tied to nerve damage Canadians who have been heavily applying Poligrip denture cream for several years should stop using the product, given reports that excess use has been linked to neurological damage and blood problems. GlaxoSmithKline said it will voluntarily stop manufacturing, distributing and marketing some kinds. 2/18/2010 8:45:27 PM
Canadian hockey hero Henderson has cancer (Video) Canadian hockey hero Paul Henderson has revealed he is battling cancer. Henderson was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in November. He made his illness public on CBC-TV on Thursday. "I have no angst in my body, no fear whatsover," Henderson told Kelley. 2/18/2010 8:36:48 PM
Surrey Memorial Hospital ER construction start delayed, again The start of construction on a massive expansion of Surrey Memorial Hospital will not begin this year as previously planned. A more modest ER expansion was originally to have opened this year, but in 2009 the opening was pushed back to 2013 when the province announced a dramatic increase in the size of the project. 2/18/2010 5:53:32 PM
Too much sex? Doctors want to make the diagnosis official There’s an old joke in psychiatry: A sex addict is someone who has more sex than the therapist. Appropriately, psychiatrists are taking another stab at what laypeople call sex addiction, that most timely of maladies, as Tiger Woods prepares to re-emerge to address the world today. 2/18/2010 5:12:19 PM
Chickens can see more colours than humans: Scientist After staring into the eyes of chickens, a group of American researchers think they maybe on the path toward finding new ways to treat human blindness. Researchers have discovered light receptors in a chicken's eye allow the bird to see more colours than humans. 2/18/2010 5:45:14 AM
African gene trawl may provide secrets to long life A genetic peek deep into the heart of Africa confirms that Africans have more genetic diversity than Europeans or Asians and provides insights into how to live a long life despite disease and famine. Researchers sequenced the complete genomes of five southern Africans over the age of 80. 2/18/2010 5:43:23 AM
Gardasil protects women, men from genital cancers The Gardasil vaccine protected most young women from cervical cancer and homosexual men from anal cancer, according to new studies released Wednesday by its maker, Merck&Co. The vaccine is designed to block four of the most common strains of the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus, or HPV 2/17/2010 11:27:56 AM
CDC reports dramatic increase in MRI, CT and PET scans New US government statistics show the rate of high-tech diagnostic imaging has dramatically increased since the mid-1990s. From 1996 to 2007, the frequency of MRI, CT or PET scans done in emergency rooms quadrupled. And the frequency nearly tripled for doctor offices and outpatient hospital visits. 2/17/2010 11:19:38 AM
Nearly 4.6M Canadians have hypertension: Study Nearly one-fifth of Canadians, or roughly 4.6 million adults, have hypertension, with hundreds of thousands of people unaware of their condition, a new survey shows. High blood pressure, is a leading risk factor for mortality, cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. 2/17/2010 5:59:35 AM
Frozen food is simple, yes, but is it good for you? The advertisement is as simple as the ingredients in the product it’s promoting: a glass jar containing a few tomatoes, basil, olive oil and garlic. The pitch for Classico tomato and basil pasta sauce is that it’s made with fresh, natural ingredients, “just what you’d put in your homemade sauce.” 2/17/2010 5:37:51 AM
Kamloops hospital cancels 300 surgeries over dirty tools About 300 elective surgeries at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, B.C., were cancelled this week because of concerns about the cleaning and sterilization of surgical equipment, health officials announced Tuesday. "We are taking this extraordinary step to ensure patient safety." 2/17/2010 4:31:24 AM
MD critical of Coke's Olympic sponsorship A B.C. pediatrician says the association of sponsors like Coca-Cola ts disappointing and potentially damaging to children. The Olympics might promote physical activity among young people but that does not make up for the potential harm of too many sweet drinks and too much fast food. 2/17/2010 4:27:46 AM
Study review provides hope for migraine sufferers Juanita Pennell has had a headache every day since falling and hitting the back of her head at her Calgary home in November 2006. In addition to those headaches, her head injury also triggered excruciating migraines two or three times a month. 2/16/2010 5:40:55 PM
Whose nuts? Air Canada proposes nut-free buffer zones Air Canada says nut-free buffer zones as small as one large seat and as large as three rows will be adequate to accommodate passengers with nut allergies. In its submission, Air Canada says it can implement these buffer zones, provided passengers give the airline 48 hours notice. 2/16/2010 4:33:26 PM
Aspirin cuts death risk after breast cancer Breast cancer survivors who take aspirin regularly may be less likely to die or have their cancer return. The study of more than 4,000 nurses showed that those who took aspirin — usually to prevent heart disease — had a 50 percent lower risk of dying from breast cancer and that the cancer would spread. 2/16/2010 1:16:09 PM
Canadians show strong support for euthanasia Three-quarters of British Columbians support euthanasia, and more than half recommend decriminalizing assisted suicide, according to an Angus Reid Public Poll. The online survey compiled the opinions of 1,003 Canadian adults, with Quebec and B.C. showing the highest support. 2/16/2010 12:59:50 PM
Justice? Deal sees couple save home by ditching appeal The B.C. Court of Appeal has approved a settlement in which a North Vancouver couple agreed to abandon an appeal in a medical malpractice suit in exchange for being excused from paying the costs of the original trial. Catherine and Daniel Lotocky filed a damage suit after their son Michael suffered brain injuries shortly before his birth. 2/16/2010 9:24:02 AM
Anorexic Nanaimo woman dying needlessly, dad says Bryan Dubinsky says he’s watching his daughter Samantha die, slowly, right before his eyes. She was once an exuberant young woman, budding actress, outgoing performer and marathon runner. Now the 19-year-old is dangerously underweight, bedridden and crippled by anorexia. She won’t eat or drink. She won’t even swallow her own spit. 2/16/2010 6:44:38 AM
Men 'need better-fitting condoms' One size does not fit all, say experts. Badly fitted condoms do not just reduce the pleasure of sex for men and women - they raise the risks of infection and pregnancy, researchers say. Men are twice as likely to take the condom off midway through sex due to a poor fit. 2/16/2010 5:55:50 AM
Kelowna Hospital: Code purple has staff seeing red A surge of admitted patients crammed into the emergency department early Monday, prompting staff to order another code purple at Kelowna General Hospital. At one point, 26 patients who should have been in the main hospital were lying on stretchers in the tiny emergency ward. 2/16/2010 5:07:51 AM
Bilodeau's esteem for brother sparks greater awareness of cerebral palsy Alexandre Bilodeau's Olympic gold medal will forever be enshrined as Canada's first on home turf. But for people with cerebral palsy, it is the freestyle skier's tender - and very public - esteem for his brother Frederic that will long glitter in memory. 2/15/2010 5:00:14 PM
More deaths may be linked to recalled Toyotas The U.S. government has received new complaints that bring to 34 the total number of alleged deaths in Toyota vehicles due to sudden acceleration since 2000, according to government data posted Monday. Toyota has recalled 8.5 million vehicles globally during the past four months. 2/15/2010 10:14:48 AM
Watch medical dramas for the drama, not the treatment methods, study warns Fans of television's top-rated medical dramas would assume that the proper way to help someone having a seizure would be to:
a) hold them down;
b) keep their arms and legs from moving; and
c) stick something in their mouths. 2/15/2010 6:17:12 AM
UK research: Grandparents 'boost obesity risk' Young children who are regularly looked after by their grandparents have an increased risk of being overweight, an extensive British study has suggested. Analysis of 12,000 three-year olds suggested the risk was 34% higher if grandparents cared for them full time. 2/15/2010 5:57:38 AM
Seattle: 911 dispatcher helps save his own son OLYMPIA, Washington - A Thurston County 911 dispatcher helped save his own son’s life. On February 4, Chris Scott’s wife Janna called 911 because their 6-month-old son Jacob was choking. He was unconscious and had stopped breathing. 2/14/2010 6:34:03 PM
Hydroxycut linked to other cases of liver damage A new study strengthens evidence that the once widely advertised weight-loss supplement Hydroxycut caused serious liver damage in some users. Last May, 14 Hydroxycut products were recalled by the manufacturer, Canada-based Iovate Health Sciences. 2/14/2010 1:47:38 PM
Being bored can kill you, study finds It is possible to be bored to death, new research has found. In fact, two public health professors at the University College London discovered people who are very bored had a 37 per cent higher chance of dying than people who figured out how to keep their minds engaged. 2/14/2010 5:25:14 AM
TV isn’t making kids fat. It’s the ads It’s not time spent in front of the television, but rather the commercials that are contributing to childhood obesity, a new study suggests. Those children who watched commercial television tended to be obese. Children who watched public television or DVDs – TV without the ads – were thinner and stayed thinner, on average. 2/14/2010 5:24:13 AM
Kelowna Health show sells well The power of mind over body. Reversing heart disease. Preventing swine flu. Misunderstood cholesterol. The exercise excuse game. They were popular subjects for guest speakers Saturday at the sixth annual Kelowna Total Health Show at the Delta Grand hotel. The show runs 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today. 2/14/2010 4:05:41 AM
Who owns your DNA? Book raises thorny issue No one cares about the untold numbers of cells our bodies slough off every day. But imagine that someone got hold of your cells — and the DNA they contain — and used them to cure a disease, or somehow managed to make a lot of money off of them. Should you be proud? Could you claim royalties? 2/13/2010 6:31:08 AM
US Toyota recalls 8,000 Tacoma trucks Toyota is recalling about 8,000 Tacoma pickup trucks from the 2010 model year to fix a problem with the front drive shaft. A crack could develop that could lead to the front driveshaft separating and falling from the truck, causing the vehicle to lose control. 2/13/2010 6:28:34 AM
What's organic? US sets new rules for milk, meat What makes milk or meat organic? After a drawn-out debate, the U.S. Agriculture Department has significantly narrowed the definition to livestock that spend a third of the year grazing on pasture. Once a niche market, the organic industry has grown exponentially in the last 20 years. 2/13/2010 5:52:22 AM
Low IQ May Up Heart Disease Risk A newly discovered link between lower IQ scores and a higher odds of heart disease suggests that less-intelligent people face an even greater cardiovascular risk than those who are obese or have high blood pressure, researchers say. 2/13/2010 5:49:04 AM
Dangerous radiation in 14 per cent of European tanning beds The European Commission warned consumers Friday they may be paying for that winter tan long after they have left the tanning salon. It issued a report that found dangerous levels of ultraviolet radiation in 14 per cent of tanning beds in the European Union and safety violations such as insufficient warnings about radiation hazards. 2/13/2010 5:42:53 AM
Doc: Clinton "Not Out of the Woods" Former President Bill Clinton's emergency heart procedure is not the "final answer" to cure his heart disease, and Mr. Clinton is "not out of the woods yet." Dr. Robert Michler explained that heart disease is a progressive illness, and "as a result, it can come back." 2/12/2010 9:56:39 AM
Clue over autism 'hug avoidance' Delays at crucial points during the development of the brain in the womb may explain why people with a condition linked to autism do not like hugs. A study in mice with fragile X syndrome found wiring in the part of the brain that responds to touch is formed late. 2/12/2010 6:02:59 AM
Sask. university listeria experiments probed CBC News has learned Dr. Jim Xiang injected lab mice with the bacteria in three separate experiments in July, November and December, although he had no biosafety permit to work with listeria. He also failed to get permission from the university's animal ethics committee, the university has confirmed. 2/12/2010 5:25:57 AM
Valentine's Day: World’s strangest aphrodisiacs Some people put on a strong aftershave. Others cue up a little Barry White. Still others go a different route when they’re looking to get in the mood: they drink a glass of cobra blood. Sound strange? It won’t if you visit China. To some men imbibing the blood of a venomous snake is as conducive to seduction as the soulful tones of Barry. 2/11/2010 4:08:24 PM
Puberty gap: Heavy boys hit it later, girls sooner At a time when one-third of American youngsters are overweight, delayed puberty in boys may be yet another consequence of the childhood obesity epidemic. Previous research has linked body fat to early puberty in girls — overweight girls can start their transition as early as 8 years old. 2/11/2010 3:49:12 PM
When vets make mistakes, pets pay the price Jared Genser was a day away from euthanizing his family dog, Finnegan, when the Washington, D.C. lawyer discovered that the lab’s diagnosis of a painful and deadly bone cancer was wrong...and more....But because the errors occurred in animals, owners and advocates say they were ignored, minimized or outright denied 2/11/2010 1:00:39 PM
Chemicals in Food Can Make You Fat It used to be that healthy diets meant cutting down on the fat and calories, more exercise, more fish in the diet, more fruits and vegetables. That was 50 years ago. Has human anatomy changed? No, but food has changed a lot. Foods that were healthy 50 years ago may not necessarily be healthy in 2010. 2/11/2010 11:57:42 AM
Doc to Big Woman: "Go on a F***ing" Diet She clearly likes everything sugar coated, but her surgeon says that's her biggest problem. A New Zealand woman claims her surgeon didn’t mince words when counseling her on gastric bypass surgery -- in fact he chose some of the juiciest ones. 2/11/2010 11:50:16 AM
Red wine, chocolate 'are cancer killers' Cabernet and chocolate are potent medicine for killing cancer, according to research presented in the US. Red grapes and dark chocolate join blueberries, garlic, soy, and teas as ingredients that starve cancer while feeding bodies, Angiogenesis Foundation head William Li said. 2/11/2010 11:21:18 AM
Thanks Ottawa: Western Canada to suffer from isotope shortage When a leak first shut down Canada's isotope-producing reactor last year, the resulting shortage of radioactive material was most acutely felt in Eastern Canada. This time it is Western Canada that will likely shoulder the worst. 2/11/2010 7:13:14 AM
Second MS study finds high rate of blocked veins Patients with multiple sclerosis are more than twice as likely to show a narrowing of the veins as healthy people, new research shows, a finding that lends credence to the theory of an Italian researcher whose study on the degenerative condition has stirred a range of emotions. 2/11/2010 7:01:20 AM
Stammering genes uncovered Stammering has long been recognised to run in families, but scientists now say they have identified three genes which may cause the problem in some people. They believe that mutations which have already been tied to metabolic disorders may also affect the way in which parts of the brain function. 2/11/2010 6:08:04 AM
Obese woman wins human rights fight for parking spot A five-year-long feud over a parking spot has ended with a human-rights victory and $10,000 settlement for a morbidly obese Quebec woman. Marise Myrand won a favourable ruling from the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal, which said her condo association discriminated against her by denying her a parking spot closer to her building entrance. 2/11/2010 5:19:12 AM
Olympics: She has a liver donor, but no hospital bed A 35-year-old Ladner, B.C., woman with end-stage liver disease says she and her doctors have been desperately trying for weeks to schedule a transplant operation at Vancouver General Hospital but without luck. Michelle Way said her situation is urgent. 2/11/2010 4:43:23 AM
Cellphone driving ban needs to go further: CAA It is not enough to ban drivers from using hand-held cellphones, says the Canadian Automobile Association, because research shows hands-free devices are just as dangerous, but no province has prohibited the use of hands-free devices yet. 2/10/2010 5:20:03 PM
You can bore yourself to an early death Can you really be bored to death? In a commentary in the International Journal of Epidemiology, experts say there's a possibility that the more bored you are, the more likely you are to die early. "People who are bored also tend to eat and drink more, and they're probably not eating carrots and celery sticks." 2/10/2010 4:54:29 PM
Sweet tooth 'hints at depression' While most children like sweets, those with an extra-sweet tooth may be depressed or at higher risk of future alcohol problems, researchers say. The US team report in the journal Addiction that certain children are especially drawn to very sweet tastes. 2/10/2010 5:33:47 AM
Hamilton researchers to test Italian scientist's MS theory Researchers in Hamilton plan to begin patient trials evaluating the work of an Italian scientist whose intriguing treatment for multiple sclerosis has sparked both hope and controversy. The team of doctors will test the theory that multiple sclerosis can be treated with a simple surgical procedure. 2/10/2010 5:29:16 AM
Beer, especially pale ale, promotes bone health: Study Beer drinkers now have a good excuse to order another round -- the brew may help keep bones strong, a study has found. Researchers from the Department of Food Science & Technology at the University of California, have found beer is a rich source of silicon and may help prevent osteoporosis. 2/9/2010 2:21:11 PM
Michelle Obama spearheads U.S. push against childhood obesity First Lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday launched a major push against childhood obesity, which affects around one in three U.S. children and threatens to make the current generation of Americans the first to live shorter lives than their parents. 2/9/2010 8:40:45 AM
Hello Botox, Bye-Bye Sadness And here I thought my Botoxed friends were happy, mellow, and sweet-tempered because a couple of injections of a neurotoxin had eliminated their frown lines, knocked years off their apparent age, and made them no longer look "tired and unapproachable," as the company's Web site cheerfully puts it. 2/9/2010 7:43:13 AM
Frankincense: Could it be a cure for cancer? The gift given by the wise men to the baby Jesus probably came across the deserts from Oman. The BBC's Jeremy Howell visits the country to ask whether a commodity that was once worth its weight in gold could be reborn as a treatment for cancer. 2/9/2010 5:59:32 AM
Test controversial theory, but treat MS patients, Italian doctor says The Italian doctor behind a controversial new theory of multiple sclerosis said Monday he welcomes more rigorous scientific investigation of his ideas, but suggested there is no reason MS patients should not immediately undergo the testing and treatment he pioneered. 2/9/2010 5:09:19 AM
Many Overweight Teens Don't Think They Are Many overweight teens don't think they are, according to an article in The Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics. CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton said one in three children surveyed don't consider themselves overweight or obese. 2/8/2010 9:18:33 AM
Study links sugary soda to pancreas cancer People who drink two or more sweetened soft drinks a week have a much higher risk of pancreatic cancer, an unusual but deadly cancer. People who drank mostly fruit juice instead of sodas did not have the same risk, the study of 60,000 people in Singapore found. 2/8/2010 5:57:55 AM
Exercise 'can cut gallstone risk' Doing lots of exercise drastically cuts the risk of developing painful gallstones, UK researchers have found. Gallstones are common but only 30% of cases have symptoms and complications. A study of 25,000 men and women found those who were the most active had a 70% reduced risk. 2/8/2010 5:49:18 AM
Isotope crisis deepens with Dutch reactor shutdown Canadian medical officials are bracing for “significant shortages” of a key isotope used to perform imaging tests and warning a lack of supply this spring could hamper diagnoses of life-threatening illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. (Ed: Our government has really 'dropped the ball' on this one.) 2/8/2010 5:06:19 AM
Child scalding the focus of annual burn prevention week Scalding, the most common cause of childhood burns, will be the focus of British Columbia’s 14th annual Burn Awareness Week, during which fire service personnel in 50 communities will engage students in fire-safety activities. 2/8/2010 4:17:12 AM
Genes reveal 'biological ageing' Gene variants that might show how fast people's bodies are actually ageing have been pinpointed by scientists. Researchers from the University of Leicester and Kings College London say the finding could help spot people at higher risk of age-related illnesses. 2/7/2010 7:07:10 PM
With support, 'orchid' children's stress can bloom into strength They are called “orchid children,” highly sensitive youngsters who are vulnerable to behaviour and learning problems if they live in a stressful environment, but nevertheless can outperform their peers if they come from a supportive home. 2/7/2010 4:51:16 PM
Legal pot growers pick own medicine Somewhere in a quiet corner of Maple Ridge or Pitt Meadows, a cannabis crop is being harvested right now, legally. The half-dozen or so known local growers are a select bunch of 4,869 people in Canada authorized to possess the narcotic plant under Marihuana Medical Access Regulations. 2/7/2010 10:23:33 AM
The case against eating animals What you choose to feed yourself is one thing, but deciding what to feed your children is more complicated. After his son was born, Jonathan Safran Foer set about researching animal farming. The result is Eating Animals (Little Brown; 352 pages, $31.99). 2/7/2010 6:02:39 AM
Small Victory for Haven Hill Nurses A small victory for nurses at the Privately-run Haven Hill Retirement Centre in Penticton. Rhonda Croft, Regional Chair for the BC Nurses Union says staff received layoff notices in December but that has been rescinded after a recent ruling by the Labour Board. 2/7/2010 5:14:04 AM
Obese teens offered surgery option program Canadian teens who are severely obese because of medical conditions will be offered weight-loss surgery. The program includes doctors, a nurse practitioner, a dietitian, a psychologist and an exercise therapist who will help patients develop healthy eating habits, create exercise routines and learn new coping techniques. 2/7/2010 3:45:29 AM
Disclose cleaners' contents: Green & health groups say Environmental health advocates have reached back to a 1971 New York state law to force makers to list the chemicals found in household soaps and cleaners. The American Lung Association, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice said the public has a right to know what they're bringing into their homes. 2/7/2010 3:41:36 AM
Community Centred: A month for milestones We reached many milestones last month. At motivational speaker Donovan Tildesley, we hit 5,000 people who attended our Active Living presentations in just 12 months. And, it’s kind of funny that we also broke the 5,000 mark for Penticton Steps Out and Student Pedometer participants. 2/7/2010 3:32:20 AM
Bipolar disorder: Brilliance at a steep price When they were up, they were way up – penning heart-wrenching novels, painting some of the most striking works of modern times and uncovering scientific theories that changed the world. But then, they were down. 2/6/2010 4:00:06 AM
Prostate cancer most common male cancer, generally highly treatable NDP Leader Jack Layton announced Friday he has joined the tens of thousands of Canadian men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Some facts about prostate cancer: What is it? - A cancer that grows in the prostate, a walnut-sized gland that is located at the base of the penis. 2/5/2010 5:31:39 PM
Can the power of thought stop you ageing? How much control do you have over how you will age? In 1979 psychologist Ellen Langer carried out an experiment to find if changing thought patterns could slow ageing. But the full story of the extraordinary experiment has been hidden until now. 2/5/2010 4:23:31 PM
Gene doping risky for athletes Athletes and coaches might be tempted to try using the already readily available tools of gene therapy to boost performance, but the practice isn't ready to be tested on humans, researchers warn. The article says gene therapy has complicated international competitions like the Olympics. 2/5/2010 10:49:37 AM
Will Science Take the Field? (or Hockey rink?) THE warning in The Journal of the American Medical Association is not ambiguous: “There is a very definite brain injury due to single or repeated blows on the head or jaw which cause multiple concussion hemorrhages. ... The condition can no longer be ignored by the medical profession or the public.” 2/5/2010 10:31:19 AM
Rules Worth Following, for Everyone’s Sake In the more than four decades that I have been reading and writing about the findings of nutritional science, I have come across nothing more intelligent, sensible and simple to follow than the 64 principles outlined in a slender, easy-to-digest new book called “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual,” by Michael Pollan. 2/5/2010 10:20:47 AM
Fatty foods may not be that bad for your heart The saturated fat found mainly in meat and dairy products has a bad reputation, but a new analysis of published studies finds no clear link between people's intake of saturated fat and their risk of developing heart disease. 2/5/2010 5:57:41 AM
Plasma jets could replace dental drills A new study shows that bacteria-killing jets of plasma could soon replace the drills used to treat cavities in our teeth, making visits to the dentist's office a bit less nerve-racking. 2/5/2010 5:29:16 AM
B.C.'s street-smart strategy to treat HIV – no matter who has it A four-year, $48-million pilot program will send health-care workers on to the streets in a bid to stop the spread of AIDS among aboriginal people, drug users and other groups among whom the condition tends to go undiagnosed and untreated. 2/5/2010 4:24:48 AM
Nfld. Premier Danny Williams recovering from U.S. heart surgery Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams is out of surgery and recovering at an undisclosed medical facility in the United States. "The next 24 hours will be critical so he will be remaining in intensive care during that time," said acting premier Kathy Dunderdale. 2/4/2010 7:50:09 PM
Is exercise worth your time? Genes tell When you put in hours at the gym, you expect to get fitter. It turns out, that assumption doesn't hold true for everyone. A new study suggests specific genes may determine, at least in part, how much we really benefit from exercise. In theory, the more you train, the better your body should get at using oxygen. 2/4/2010 7:00:19 PM
UK: Artificial pancreas diabetes hope Scientists in Cambridge have shown that an "artificial pancreas" can be used to regulate blood sugar in children with Type 1 diabetes. A trial found that combining a "real time" sensor measuring glucose levels with a pump that delivers insulin can boost overnight blood sugar control. 2/4/2010 6:11:45 PM
Whooping cough outbreak hits B.C.'s Kootenay region The medical health officer of B.C.'s West Kootenay region is urging all parents to vaccinate their children after a whooping cough outbreak hit the area. Since December 2009, there have been 19 confirmed cases of whooping cough, or pertussis. 2/4/2010 4:17:44 PM
Let women in labour eat and drink, study says Pregnant women should be given the choice to eat and drink during labour, says a Queen's University professor whose new research finds no benefit from restricting food and fluids. "Restriction of food and fluids provided no benefits to women in labour, nor did it provide harm," Dr. Joan Tranmer 2/4/2010 10:08:32 AM
Coach fights culture of silence about Sports doping Justin Wadsworth -- a coach on the U.S. cross-country ski team, a three-time Olympian and a 14-year veteran of the World Cup circuit -- says the integrity of his sport continues to be compromised by dopers, and that means the integrity of the upcoming Olympic competition will be compromised. 2/4/2010 7:01:28 AM
Can yoga and meditation prevent high blood pressure? Devoted yogis often extol the virtues of their practice. Researchers at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre want to study if yoga, combined with meditation, can help lower blood pressure and prevent the onset of hypertension. 2/3/2010 5:03:45 PM
Vegetative state patient 'talks' using brain waves: study A man who had been presumed to be in a vegetative state for five years, can communicate yes and no via his thought patterns. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the patient's brain activity was mapped while he was asked to answer yes and no questions. 2/3/2010 2:47:08 PM
Walkers make for memorable event As the incidence of degenerative brain disease increases so too does the public’s support of care and education programs. That was evident again this year at Sunday’s annual Investors Group Walk for Memories at Cherry Lane shopping centre which brought in nearly $30,000. 2/3/2010 12:08:35 PM
G-Spot Study Explodes into Controversy As if soccer, wars of incredible length, and the relative worth of wine vs. beer didn’t account for enough disagreements between Britain and France, add another: whether or not the G-spot really exists. It didn’t take long, however, for this news to reach the French, who aren’t about to start taking sex advice from across the channel. 2/3/2010 10:21:30 AM
How long should you keep your running shoes? Duff McLaren doesn't need to unearth any old receipts to recall when he purchased his last pair of running shoes – the answer is etched right onto the soles. After buying a new pair, he typically makes sure to write the date on the outer sole. 2/3/2010 7:16:19 AM
Penticton: CT Scanner fund raising reaches its goal A $1.7-million fundraising campaign for a new CT scanner at Penticton Regional Hospital is in the bag. The South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation announced on Tuesday that the campaign has reached its target. It‘s hoped the new equipment will be in place by August. 2/3/2010 4:59:18 AM
Sunbathing ups men's testosterone A spot of sunbathing may be just the thing to lift a man's libido, say experts after an Austrian study finds testosterone is boosted by vitamin D. The bulk of this essential nutrient is made by the skin on exposure to sunlight. The rest comes from the diet. 2/2/2010 4:57:01 PM
'Internet addiction' linked to depression, says study There is a strong link between heavy internet use and depression, UK psychologists have said. The study, reported in the journal Psychopathology, found 1.2% of people surveyed were "internet addicts", and many of these were depressed. 2/2/2010 4:46:22 PM
PM's women's health initiative must include abortion: Ignatieff His concerns are based on reports that the Conservatives have cut almost all funds to the Canadian Federation for Sexual Health — which is Canada's member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation — and on anti-abortion views voiced in recent years by several Tory MPs. 2/2/2010 3:21:31 PM
Fecal bacteria found in bagged salads Salads straight from the bag sure are handy and when the containers say "fresh," "pre-washed," and "thoroughly washed," you may think the greens are squeaky clean. But how clean are they? Consumer Reports examined more than 200 packages to find out. 2/2/2010 3:14:45 PM
Gerber toddler meals slammed, too much salt A pre-packaged Gerber pasta meal marketed for toddlers contains the same amount of sodium as two medium-sized orders of french fries from McDonald's. The meal contains 550 mg of sodium, which is more than half of the 1,000 mg of sodium a toddler needs in a day. (Ed: There's too much salt in many foods in Canada). 2/2/2010 9:21:28 AM
Medical journal recants 1998 study linking autism to vaccine A major British medical journal on Tuesday retracted a flawed study linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism and bowel disease. In Britain, vaccination rates for measles have never recovered and there are outbreaks of the disease every year. 2/2/2010 8:58:43 AM
Experts say 40 percent of cancers could be prevented Forty percent of the 12 million people diagnosed with cancer worldwide each year could avert the killer disease by protecting themselves against infections and changing their lifestyles, experts said Tuesday. 2/2/2010 8:15:38 AM
Danny Williams travels to U.S. for heart surgery The heart and soul of Newfoundland politics is in for repair – and it's not in his home province or even in Canada, for that matter. Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams is scheduled for heart surgery in the United States, a move that throws into question his province's and his nation's health-care system. 2/2/2010 4:50:50 AM
Fish oil supplements 'beat psychotic mental illness' Taking a daily fish oil capsule can stave off mental illness in those at highest risk, trial findings suggest. A three-month course of the supplement appeared to be as effective as drugs, cutting the rate of psychotic illness like schizophrenia by a quarter. 2/1/2010 4:51:08 PM
More exercise better in long run, study finds A scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Williams has put together the world's largest study on runners, and the evidence found over 20 years of research points to an important conclusion: When it comes to exercise, more is almost always better. 2/1/2010 4:22:18 PM
Healthy adults need less sleep as they age: Study Healthy older adults need less sleep than their younger counterparts and, even with less sleep under their nightcaps, are less likely to feel tired during the day. They also showed less need for a quick nap during the day. 2/1/2010 4:16:05 PM
Child care top priority, Ignatieff vows Canada will get a national child-care program under a future Liberal government, no matter how big the federal deficit has grown, leader Michael Ignatieff has vowed. “This is the number one social priority of an incoming Liberal government,” Ignatieff said. 2/1/2010 2:04:17 PM
Helmets save skiers, snowboarders: review Wearing helmets to ski and snowboard helps reduce the risk of head injury without increasing the risk of neck injury, Canadian researchers say. Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and serious injury among skiers and snowboarders, the researchers said. 2/1/2010 1:51:57 PM
Hand-held cellphone bans not curbing crashes A new U.S. insurance industry study has found that state laws banning the use of hand-held devices to make calls or send text messages while driving have not resulted in fewer vehicle crashes. Adrian Lund, president, said the finding doesn't bode well "for any safety payoff from all the new laws." 2/1/2010 1:36:58 PM
Treat vitamins as over the counter drugs. With Health Canada poised to let food makers fortify a wide range of new products with vitamins and other nutrients, a group of leading emergency-department doctors is calling for vitamins to be treated like over-the-counter drugs because of their potentially dangerous side effects. 2/1/2010 9:08:36 AM
Overeating as Addictive as Smoking, Cocaine By the end of January, many New Year's resolutions have been tossed out with leftover holiday cookies and unwanted gifts. It's been nearly impossible to deny that slice of cake after dinner, or to hit the treadmill instead of surfing the Internet. 2/1/2010 8:54:30 AM
Meet a Teenager Who Looks Like a Grandma Zara Hartshorn has been robbed of her childhood. Her mom took her out of school because the bullying was so bad. A bus driver laughed in her face recently when she tried to pay the child's fare. Strangers stare and point in the street. Kids call her "grandma," "monkey" and "baggy face." 2/1/2010 8:52:05 AM
UK: Male breast ops 'increase by 80%' Breast reduction for men is the fastest growing part of the cosmetic surgery industry for the second year running, plastic surgeons have said. The number of such operations rose from 323 in 2008 to 581 last year - an 80% increase - the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons said. 2/1/2010 5:09:34 AM
B.C. child advocate says province ignoring her British Columbia's child watchdog says the Ministry of Children and Family Development has stopped responding to her reports and recommendations. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond said there has always been a fractious relationship, but the latest tactics threaten to undermine public oversight of the child-welfare system. 2/1/2010 4:51:25 AM
Toyota repairs to start this week Owners of recalled Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles will be able to get their vehicles repaired starting this week. The replacement parts will be shipped to Canadian dealers beginning on Wednesday. Toyota Canada Inc. said it will begin fixing pedals by the end of this week. 2/1/2010 4:33:46 AM
Bag Balm proves to be a slick cure-all The phones are ringing at Bag Balm headquarters. Everyone wants a new tub of the gooey, yellow-green ointment. And all have a story about its problem-salving — they use it on squeaky bed springs, psoriasis, dry facial skin, cracked fingers, burns, and radiation burns. Everything, it seems, except for cows. 1/31/2010 8:22:01 PM
Doctors in top neonatal unit question move of beds Doctors at Royal Columbian Hospital's neonatal unit are questioning the wisdom behind dismantling the part of their program that treats the smallest and most vulnerable babies. Dr. Peter Beresford, of the New Westminster hospital, said the 28-bed unit has been treating premature and sick newborns for 15 years. 1/31/2010 7:44:31 PM
BC Coroner: Blames snowmobilers’ deaths on underestimating backcountry Snowmobilers need to be more aware of avalanche risks, says the B.C. Coroner’s Service in a report about the 19 snowmobiler deaths last winter. Rick Given, president of the Kelowna Snowmobile Club, said that in the case of last year’s Fernie backcountry avalanche, a lack of education shouldn’t be blamed. 1/31/2010 4:32:25 PM
UK: Doctors are addicted to 'every drug under the sun' In its first year the clinic has treated NHS (National Health Service) staff hooked on drugs including heroin, ketamine, a horse tranquilliser, and methadrone, a drug linked to amphetamines, said Dr Clare Gerada, medical director of the Practitioner Health Programme. 1/31/2010 2:55:28 PM
Life-saving surgery for Vanc. Island residents stalled by budget cuts Retired teacher Jo Danielson is living on the edge with an abdominal aneurysm, a dangerous bulge in her aorta, the largest single artery in the body. But she will have to wait until April, when the Vancouver Island Health Authority's next budget year begins. 1/31/2010 10:50:11 AM
U.S. regulators announce recall of cadmium-laced kids' jewelry from Walmart U.S. federal consumer safety regulators on Friday announced the recall of "The Princess and The Frog" pendants sold at Walmart stores because of high levels of the toxic metal cadmium, an unprecedented action that reflects concerns of an emerging threat in children's jewelry. 1/31/2010 8:51:40 AM
Gates Foundation will give $10 billion to research, deliver vaccines for world's poor The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will donate $10 billion over the next decade to research new vaccines and bring them to the world's poorest countries, the Microsoft co-founder and his wife said Friday. Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organization, called the Gates contribution unprecedented. 1/31/2010 8:50:42 AM
Running barefoot eases impacts: researcher Harvard biologist and runner Daniel Lieberman had a simple question: "How did people run without shoes?" The answer he got is: Much better. At least running barefoot seems better for the feet, producing far less impact stress compared with feet shod in fancy, expensive running shoes, according to a study. 1/31/2010 8:18:03 AM
Gym-goers trip, flip and fall in pursuit of fitness Going to the gym in January is like going to the mall on Black Friday, to the bar on New Year’s Eve: It’s amateur hour. And, as they say, sometimes what you don’t know can hurt you. Or at least, really, really embarrass you. Last year, there were more than 1,500 reports of exercisers landing in the emergency room after run-ins with workout equipment. 1/31/2010 5:56:08 AM
Graphic anti-abortion ad to air on Kelowna's CHBC TV station — controversy expected A graphic anti-abortion ad featuring images of the severed body part of a fetus is set to run Monday on a Kelowna television station. The 60-second ad, titled “Everyone Against Abortion, Please Raise Your Hand,” depicts an image of an adult hand holding the severed hand of a fetus. 1/31/2010 4:52:49 AM
Penticton Couple copes with Alzheimer’s Ralph and Elva Coyston were on the cusp of enjoying the rest of their lives in retirement when everything was suddenly turned upside down. It was the little things at first. Elva’s co-workers noticing she was forgetting things, confused by tasks that once came easy to her. 1/31/2010 4:41:06 AM
Keremeos: Youth crossing for help John had a good family and everything he needed, before he nearly snorted it all away. The North Vancouver teen grew up healthy and wealthy with loving parents. He played sports and excelled at piano and guitar. He got decent grades in school and loved snowboarding. 1/30/2010 5:14:04 AM
Manitoba boy in vegetative state after tonsils removed Dylan Campbell went into Children's Hospital for a tonsillectomy in November. And when he turns 12 on Monday, he'll remain in that same hospital in a vegetative state, where doctors say "his prognosis for meaningful brain recovery remains poor." 1/30/2010 5:10:38 AM
Dementia victim held in Vancouver Island hospital hallway for five months The Vancouver Island Health Authority has apologized and says it's conducting an investigation into how a 76-year-old man with dementia languished in a bed in a hospital hallway for five months. He was finally moved into a long-term care facility on Wednesday. 1/29/2010 4:23:45 PM
Time to end pelvic exams done without consent Imagine that you are undergoing a fairly routine surgery – say, removal of uterine fibroids or hysterectomy. During or right after the procedure, while you are still under anesthesia, a group of medical students parades into the operating room and they perform gynecological exams without your knowledge. 1/29/2010 10:06:15 AM
Baby girl for B.C. health minister The eminently quotable B.C. health minister Kevin Falcon, known for his partisan and often abrasive rhetoric, was captured yesterday in a rare moment, sounding as soft as a marshmallow. He is cooing over his first child, baby Josephine, who was born Friday morning. 1/29/2010 9:34:45 AM
Public swimming may raise risk of stomach illness by 77%: Study Australian researchers found that among more than 2,800 adults and children they followed for 15 months, participants were somewhat more likely to develop gastroenteritis in the week or two after a public swim. 1/29/2010 9:17:12 AM
Foods packed with antioxidants are all-around super foods Oxidative damage caused by free radicals has been linked to everything from heart disease and macular degeneration to diabetes and cancer. Free radicals come from several sources, including smoking, pollution, poisons/pesticides and as a by-product of your body’s normal metabolism. 1/29/2010 9:06:01 AM
Overweight elderly 'live longer' Moderately overweight elderly people may live longer than those of normal weight, an Australian study suggests. But being very overweight or being underweight shortened lives. The report said dieting may not be beneficial in this age group. 1/29/2010 5:55:24 AM
Telethon gives Penticton teen reason to smile Penticton’s Ciara Walls will be back for a repeat performance on this weekend’s annual Variety Show of Hearts telethon. Featured on last year’s fundraiser which airs on Global TV, this time around the 17-year-old will help open the show . 1/29/2010 5:40:44 AM
Sleep yoga may be better than counting sheep The irony wasn’t lost on Graydon Moffat: She was making her living helping others relax, but she was a stress case herself, unable to enjoy a good night’s sleep. It was years before she realized a remedy was staring her in the face. Yoga. 1/29/2010 5:26:22 AM
Toyota faces probe; Honda recalls models Toyota faces U.S. Congress scrutiny over its biggest ever safety recall as rival Honda, tipped to gain from Toyota's woes, also said it would recall thousands of cars worldwide. Honda said it would recall its Fit/Jazz and City models, because of a faulty window switch, after a child died. 1/29/2010 5:08:56 AM
Ginkgo biloba's epilepsy seizures warning People with epilepsy should be warned that using a popular herbal remedy may increase the risk of seizures, researchers say. German scientists, writing in the Journal of Natural Products, said they had found 10 written reports of seizures linked to ginkgo biloba 1/29/2010 4:56:05 AM
Penticton: Community displays appetite for generosity Ninety-nine thousand, seven hundred and forty-two dollars and fifty-eight cents — not bad for one day’s work. The 16th annual Wendy’s Dreamlift Day brought in the fundraiser’s biggest total ever Wednesday, coming up with just under $100,000 for the Sunshine Foundation’s Interior Chapter’s Dreamlift program 1/29/2010 4:51:16 AM
New exercise targets might scare Canadians Canadians may need more exercise than thought to stay slim and fit: at least 60 to 90 minutes a day. Research indicates that, given the eating habits of Canadians, it would take at least 60 to 90 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every day to prevent weight gain and keep the heart and lungs healthy. 1/28/2010 7:51:26 AM
Shoes may have changed how we run (Video) Wearing cushioned running shoes may have changed the way in which many of us run, new research suggests. Using slow-motion footage, scientists have discovered that experienced barefoot runners land very differently from runners who wear shoes. Barefoot runners may be at less risk of certain types of injury. 1/28/2010 7:02:24 AM
Auto critics tell Toyota drivers to be careful Although Toyota Canada maintains that a massive recall of more than 270,000 Canadian vehicles shouldn’t worry owners, some automobile safety experts think otherwise. Toyota also suspended sales of eight vehicles, including the popular Corolla and Camry, when it was found that the accelerator pedal could become stuck. 1/28/2010 6:58:13 AM
High-dose vitamin C can increase cataract risk If you want to preserve your vision as you age, you might consider tossing your vitamin C supplement. According to a study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, high-dose vitamin C supplements – 1,000 milligrams daily – can increase the risk of developing cataracts. 1/27/2010 6:18:52 AM
Canadians’ food supply unsafe, Medical Journal report says Canada’s food-safety system is broken, despite a massive independent investigation launched by the federal government in the wake of a deadly listeriosis outbreak, warns a new analysis in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. And Canadian lives continue to be put at risk. 1/27/2010 6:08:01 AM
Quebec MDs ask for pay to volunteer in Haiti Quebec orthopedists heading to Haiti to volunteer in relief efforts want to be paid their normal daily $800 wage, according to reports published Wednesday. About 20 orthopedic specialists have landed in the disaster-stricken Caribbean country. Dr. Gaétan Barrette said firefighters and police officers sent to Haiti are remunerated, and physicians should be too. 1/27/2010 5:46:57 AM
Household chemicals linked to reduced fertility Flame-retardant chemicals found in many household consumer products may reduce fertility in women, researchers reported today. Their study joins several other papers published in the last two years suggesting that the chemicals, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, affect human health. 1/26/2010 5:23:47 PM
Penticton Therapist opens mind to hypnosis Don’t expect hypnotherapist Leslie McCall to pull out a gold watch and start wooing you into a state of subconsciousness to get you to cluck like a chicken. According to McCall, it is not unheard of to find many top athletes, including Olympians, who use hypnosis to visualize their goals. 1/26/2010 3:21:04 PM
Health-care system isn't 'the problem.' It's the long waits Mixed martial-arts superstar Brock Lesnar was wrong to slam the Canadian health-care system, but there’s a grain of truth in what the muscle-bound American motormouth says. Just ask outspoken Vancouver orthopedic surgeon Dr. Brian Day, otherwise known as Dr. Profit. 1/26/2010 10:45:41 AM
Low carb diets like Atkins 'better for blood pressure' A low-carbohydrate diet like Atkins is better at cutting blood pressure than weight-loss pills, say US doctors. "It's important to know you can try a diet instead of medication and get the same weight loss results with fewer costs and potentially fewer side effects." 1/26/2010 5:30:15 AM
Do consumers need protection from raw milk? What’s more dangerous for your health: smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol or drinking unpasteurized milk? According to Health Canada, it’s drinking milk. Canada is the only G8 country where the sale of raw milk is illegal. However, drinking raw milk is legal. 1/26/2010 5:26:19 AM
Salami recalled due to salmonella concern The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning consumers not to eat certain salami products which may contain salmonella. CFIA issued the warning late Monday and some products have been recalled from stores across the country. Including Costco stores in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. 1/26/2010 4:38:39 AM
Men can detect when women are ovulating A man can smell when a woman is ovulating – and the proof is in his testosterone, says a new study from Florida State University that had undergraduate men sniffing sweaty T-shirts for course credit. Prior studies have shown that smells affect the hormones and subsequent mating habits of animals. 1/25/2010 6:10:37 PM
Sniffle wars: Ailing couples one-up each other Alone in his self-imposed isolation ward — the basement — Sam DeBord’s fever and body aches finally had eased enough to let him chat online, update his real estate Web site, and watch sports on TV. Upstairs, his pregnant wife, Liz, was triple-tasking. 1/25/2010 5:40:39 PM
Girls’ math fears may start with female teachers Despite gains in recent years, women still trail men in some areas of math achievement. Now, a study of first- and second-graders suggests what may be part of the answer: Female elementary school teachers who are concerned about their own math skills could be passing that along to the little girls they teach 1/25/2010 5:38:56 PM
Premier announces $448 million cardiac centre for Kelowna Premier Gordon Campbell was taking advantage of the Olympic torch’s stop in Kelowna to celebrate the opening of a new UBC clinical teaching facility and to announce the construction of a new $448 million Interior Heart and Surgical Centre. Planning will begin immediately but it won’t be finished until 2017. 1/25/2010 4:53:02 PM
China finds more melamine in milk products More dairy products tainted with melamine have been pulled from store shelves in southern China, calling into question the effectiveness of a crackdown after the baby formula scandal in 2008. The tainted products came from three companies, including one named in the original scandal in 2008. 1/25/2010 3:29:01 PM
U.S. heart group outlines 7 essentials for long life Here are the seven secrets to a long life: Stay away from cigarettes. Keep a slender physique. Get some exercise. Eat a healthy diet and keep your cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar in check. Research shows that most 50-year-olds who do that can live another 40 years free of stroke and heart disease, two of the most common killers. 1/25/2010 9:12:38 AM
Premier packing good news and mitts for visit to the Okanagan It looks like Premier Gordon Campbell will be bringing some good news to the Okanagan today. The premier is scheduled to speak at Olympic torch relay celebrations in Penticton and Kelowna, and will announce “a major provincial investment to build a new care facility in the Okanagan.” 1/25/2010 5:53:05 AM
Test 'predicts breast cancer resistance' A genetic test could one day spot breast cancer patients most at risk of relapsing after treatment with a commonly used powerful chemotherapy. The find could spare patients the side-effects of a drug destined to fail. UK cancer experts said it was another step towards "personalised" cancer treatment. 1/25/2010 5:17:51 AM
Untidy beds may keep us healthy Failing to make your bed in the morning may actually help keep you healthy, scientists believe. Research suggests that while an unmade bed may look scruffy it is also unappealing to house dust mites thought to cause asthma and other allergies. 1/25/2010 5:12:11 AM
Internet generation at risk of rickets: Study Bone-bending rickets can now be added to the list of ills linked to children spending uncounted hours before a computer screen, British researchers said Friday. Youngsters with rickets, caused primarily by a chronic lack of vitamin D, develop painful and deformed bow-legs that do not grow properly. 1/24/2010 10:21:04 AM
HPV vaccine could help prevent other cancers, too Cancer doctors are starting to believe that the human papilloma — or HPV — vaccine, intended to prevent cervical cancer, will likely prevent other cancers as well — and in men as well as women. Recent research is linking the HPV virus to cancers in the head and neck, and the urinary-genital tract. 1/24/2010 9:16:05 AM
Weaker wine 'may lower the risk of some cancers' Swapping a daily glass of wine for a slightly weaker alternative could be enough to lower the risk of some cancers, a charity suggests. Studies suggest that people who drink wine with an alcohol content of 10% rather than 14% might benefit, says the World Cancer Research Fund. 1/24/2010 8:03:30 AM
Many parents unaware of the risks of vitamins Parents who give their children vitamins hoping to keep them healthy may not realize that some might be putting their children at risk, warns a B.C. pediatrician and emergency room doctor. 1/24/2010 7:40:58 AM
'21st century syndrome' or just a case of the blahs? In the late 1970s, while working as a chiropractor and naturopath in Fergus, Ont., James Wilson began noticing patients with circadian rhythms out of whack. They had trouble waking up in the morning, needed caffeine to get through the day, and felt a drop in energy mid-afternoon. 1/23/2010 10:06:57 AM
Mother’s gum disease linked to infant's death Pregnant women with untreated gum disease may have more at stake than just their teeth. They may also be risking the lives of their babies, a new study shows. Expectant mothers have long been warned that gum disease can cause a baby to be born prematurely or too small. 1/23/2010 7:54:42 AM
Obesity drug carries heart risks: regulators An appetite suppressant should be taken off the market, European regulators say. The risks of sibutramine, marketed as Meridia in Canada, outweigh its benefits, the European Medicines Agency said Thursday, after reviewing the drug's safety. 1/23/2010 5:57:08 AM
Bad backs cause more soldier evacuations than wounds American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan were more likely to be medically evacuated for health problems such as a bad back than for combat injuries. Researchers also found psychiatric disorders rose despite an increased focus on treating mental health problems. 1/22/2010 7:14:37 PM
Shocking images from Haiti are traumatic for Cdn. kids The need to take care of children, both in Haiti and here in Canada, emerged as a major theme at a roundtable on the Haitian earthquake in Toronto today. A Toronto school board trustee says children in Canada are also being traumatized by the graphic images they are seeing in the media. 1/22/2010 7:04:53 PM
Chili 200 times hotter than normal lands 8 German teens in hospital Officials in Germany say eight teenagers were hospitalized after a test of courage in which they drank chili sauce more than 200 times hotter than normal. The Red Cross in the southern city of Augsburg says that 10 boys, aged 13 and 14, year drank the sauce Wednesday morning, apparently in school. 1/22/2010 11:03:44 AM
Chemicals in Carpets, Non-Stick Pans Tied to Thyroid Disease Chemicals found in carpeting, non-stick cookware and fabrics are linked to an increase in thyroid disease, new research suggests. PFOA and PFOS have also been linked to cancer in animal studies, though research in humans have been inconclusive. 1/22/2010 10:57:03 AM
U.S. birth weights inching down, but researchers can't say why U.S. newborns are arriving a little smaller, says puzzling new Harvard research that can't explain why. Fatter mothers tend to produce heavier babies, and obesity is soaring. Yet the study of nearly 37 million births shows newborns were a bit lighter in 2005 than in 1990, ending a half-century of rising birth weights. 1/22/2010 10:50:39 AM
N.B. woman with rare disease finds hope in Hollywood A New Brunswick woman with a rare genetic disease hopes the release of a new Harrison Ford movie on Friday will help draw attention to her plight. Extraordinary Measures is about the search for a drug to help the symptoms of Pompe disease. 1/22/2010 10:26:01 AM
Concussion should be termed brain injury: study Concussions in children should be renamed "mild traumatic brain injuries," to better convey their seriousness, some Canadian researchers say. Previous research suggests that children who suffer a concussion or mild brain injury are twice as likely to have another within the year. 1/22/2010 10:22:52 AM
Screen children for obesity, MDs urged Doctors should start screening children for obesity starting at age six, a U.S. task force recommends. The recommendations to doctors from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force were published in Monday's online issue of the journal Pediatrics. 1/22/2010 10:19:27 AM
Officials wary of possible viral outbreak during Olympics Health officials in Vancouver are hoping a virus common during the winter months will spare the city next month, when thousands of athletes and spectators from around the world will gather for the Winter Olympics. The bug is the Norwalk virus, known officially as norovirus, which causes nausea and vomiting among other things. 1/22/2010 9:31:48 AM
Want to solve her problems, guys? Stop trying It’s that time of the year again when it’s everyone’s time of the month – guys included. Here in the bowels of winter, bad moods get badder, personal issues get issuier, and up to 15 per cent of us may even slide into that infamous cesspool of darkness: seasonal affective disorder. 1/22/2010 5:51:34 AM
Heart group's torch symbol burns Canadian Olympic Committee It may not be a medal sport, but trademark protection is an integral part of the Olympics. Just ask the Canadian Congenital Heart Alliance, a non-profit group that has found itself in the sights of Canadian Olympic Committee trademark watchdogs over an application to register a six-year-old logo that features a torch and flame. 1/22/2010 5:44:14 AM
Olympics being used as excuse to cut surgeries: NDP The NDP says the Liberal government is using the Olympics as an excuse to cut medically-necessary surgeries. He says the government calls it an "Olympic slowdown", but Dix says there's no lack of patients needing surgeries and the delays mean longer wait times, leaving patients open to a higher risk of complications and pain. 1/21/2010 1:40:50 PM
Ontario farmer not guilty of selling raw milk Michael Schmidt, a farmer from Durham, Ont., who operates a raw milk co-op was found not guilty of selling unpasteurized milk. While raw milk is legal to drink, it's illegal to sell in Canada. Health officials carried out an armed raid of his farm in November 2006 and seized his milking equipment. 1/21/2010 10:37:05 AM
Trials spark hope of pill for MS Oral drugs to treat multiple sclerosis could become available in 2011 after promising results in two trials. Drug licences have been applied for and the MS Society said it was "great news" for people with MS - current treatments involve injections or infusions. 1/21/2010 6:31:49 AM
Olympics no longer 'smoke-free' The so-called smoke-free Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics have gone up in smoke, officials were forced to admit. VANOC and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority have been boasting on their websites that the 2010 Games would be "smoke-free Games." 1/21/2010 5:39:48 AM
Quebec researchers may have solved isotope shortage Researchers at Sherbrooke University Hospital Centre in Sherbrooke, Que., say they have found a solution to Canada's medical isotope shortage. They have discovered how to produce radioactive technetium isotopes — exactly like the ones made at the Chalk River, Ont., nuclear reactor. 1/21/2010 5:16:26 AM
Health-care staff close to burnout, study finds Excessive demands placed on health-care workers – including physicians, nurses, support workers and especially their managers – are also having an impact on the hospitals that employ them because of increased absenteeism, lower productivity and greater staff turnover, researchers found. 1/20/2010 2:31:29 PM
Norwalk outbreak hits Kelowna hospital psych unit Staff in the McNair psychiatric unit at Kelowna General Hospital are on heightened alert because of a Norwalk virus outbreak, Kelowna.com has learned. Dr. Paul Hasselback, the Interior Health Authority’s senior medical officer, described the number of people infected at KGH as “a handful.” 1/20/2010 2:15:16 PM
Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim gives $65M for genetic research on cancer, diabetes, kidney disease Telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim pledged $65 million Tuesday for genetic research on cancer, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease. Scientists from Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Mexico's National Institute of Genomic Medicine will collaborate on the initiative. 1/20/2010 6:12:14 AM
Fingertip amputations prompt Graco stroller recall About 1.5 million Graco strollers sold at Wal-Mart, Target and other major retailers are being recalled after some children's fingertips were amputated by hinges on the products. The strollers were made in China by Graco and sold at....... 1/20/2010 6:03:40 AM
Groups slam B.C. government plan to battle domestic abuse Women's groups said the biggest step B.C. Solicitor-General Kash Heed could take is to make transition houses and violence-prevention workers a strong part of the victim-referral system, instead of relying on underfunded groups which are always fighting cutbacks. 1/20/2010 4:33:56 AM
Fish oil protects against aging: U.S. study A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids helps keep the DNA of heart patients from unraveling, which may help explain why fish oil is so beneficial after a heart attack. "Cardiologists have known for a long time now that omega-3 fish oil seems to be beneficial for patients with coronary heart disease," said Dr. Ramin Farzaneh-Far. 1/19/2010 7:44:20 PM
BC Ambulance: Inquiry proposes paramedic options Privatizing B.C.'s ambulance service or combining ambulance and fire departments in some communities are among the options being considered by the provincial government to solve an impasse in labour relations. 1/19/2010 5:32:50 PM
Second manufacturer recalls drop-side cribs The once popular drop-side crib received another blow Tuesday when a Quebec company announced another recall due to a suffocation hazard. Dorel Distribution Canada announced the voluntary recall of about 7,600 drop-side cribs sold at Sears and other retail outlets 1/19/2010 3:39:02 PM
Wave of outbreaks feared in Haiti Doctors, nurses and volunteers are struggling to treat the thousands of people injured in last week's earthquake in Haiti, where the medical challenges are just beginning. Health workers who've arrived from other countries are now struggling to make a dent in treating Haitians. 1/19/2010 8:29:46 AM
Big pledge, little cash on B.C. Domestic Violence plan Kash Heed, B.C.'s Solicitor-General, vowed to deliver “huge, system-wide” new measures to tackle domestic violence Monday but has committed just $25,000 so far to support his cause. And that level of financial commitment just won't do the job, the provincial youth-affairs watchdog predicted. (Ed: The Campbell gov't should be ashamed.) 1/19/2010 5:14:36 AM
Extreme Acetaminophen Reaction: Woman Takes Pill, Loses Skin Imagine this: you're feeling under the weather, as if you a have a flu virus coming on and so, following doctor's orders, you take an ordinary painkiller to ease the symptoms. Hours later, you wake up disfigured by what look like severe burns from head to toe. This is what happened to 19-year-old Eva Uhlin. 1/18/2010 8:45:24 PM
U.S.: High Support for Medical Marijuana Eight in 10 Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use and nearly half favor decriminalizing the drug more generally, both far higher than a decade ago. With New Jersey this week poised to become the 14th state to legalize medical marijuana, 81 percent support the idea. 1/18/2010 8:43:37 PM
Parents fight son's removal from life support An Alberta couple is seeking a court order to prevent an Edmonton hospital from taking their infant son off life-support. Isaiah May was born in October. Parents Rebecka and Isaac May want a judge to force Edmonton's Stollery Children's Hospital to keep him on a ventilator. 1/18/2010 8:35:33 PM
How to stay healthy during old age: Keep moving If you're an older adult wondering what you should be doing to stay healthy, the most important answer is staying active. "Physical activity is more powerful than any medication a senior can take," says Dr. Cheryl Phillips. Much of the frailty that accompanies advanced age can be mitigated through exercise. 1/18/2010 7:16:29 PM
How Alcoholics Anonymous Gets It Wrong Last month, my boyfriend spotted Brad Lamm’s book, How to Change Someone You Love: Four Steps to Help You Help Them, on my office desk. “Are you planning to try to change me?” he wanted to know. I assured him that I wasn’t. 1/18/2010 7:02:08 PM
Health Canada slow to act on lead-filled children's jewelry Canadian children were exposed to jewelry containing 100 per cent lead for over a year because Health Canada failed to alert parents of the potentially deadly risk. But Health Canada only moved last week to alert parents of these items after Canwest News Service inquired. 1/18/2010 4:58:28 PM
New DNA mutation discovered by B.C. researchers B.C. cancer researchers say they've discovered a DNA mutation that plays a role in lymphoma -- the fifth most common form of cancer and one that grows the quickest. The B.C. Cancer Agency says the discovery is important because this one is found in exactly the same location every time, even among different lymphoma patients. 1/18/2010 4:47:48 PM
Barierre: Walking program for all ages Lively music greets the Winter Walkers as they enter the Barriere Ridge gymnasium. The music appears to set an exuberant mood for those who take advantage of this by-weekly indoor walking program. Every Monday and Wednesday area residents are invited to come and enjoy a walking workout that is geared to their individual pace. 1/18/2010 8:14:14 AM
Poll finds strong support for boosting heath, medical research funding Despite the recession, Canadians strongly support bolstering investment in health and medical research. Eighty-four per cent said that research makes an important contribution to the economy and an even higher number said the investment should be made even though the benefits will only be seen in the long term. 1/18/2010 5:57:09 AM
Today is Blue Monday, Four ways to cope Welcome to the most depressing day of the year. Jan. 18 has been designated “Blue Monday” – the day when the perfect storm of failing our new year’s resolutions, working through debts from the holiday season and the grim weather make us feel horrible. Here are four ways to get through the day: 1/18/2010 5:47:45 AM
Victoria mom warns parents after son, 15, drinks toxic fluids and dies A mother from Victoria is warning parents to talk to their kids about responsible drinking after losing her own son when he drank a toxic mix of windshield wiper fluid and gas, thinking it was alcohol. Dallas Landrie, 15, was drinking at a friend's house on Dec. 21, in Moose Jaw, Sask. 1/17/2010 10:12:08 AM
Osoyoos Health centre moving to new digs The Osoyoos Health Centre is moving from its downtown Main Street location to a larger premises, formerly Sagebrush Lodge. Public health, mental health, home support, social work, diabetes education and dietitian services will be available at the new location on Jan. 25. 1/17/2010 5:53:11 AM
Paramedics march on Penticton MLA Barisoff‘s office Waving placards and banners, B.C. paramedics wearing their familiar neon-green jackets marched on Penticton MLA Bill Barisoff‘s constituency office Saturday to push the provincial Liberals for free collective bargaining rights. "We‘re fighting for a better ambulance system.” 1/17/2010 5:12:09 AM
Self-control — or lack of it — is contagious When you refrain from scarfing down unhealthy foods or hold back on that extra drink, others may deserve some of the credit. Self-control is contagious, a new study suggests. And they found the opposite also holds true — people with lousy self-control influence others negatively. 1/17/2010 5:01:37 AM
Mediterranean diet protects against stomach cancer Eating the Mediterranean way can help reduce your risk of stomach cancer, a large study from Europe shows. The traditional diets of Greece, Italy and other Mediterranean countries have many health benefits including protection against cancer. 1/17/2010 4:53:52 AM
Adult Scots 'drink 46 bottles of vodka' a year Adults in Scotland are drinking the equivalent of 46 bottles of vodka each in a year, a study has suggested. The Scottish government said the figure, which had remained static since 2005, was the equivalent of 537 pints or 130 bottles of wine per person. 1/16/2010 8:17:14 PM
Loverboy was right: We feel physically, mentally better on Saturdays New psychological research shows that we feel better on Friday than we do on any other weekday. We feel positively fantastic on Saturday. But by Sunday afternoon, we’re sliding back into a work-week malaise. Even people who have to work weekends feel better on the weekend, according to the research. 1/16/2010 3:30:57 PM
Italian salad mix hit by listeria recall The public was warned Saturday not to eat a specific brand of salad mix sold at grocery stores in six provinces due to fears it may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the recall affects Compliments brand Italian Blend. 1/16/2010 2:59:11 PM
Kamloops: Organic farmers look for more income Closing the Loop — Keeping more Income on the Farm is the theme of this year’s Certified Organic Association of B.C. conference in Kamloops March 5 to 7. Administrator Sarah Clark says it was felt with recessionary times this year’s theme would be particularly apt. (Ed: The South Similkameen is a prime organic area.) 1/16/2010 8:30:20 AM
“No pets allowed” policy overlooks benefits “No pets allowed.” Any pet guardian who’s had to look for a new place to live in the past few years has probably been confronted with that message as they browsed the newspaper classified ads. Unfortunately, only nine per cent of rental suites allow cats and only five per cent allow dogs. 1/16/2010 7:55:25 AM
Opinion, Rural Ambulance service: Emergency issues There is a situation in B.C.’s rural emergency services sector that needs to be addressed at the upcoming inquiry into the ambulance paramedics dispute. For several years now, 911 calls requesting ambulance should generally result in a dispatch page out of both fire and ambulance departments to respond. 1/16/2010 7:48:05 AM
Penticton wants to make Helmets a priority As hockey players, cyclist and skiers should wear helmets, so too should skateboarders, said city council. That is why council voted Monday evening to endorse the drafting of a bylaw that would make the wearing of helmets mandatory at all city-owned skateboard parks. 1/16/2010 7:45:38 AM
B.C. seniors face huge care cost increases It isn't often that a landlord can quietly order up a 30 per cent rent increase for more than 2,000 people without a public fuss. Tenants are elderly, frail seniors living in B.C.'s long-term care facilities. People in residential care will be paying an additional $54 million a year under the new rates. 1/16/2010 7:38:31 AM
Exercise: Get that blood flowing to protect your brain Alzheimer’s disease is an especially horrible affliction in part because modern medicine can offer little in the way of an effective treatment. But this week brought a few rays of hope on several research fronts for this mind-robbing illness. So what do you do in the meantime? 1/16/2010 5:57:37 AM
Vernon Jubilee Hospital Topping Off Ceremony The new Patient Care Tower at the Vernon Jubilee Hospital was "topped off" with a living tree. The “topping off” ceremony is a tradition within the construction industry to celebrate the point where the basic structure of the top floor is finished. The tradition involves affixing a tree to the roof of the building. 1/16/2010 4:53:00 AM
Okanagan home of winter blahs It‘s not a date marked on any calendars, but Okanagan weather forecasters know when the Valley‘s grey winter days typically end. It‘s Feb. 21. “Give or take a week either way, Feb. 21 is when we generally see the skies start to open up a lot more.” 1/16/2010 4:47:48 AM
Haiti: Grief industry to the rescue Help is finally trickling into Haiti, the scene of such unfathomable suffering that the TV news reports are almost unbearable to watch. The people need everything – water, food, medicine, shelter, doctors, rescue specialists and, of course, psychologists. Many of the medical teams sent to Haiti include psychologists. 1/16/2010 4:45:25 AM
When to pop your vitamin D? Any time, on its own or with food With sales figures showing Canadians becoming a nation of vitamin-D-pill poppers, questions are arising on the best way to take it. “Take it on a full stomach, take it on an empty stomach. Take it once a day, take it twice a day. Take it with fat, take it without fat. None of that matters.” 1/15/2010 7:30:12 PM
Johnson&Johnson recalls more Tylenol, Motrin Johnson&Johnson expanded a recall of over-the-counter medications Friday, the second time it has done so in less than a month because of a mouldy smell that has made users sick. The broadening recall now includes some batches of Tylenol caplets, geltabs, arthritis treatments, rapid release, and extended relief Tylenol. 1/15/2010 3:24:50 PM
Undeserved compliments can undermine kids, psychologists say That's fantastic, sweetie! Awesome! You're so smart! A lot of well-intentioned parents cover their kids with a blanket of constant praise in the hopes of promoting self-esteem and confidence, as well as showing their love and support. But child psychology experts say there's a definite downside. 1/15/2010 11:43:44 AM
B.C. safe injection site wins court battle to stay open Vancouver's safe-injection site will remain open for the time being, after the B.C. Court of Appeal on Friday dismissed an appeal from the federal government. The federal government is now expected to take its fight to the Supreme Court of Canada. 1/15/2010 11:39:14 AM
Sleeping in doesn't make up for chronic sleep loss Trying to catch up on lost sleep by sleeping in on the weekend might work for a little while, but it won't rid you of the effects of chronic sleep loss. U.S. researchers have found that chronically sleep-deprived people may function normally soon after waking up, but they start to have steadily slower reaction times as the day wears on. 1/14/2010 2:50:37 PM
Low amount of BPA can increase cardiac risk by 45%, study finds Elevated exposure to bisphenol A has been linked in a new study to a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease, the second time researchers have made a connection. BPA is still used as a liner inside almost all food and beverage cans sold in Canada. 1/14/2010 5:38:34 AM
Beat the bulge with a few simple swaps Calories can be unkind. You can sweat for 30 minutes on the treadmill and burn off roughly 200 to 300 depending on your weight (larger bodies burn more calories during exercise). But nosh on a couple of cookies or sneak a second helping at dinner and you're back to square one. 1/14/2010 5:36:17 AM
B.C.gov't selling our surgery spots to Saskatchewan British Columbia and Saskatchewan were discussing cross-border surgeries months before the proposal was made public. Up to 350 patients may come to B.C. for knee replacements. "In B.C., it's bad for patients because taxpayers in British Columbia paid for those facilities and now they're being told to wait in line.". 1/14/2010 4:45:34 AM
Circumcision health benefit virtually nil, study finds While it is the most common surgical procedure in the world, there is virtually no demonstrable health benefit derived from circumcision of either newborns or adults. The sole exception seems to be reducing the risk of transmission of HIV-AIDS in adult males in sub-Saharan Africa 1/13/2010 12:31:25 PM
Are you fitter than the average Canadian? To test the fitness of the nation, the Canadian Health Measures Survey challenged participants with a classic gym class maneuver - the partial curl-up. Both adults and youth aged 19 to 25 were tasked with completing a full set of 25. 1/13/2010 12:15:40 PM
Docs seek to stifle patients’ rants on Web sites Depending on who’s writing the rating, a certain New York plastic surgeon is either “very skilled and esthetically gifted” or “very bad,” with results that left one patient “wondering if doctor knows what a female breast looks like.” The anonymous comments are among the freewheeling posts on RateMDs.com 1/13/2010 6:48:07 AM
Canadian fitness levels have plummeted since 1981 A new survey says the fitness levels of Canadian children and youth, as well as those of adults, declined significantly between 1981 and 2009. The Stats Canada study, known as the Canadian Health Measures Survey, is being touted as the most comprehensive fitness survey ever in Canada. 1/13/2010 5:49:11 AM
Green tea 'may block lung cancer' Drinking green tea may offer some protection against lung cancer, say experts who studied the disease. In the study, smokers and non-smokers who drank at least a cup a day cut their lung cancer risk significantly, a US cancer research conference heard. 1/13/2010 5:19:14 AM
Blood pressure drug offers fresh hope for dementia Researchers believe a drug used to lower blood pressure could be even more effective against Alzheimer's disease than they previously thought. People taking angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) were up to 50% less likely to develop dementia than those taking other blood pressure drugs. 1/12/2010 6:05:33 PM
Study shows popular PRP therapy no better than placebo A new study shows an increasingly popular treatment used by elite athletes to speed healing doesn't work better than a placebo when it comes to tendon injuries. The injected treatment, called platelet-rich plasma or PRP, has been used by a range of athletes, including Olympic hopeful Patrick Chan. 1/12/2010 4:27:21 PM
Study sees parking lot dust as a cancer risk Chemicals in a cancer-causing substance used to seal pavement, parking lots and driveways across the U.S. are showing up at alarming levels in dust in homes, prompting concerns about the potential health effects of long-term exposure, a new study shows. 1/12/2010 2:38:58 PM
Exercise legacy of Olympic Games debated The only research on the topic looked at participation rates following the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. "What the Australian studies did seem to indicate was that there were blips here and there of increased participation, but overall they didn't have a significant impact." 1/12/2010 2:28:49 PM
Smoking defended by Quebec doctor A Quebec psychiatrist has sparked controversy with a new book that comes to the defence of smokers and even promotes some benefits of smoking. In, "Crush the cigarette, not the smoker," Dr. Jean-Jacques Bourque said there is too much pressure put on smokers to quit. 1/12/2010 1:34:56 PM
New Jersey Legislature approves bill to make state 14th with medical marijuana The Legislature on Monday approved a bill that would make New Jersey the 14th state to allow chronically ill patients access to marijuana for medical reasons. Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine supports the legislation and could sign it before leaving office next week, making it law. 1/12/2010 5:02:21 AM
Study finds that UNICEF program in Africa fails to save more children A UNICEF program that spent $27 million to decrease child deaths from disease in West Africa has failed, according to a new study that found a higher survival rate in some regions that weren't included in the program. The aim was to reduce the death rate by at least 25 per cent by the end of 2006. 1/12/2010 5:01:09 AM
'Shorter' people get more lung disease People who develop chronic lung disease are more likely to be shorter in height than the general population, University of Nottingham researchers say. They looked at more than one million people aged over 35 for their study. They say those with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) were 1.12cm shorter on average. 1/11/2010 6:42:09 PM
'False positive' concern over prostate cancer test One in eight men screened for prostate cancer will test positive when they do not have the disease, a major European trial has shown. A positive result can mean undergoing invasive tests such as biopsy as well as potentially unnecessary treatment. 1/11/2010 6:28:25 PM
Big bum and thighs 'are healthy' Carrying extra weight on your hips, bum and thighs is good for your health, protecting against heart and metabolic problems, UK experts have said. Hip fat mops up harmful fatty acids and contains an anti-inflammatory agent that stops arteries clogging, they say. 1/11/2010 6:25:42 PM
Ten foods that could save your life (or at least make you feel a whole lot better) “Chocolate-covered strawberries? People think it’s a decadent thing. But I couldn’t think of a better partnership,” said Grotto. Cocoa flavinols found in chocolate have more phytochemicals and antioxidants than green tea, black tea, red wine and blueberries. They aid heart health. 1/11/2010 5:38:31 PM
Drug company Rip-offs: Prices of some drugs have doubled Prices on a growing number of prescription medications have ballooned in recent years. The GAO found more than 400 examples of unusual price jumps on brand name drugs during the eight-year period — most ranged from 100 to 499 percent, but several exceeded 1,000 percent. 1/11/2010 5:13:38 PM
Audiences experience 'Avatar' blues James Cameron's completely immersive spectacle "Avatar" may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora. 1/11/2010 4:01:23 PM
Despite 3 years of 'talk' Ottawa has done nothing about infant formula safety A three-year government crackdown to stop infant-formula manufacturers from using unproven or misleading nutrition and health claims had "absolutely no impact," according to a dismal assessment outlined in internal documents. No prosecutions have been initiated. 1/11/2010 3:47:26 PM
Too much TV may mean earlier death Watching too much television can make you feel a bit brain-dead. According to a new study, it might also take years off your life. The more time you spend watching TV, the greater your risk of dying at an earlier age -- especially from heart disease, researchers found. 1/11/2010 2:23:26 PM
Many women rethinking pill Frustrated by side-effects or uncomfortable with the daily flow of hormones into their bodies, some women have stopped using the birth-control pill that ushered in an era of reproductive freedom. Some women may be concerned by new research about the pill's health implications. 1/11/2010 7:17:33 AM
'Plumper lips and pout' make women look younger Women who have fuller and firmer lips are seen as younger than they really are, research suggests. Even with a few wrinkles or grey hairs, a plump pout can takes years off a woman, Unilever scientist David Gunn has found. 1/11/2010 6:22:52 AM
Popular kids’ trinkets loaded with toxic metal Barred from using lead in children's jewelry because of its toxicity, some Chinese manufacturers have been substituting the more dangerous heavy metal cadmium in sparkling charm bracelets and shiny pendants being sold throughout the United States, an Associated Press investigation shows. 1/11/2010 5:42:09 AM
Gas stoves' effect on children's lung function 'not very strong': study While some studies have implicated gas appliances in children's risk of respiratory ills, a new report suggests that gas cooking stoves may have only a small effect on most children's lung function. Studies over the years have come to conflicting conclusions. 1/11/2010 4:37:00 AM
Research on cocaine reveals gene-altering roots of addiction Prolonged exposure to cocaine can cause permanent changes in the way genes are switched on and off in the brain, a finding that may lead to more effective treatments for many kinds of addiction, U.S. researchers said. Chronic cocaine addiction kept a specific enzyme from shutting off other genes in the pleasure circuits of the brain. 1/10/2010 7:15:40 AM
Urine test for dangerous snoring A urine test that can differentiate between dangerous and safe snoring is possible, say researchers at the University of Chicago. They looked at 90 children referred to a clinic to be evaluated for breathing problems in sleep, and 30 controls. 1/10/2010 6:13:17 AM
Exercise the best medicine for senior citizens Joe Derochie, 70, of Vernon doesn‘t want to be a frail old man.
So he exercises – a lot. Such a lifestyle is ideal for turning back the clock on age-related frailty, according to a new UBC Okanagan research study done on exercise and aging. 1/10/2010 5:29:44 AM
Depression among public servants Canada’s biggest ‘public health crisis’ Depression among Canada’s public servants is the country’s biggest “public health crisis,” says a leading mental health expert. “The public service is a tsunami of distractions — meetings, everything questioned, delegated, people moving … and no one is really in charge.” 1/9/2010 7:16:57 PM
Coloured lasers may curb epilepsy Coloured lights could be used to find treatments for brain disorders such as epilepsy, a study has suggested. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology team discovered a way to shut down brain activity using flashes of yellow and blue lasers. 1/8/2010 6:20:07 PM
Books recalled over risky do-it-yourself advice Oxmoor House on Friday recalled nearly 1 million home improvement books because of errors that could lead do-it-yourselfers to make risky mistakes while installing or repairing their electrical wiring. 1/8/2010 6:05:19 PM
Forget the hundred-mile diet -- buy a mango One of the worst by-products -- among many -- of the rapid expansion of government in the past 50 years has been the politicization of everything, including aspects of personal daily life that government has no business in. 1/8/2010 5:18:04 PM
'Shaming' smokers makes it harder to quit: Study Years of anti-smoking laws and campaigns have amounted to a public shaming of smokers that could make it harder for them to quit, a group of UBC researchers argue. The policies run counter to how other addictions are treated by the public-health field. 1/8/2010 8:53:10 AM
Cleopatra make-up 'good for eyes' The heavy eye make-up favoured by ancient Egyptians such as Cleopatra may have had medical as well as aesthetic benefits, French research suggests. The study suggests it helped to protect against eye disease. 1/8/2010 5:53:25 AM
Loto-Quebec to compensate thousands of addicted gamblers Quebec's lottery commission confirmed Thursday that it has reached a tentative multimillion-dollar agreement to compensate thousands of addicted gamblers, in a case with national implications. The plaintiffs say around 119,000 Quebec gamblers can trace their addiction to Video Lottery Terminals. 1/7/2010 6:40:37 PM
Is this nuts? Air Canada ordered to offer nut-free zones Air Canada must provide a buffer zone on flights for people with nut allergies, the Canadian Transportation Agency has ruled. The airline must consider passengers with nut allergies as disabled and give them specific accommodations accordingly within 30 days. 1/7/2010 4:47:19 PM
Food package labels don't tell the whole story Reading food labels is an important step to eating healthy, but Consumer Reports cautions that what's on the front of the package may not be a good guide to what's inside. For instance, the latest Fruit Loops has the Smart Choices check mark, even though it's 41 percent sugar by weight. 1/7/2010 11:57:41 AM
Captain Condom a part of SafeGames 2010 Don’t be shocked to find Captain Condom and the Always-Protected Crusader handing out condoms and lubricant at downtown street corners during the Olympic Games. More than 200 outreach workers will distribute condoms, lube, lip balm, hand heaters, glow sticks, and other safety-related stuff. 1/7/2010 11:47:15 AM
Misleading alcohol beverage labels put fetuses at risk Pregnant women drinking non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beverages may be putting their babies at risk because some brands contain more alcohol than is advertised on the label, according to a study released today by the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. 1/7/2010 6:48:11 AM
Is group exercise better than working out solo? The question: Will taking a class or finding training partners help me keep my exercise resolutions this year?
The answer: Consider the similarities between a modern exercise class and an ancient religious rite – the wise leader guiding the group through a series of ritualized movements, in perfect synchronization. 1/7/2010 6:36:08 AM
Curl your way to fitness Fit curlers - isn't that an oxymoron? The question does not amuse Edmonton's Kevin Martin, skip of the team representing Canada at the Vancouver Olympics. "I've had the same personal trainer for eight years," he says. 1/7/2010 6:27:36 AM
Spit and face eviction, China officials warn Residents could find themselves homeless if they get caught publicly spitting seven times at a low-income housing complex in a southern Chinese city. Tossing fruit peels, spitting chewing gum on the ground and urinating in public are other no-nos listed Thursday on a government Web site. 1/7/2010 6:10:27 AM
It’s back: paid parking at Penticton’s hospital Later this month free parking will go the way of the dinosaur for patients and staff at Penticton Regional Hospital. Interior Health reminds area residents that effective Friday, Jan. 22 pay parking will be introduced at the hospital. The public hourly rate will be $1 per hour and $4 per day. 1/7/2010 4:48:22 AM
In defense of raw milk: Farmer refutes danger claims The owner of a British Columbia farm at the centre of an unpasteurized milk warning says their raw dairy products are 100 per cent safe to consume. The B.C. Centre for Disease Control issued a public health bulletin against Fraser Valley's Home on the Range farm in Chilliwack Tuesday. 1/6/2010 5:06:38 PM
A spanked child may be a better adult: study The U.S.-based research states that spanking children up to six years old made them more successful in school, more optimistic about life, more likely to take voluntary work, and more keen to attend university than their never-spanked counterparts. 1/6/2010 2:13:13 PM
Demand soars for vitamin D Some consumers and doctors are becoming convinced vitamin D can help reduce the risk of a long list of diseases. A growing body of research suggests the so-called sunshine vitamin may reduce the risk of multiple sclerosis, diabetes and breast and prostate cancers. 1/6/2010 11:24:00 AM
Dieters Beware: Calorie Counts Are Frequently Off When you buy a car with a six-cylinder engine, you expect to get six cylinders. When you buy a dress in a size 10, you expect a size 10. And when you buy a burger at a fast-food joint that's listed on the menu as containing 500 calories, you jolly well expect 500. 1/6/2010 11:19:22 AM
Brain-injured doctor denied rehab in B.C. The family of a B.C. physician who suffered a major brain injury in a car accident is speaking out about how he was denied rehabilitation in his home province and given only limited support for treatment elsewhere. "The hurdles have been non-stop," said the man's father, Kevin Bigelow. 1/6/2010 10:47:44 AM
Young, Overweight Fall Prey to Weight-Loss Spam Many computer users lunge for the delete key when they get unsolicited e-mails about weight-loss products. But some respond, and new research suggests that almost one in five young, overweight people have fallen prey. "Products can range from the potentially harmless to the potentially harmful." 1/6/2010 10:37:44 AM
Obesity's disease burden worse than smoking Obesity is emerging as a greater threat to public health than smoking, a U.S. study suggests. The largest ongoing health survey interviewed more than 3.5 million American adults every year from 1993 to 2008. Such extensive studies haven't been conducted in Canada. 1/6/2010 10:27:49 AM
The elusive G-spot may not exist The G-spot - the mysterious female erogenous zone - may not actually exist, says new research. For years, it has been described as the Holy Grail of female sexual pleasure. But for many women and their partners, the quest to find the so-called G-spot has ended in frustration. 1/6/2010 6:42:56 AM
B.C. community 'doctor' charged with fraud over fake degrees A well-known Victoria man who operated a counselling clinic in Saanich and taught courses at the University of Victoria has been charged with fraud, accused of falsely claiming to hold two doctoral degrees. Jason Matthew Walker, 31, was arrested Dec. 31 after Saanich police searched the offices of Health Point Consulting. 1/6/2010 6:24:51 AM
10 surprising ways to live longer Just because 2010 makes you another year older doesn’t mean you have to feel or look it. More and more research shows that from what you eat to how you live, it is the little things you do that add years to your life. (Ed: Good information, easy ways to make improvements.) 1/6/2010 5:48:10 AM
Plate weighing 'can curb obesity' A talking, computerised weighing device that tracks how quickly food is gobbled off the plate could be a solution to childhood obesity. The Mandometer keeps tabs during meal times and tells the user if they are wolfing down meals too fast - a habit experts have linked to weight gain. 1/6/2010 4:58:45 AM
Antidepressants no help in milder cases Mild, moderate and even some cases of severe depression might be better treated with alternatives to antidepressant drugs, which do not help patients much more than an inactive placebo. But for those with the most severe forms of depression, the medications have significant benefit. 1/5/2010 8:13:02 PM
Osoyoos: Strata council discriminated against disabled resident The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has found that the Casitas Del Sol strata council discriminated against a physically disabled resident of the manufactured home community by not allowing him to keep a solar screen installed on one of his home’s windows. 1/5/2010 5:32:13 PM
Staying power: Older moms aim to live longer When Stacey Bartlett-Knettler decided to get pregnant at 38, she didn’t worry much about her age. She felt young and healthy, and ready to start a family. But by the time she was 42 and had given birth to her second baby, the Columbus, Ohio, executive was starting to worry about her own mortality. 1/5/2010 11:44:48 AM
Sharing hospital room increases infection risk A new study says sharing a hospital room increases your risk of picking up an infection during your stay. The study, by researchers from Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., shows that each new roommate raises your infection risk by about 10 per cent. 1/5/2010 11:38:07 AM
B.C. female couple sues sperm donor 'dad' A Terrace female couple is suing a good friend over a dispute arising from a donor-insemination agreement. The women, who have a foster son, decided they wanted to have a child of their own and wanted a sperm donor who was known, according to a statement of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court. 1/5/2010 11:03:50 AM
Octuplets doctor accused of gross negligence A US fertility doctor has been accused of gross negligence over his treatment of a woman who gave birth to octuplets last year. A disciplinary complaint filed by the California Medical Board said that Dr Michael Kamrava acted “beyond reasonable judgment” by helping Nadya Suleman to conceive octuplets. 1/5/2010 10:30:07 AM
How about a 4-minute workout? And that's it! Tabata, a type of high-intensity interval training that was originally developed for Japan's Olympic speed-skating team, is fast gaining popularity as a high-speed new-mom workout. The Tabata method is used most widely by elite athletes. (Ed: This works for men and women.) 1/5/2010 10:08:49 AM
Study says pregnant women having more ultrasounds than recommended A new Canadian study finds that some women are having more ultrasounds than recommended. The study published Monday online in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says nearly one in five women have four or more ultrasound exams during the second and third trimesters. 1/5/2010 6:05:28 AM
Child Aggressive childhood brain tumours could be treatable with a novel combination of two existing cancer drugs, a study suggests. tumours 'treatable' Aggressive childhood brain tumours could be treatable with a novel combination of two existing cancer drugs. Researchers led by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) examined 90 tumours from children and found two new genetic abnormalities in nine of them. 1/5/2010 5:51:39 AM
Diabetes link to quitting smoking Giving up smoking sharply increases the risk of developing type-two diabetes, a US study suggests. Researchers found quitters had a 70% increased risk of developing type-two diabetes in the first six years without cigarettes compared with non-smokers. 1/5/2010 5:45:48 AM
Congestion, budget cuts mean KGH surgeries routinely postponed Doug Illman waited close to three months for his Dec. 18 surgery date at Kelowna General Hospital to roll around. Illman, the owner of Croc-Talk, had a shoulder injury which prevented him from lifting his arm up past his chest or carrying any weight, so he was anxious to get the operation done. 1/5/2010 5:21:49 AM
OR to close at Mission hospital Mission Memorial Hospital's operating room will be shut down next month. The closure of the two-day-a-week OR, which performed 500 elective surgeries last year, was announced by Fraser Health last night at a city council meeting. 1/5/2010 4:58:11 AM
Chinese boy lucky after chopstick pierces nose and touches brain Li Jingchao learned the hard way -- be careful what you stick up your nose. The 14-month-old little boy was playing with chopsticks, when his doctor says he fell, with one of the sticks piercing his nose. "It touched upon the deep area of his brain, four centimeters of the chopstick was inside his skull" Doctor Sun Wei told CNN. 1/5/2010 4:43:44 AM
Unequal access to cancer drugs creates 'postal-code lottery' Bill Niblock has the same cancer as hundreds of others in Canada, but he can't obtain identical treatment. Because he lives in Ontario, he will receive a lesser therapy, making him the victim of what experts label a geographic lottery. 1/5/2010 4:33:58 AM
Watch what you put in a ‘healthy’ salad The crisp lettuce and chunks of tomato, cucumber and red onion covered in feta cheese and sprinkled with a handful of olives looked fresh, healthy and tantalizing. But after a few mouthfuls, I was grabbing for the garlic toast and reaching for the water to wash away the thick layer of salt stinging my tongue. 1/4/2010 7:38:18 PM
Dating site banishes 533 Canadians for weight gain Some 5,000 people have been booted off a social networking site for gaining weight over the holidays, with 533 Canadians among the so-called "festive fatties" shown the virtual door. "Canada has been one of the worst offenders," says Greg Hodge, managing director of BeautifulPeople.com. 1/4/2010 4:28:19 PM
Simple pleas of a humble snow plower (Ed: More snow in the Okanagan this morning) - Snowplows are to be respected and given wide berth, not played chicken with and given the finger. "Those flashing lights are not our way of celebrating the holidays or adding bling to our trucks. It is to mark that we are a very real danger to motorists." 1/4/2010 6:00:46 AM
Nutrition for the heart, arteries and waistline Fast food, like fast cars, fast talkers — fast anything — should be approached with caution. Fast cars and fast talkers can get you speeding tickets and worthless shares in Bolivian tin mines but fast food has implications for your heart, arteries and waistline. 1/4/2010 5:30:49 AM
Costs to soar as aging Canadians face rising tide of dementia The annual cost of dementia is projected to soar tenfold in the next generation, a stark illustration of the impact an aging Canadian population will have on the health-care system. By 2038, dementia will cost a staggering $153-billion a year, up from the current $15-billion a year. 1/4/2010 4:35:58 AM
Mysterious G-spot just a myth - study A Sexual quest that has for years baffled millions of women, and men, may have been in vain. A study by British scientists has found that the mysterious G-spot, the sexual pleasure zone said to be possessed by some women but denied to others, may not exist at all. 1/3/2010 5:55:02 AM
Tips for driving on ice: Worth a read The most basic fact to understand is that ice, whether it's black, grey or white, does not crash vehicles. It's always the driver's reaction to being on ice that causes the loss of control. Here is what to do when encountering icy roads: 1/3/2010 5:28:30 AM
Just Say No to Aging? Imagine that you could rewind the clock 20 years. It's 1989. Madonna is topping the pop charts, and TV sets are tuned to "Cheers" and "Murphy Brown." Widespread Internet use is just a pipe dream, and Sugar Ray Leonard and Joe Montana are on recent covers of Sports Illustrated. 1/3/2010 5:22:49 AM
No More Sacred Cows The latest cookbook by Mollie Katzen includes recipes for spinach lasagna and vegetable tofu stir fry with orange ginger glaze. It also includes a recipe for beef stew. No, not "beef" stew, in which some soy-based protein substitute is dressed and spiced to look (and sort of taste) like meat. But real beef. From a cow. 1/3/2010 5:13:10 AM
Training saves lives at Silver Star Emergency personnel at Silver Star proved why the ski hill is one of the safest in Canada when they saved the lives of two guests recently. In a two-hour span, ski patrol, Silver Star Fire Department and volunteer ski doctor Kira McClellan successfully resuscitated two people who had gone into cardiac arrest. 1/3/2010 4:46:56 AM
Tarantula owners advised to cover eyes Tarantula owners are advised to don goggles when handling the pets, ophthalmologists say. The warning comes after a 29-year-old man went to hospital last February with a three-week history of a red, watery and light-sensitive eye that did not clear up with antibiotics. 1/2/2010 6:58:17 PM
Guarding against Carbon Monoxide, the 'silent killer' Why is carbon monoxide so dangerous? Every year, hundreds of people die in North America after being overcome by carbon monoxide. It is the leading cause of fatal poisonings in North America. At high concentrations, carbon monoxide (CO) can kill within a few minutes. 1/2/2010 6:56:17 PM
Montana court allows doctor-assisted suicide The Montana Supreme Court said nothing in state law prevents patients from seeking physician-assisted suicide. A year ago, a state District Court judge ruled that the state's constitutional rights to privacy and dignity protect the right of terminally ill Montanans to get the drugs needed to die peacefully. 1/2/2010 6:52:26 PM
Lack of BC food labelling laws leaves restaurant diners in peril Would you order The Keg’s honey barbecue ribs knowing they contained 1,975 calories — almost the equivalent of four Big Macs? How about the Church’s Chicken homestyle fillet with gravy, knowing it contained 6,691 milligrams of sodium — about three times the maximum daily recommended intake? 1/2/2010 11:06:45 AM
Guide to a good life: When all hope is lost, pray A year ago, Marcella Dubuque was preparing for what she believed would be her last Christmas. A month earlier, she had been diagnosed with stage 3 cancer, the tumour that had been growing in her right breast had already invaded her lymph nodes. Too advanced for surgery. She was 76 years old. 1/2/2010 8:37:56 AM
'Sexercise' yourself into shape The British Health Service has some new advice for people struggling to schedule a fitness routine into their daily lives - a workout between the sheets. According to the NHS Direct website, "sexercise" can lower the risk of heart attacks and helps people live longer. 1/2/2010 5:55:07 AM
My new year's resolution? No more red meat This year for Christmas I poisoned the in-laws. The prime rib was perfect – except for the 36 hours of stomach-churning misery it caused everyone who ate it. Having passed on seconds, I was the only person able to get out of bed on Boxing Day. 1/2/2010 4:59:03 AM
Baby James of Chilliwack is Lower Mainland's first 2010 birth Chilliwack's Bayes family has claimed the prize for the region's first baby born in the new year. The happy new parents are Laura Bayes, 21, and Aaron Bayes, 28. They've named their first baby boy James Darwin Bayes. 1/2/2010 4:32:04 AM
Late-night teens 'face greater depression risk' Going to bed earlier protects teenagers against depression and suicidal thoughts, research suggests. A US study of 12 to 18-year-olds found those with bedtimes after midnight were 24% more likely to have depression than those who went to bed before 10 pm. 1/2/2010 4:30:18 AM
Man questions Sask. health-care after B.C. doctor spots wife's brain tumo A Saskatchewan man is questioning his province's health-care system after a physician in British Columbia discovered his wife’s brain tumour. “My wife’s been sick now for going on four or five months now,” said Norton McGuire. 1/1/2010 6:07:16 PM
Killer superbug solution discovered in Norway Once-curable diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria are coming back, as germs rapidly mutate to form aggressive strains that resist drugs. The reason: The misuse of the very drugs that were supposed to save us has built up drug resistance worldwide. 1/1/2010 5:58:40 PM
Top Empowered Patient tips for 2010 Being an empowered patient means doing more than the bare minimum. It means taking an active part in your own health care. Over the past year, we've brought you the extraordinary stories -- from a young girl who diagnosed her own condition in science class, to a wife whose memory of a disco tune saved her husband's life. 12/31/2009 12:31:07 PM
Latest Tuberculosis case confirmed in Port Alberni, more than 45 cases so far Port Alberni has been in a Tuberculosis outbreak since 2006 with the latest confirmed case Wednesday. A “Port Alberni strain” has even been DNA-typed. With TB so common in the community, 45 confirmed cases so far, the outbreak is long from over. 12/31/2009 11:24:16 AM
Guest column: The time to start showing your love is now This Dec. 23, at 9:30 a.m., I received a frantic phone call from my mother that jolted me out of my sleep. Even though I only heard her voice for a second, I knew the call would change my life. "Your dad is scaring me. He was dizzy in the shower and now he's talking funny. I don't know what to do!" 12/31/2009 6:50:59 AM
NDP slams hikes in B.C. care-home rates Higher rents for most seniors at government long-term-care homes that come into effect in the new year will financially hurt those who can least afford it, says NDP MLA Adrian Dix. About 75 per cent of residents will pay more at the province's 432 publicly subsidized facilities. 12/31/2009 6:43:20 AM
12 (modest) steps to a healthier you It's resolution time again and for many of us losing weight, eating better and exercising more top the list. Now comes the hard part – keeping those promises throughout the year. While it's not hard to stick to your resolutions for the first month, research shows that many people lose steam by February. 12/30/2009 7:32:33 PM
Physical activity linked to school girls' grades Girls who spend more time in vigorous physical activity may do better in school, even if they are not particularly fit, study findings hint. The link between vigorous physical activity and academic achievement in girls was evident after the investigators allowed for numerous social and family factors. 12/30/2009 7:26:50 PM
'Dead mother and son' alive after Christmas 'miracle' (Video) A mother from Colorado who doctors said had died while giving birth to her son, has said it is a Christmas miracle. Tracey Hermanstorfer's heart stopped beating and her son Coltyn appeared lifeless. However a few minutes after he was delivered, both began breathing again. 12/30/2009 5:43:27 PM
Cheers! 6 ways a little booze does the body good For many drinking is as much a part of this season as mistletoe and noisemakers — it’s hard to imagine a celebration that doesn’t go better with a little liquid cheer. But those who can hail the holidays with just a glass or two can relax and have fun, knowing that their drinking might actually bring some health benefits. 12/30/2009 1:22:57 PM
Caution Can Help Keep Elderly Safe During Winter Winter's icy sidewalks and frigid temperatures can be challenging for anyone, but they pose extra hazards for elderly people. Falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths for adults over age 65 in the United States. Some 1.8 million people aged 65 and older were treated in emergency departments for falls in 2005, and 15,800 died from their injuries. 12/30/2009 10:28:32 AM
'Premature' to declare pandemic over: WHO Swine flu may have peaked in the United States, Canada, Britain and some other countries in the Northern Hemisphere, but there is still intense flu activity in Egypt, India and elsewhere, WHO director general Dr. Margaret Chan told a year-end news conference. 12/30/2009 10:23:40 AM
Eating fast-food fried chicken, burgers is fast track to diabetes: study Avoiding "fast food" burgers and fried chicken may cut your risk of developing type 2 diabetes -- the kind closely linked to obesity. "It is well established that becoming overweight or obese greatly increases a person's chance of developing [type 2] diabetes." 12/30/2009 9:32:33 AM
How vaccines became big business It was not the talk Dr. Michael Ossi planned to give when he was summoned to Washington in the fall of 2003 to brief health officials on Capitol Hill. Dr. Ossi had been asked to meet with government officials on how to respond to a deadly problem unfolding halfway around the world. 12/30/2009 9:03:16 AM
Residential care rates rise for most Three out of four patients in B.C. government-supported residential care begin paying higher rates effective Jan. 1, while the lowest-income group gets a break. B.C. currently has about 26,000 patients in subsidized residential care, mainly seniors who pay most of their pension income. 12/30/2009 6:10:20 AM
Ginkgo doesn't help memory in seniors: study The herbal remedy ginkgo biloba may not work as advertised to combat the effects of aging on the brain, a new study suggests. Ginkgo biloba has long been marketed as a supplement that boosts memory and helps concentration. Several study authors reported ties to pharmaceutical companies. 12/30/2009 5:31:15 AM
Swim-proof, invisible hearing aids on the horizon They're not your grandpa's hearing aids. Today's newest models range from the completely invisible -- it sits deep in the ear canal for months at a time -- to Bluetooth-enabled gadgets that open cell phones and iPods for hearing-aid users. 12/29/2009 3:24:35 PM
Tylenol arthritis caps recalled in U.S. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a voluntary recall for Tylenol Arthritis Pain Caplet 100 count bottles, with distinctive red caps. The recall does not affect Canada and deals only with products purchased in the United States. 12/29/2009 9:38:39 AM
B.C. man gets licence for record number of marijuana plants A B.C. resident has received a Health Canada licence to possess 60 grams of marijuana for daily medical use, allowing him to legally grow as many as 292 marijuana plants. The licence provides for possibly the largest quantity ever to be legalized in Canada. 12/29/2009 4:44:58 AM
Wife of missing man says early hospital discharge may have contributed to his disappearance The wife of Jim Black, the Kelowna man who went missing early Wednesday, only to be found injured but alive Christmas Day, wants some answers from the Interior Health Authority about why her husband was released so quickly from hospital after collapsing in his bathroom the day before. 12/28/2009 5:18:50 AM
Disinfectants 'train' superbugs to resist antibiotics Disinfectants could effectively train bacteria to become resistant to antibiotics, research suggests. Scientists know bacteria can become inured to disinfectant, but research increasingly shows the same process may make it resistant to certain drugs. 12/27/2009 6:16:11 PM
Inner ear alters brain blood flow Minute organs hidden deep within the ear appear to directly alter blood flow to the brain, scientists have revealed. Until now, experts thought the inner ear's job was to control balance alone. 12/27/2009 5:15:15 AM
The smartest thing you can buy this winter There has been lots on the importance of having snow tires. And I don’t mean to drone on in a repetitive fashion, but obviously the message has not reached everyone. The results of a 2008 survey show that only 57 per cent of Canadians were using winter tires during the frigid months. 12/27/2009 5:11:20 AM
The Grinch diagnosed with depression The Grinch likely suffers from some well-defined mental health conditions that others might be able to identify with, some psychologists say. The Grinch is a fictional holiday bad guy who sits atop Mount Crumpit plotting how to prevent Christmas from coming to Whoville. 12/26/2009 8:47:20 PM
On Memory: Recalling music As a trigger for memories, music is a uniquely powerful medium. There is hardly a person alive who cannot be cast back to a childhood joy, or a teenage heartache, by hearing a familiar song. Other senses, such as smell, can do the same thing. 12/26/2009 12:25:22 PM
'Polar bear' plunges a healthy way to ring in the new year? Ever get the notion that it would be “fun” or “invigorating” to ring in the New Year with a quick dip in icy Cayuga Lake? Members of the Polar Bear Club do it every year, after all. Well, let Carol Sames knock some sense into you. She does urge caution. 12/26/2009 12:00:07 PM
Limpet-like proteins 'help block cancer' Scientists have shown how a family of "limpet-like" proteins play a crucial role in repairing the DNA damage which can lead to cancer. They hope the finding could pave the way for a new type of drug. The proteins seem to have a remarkable ability to zero in on damaged areas. 12/26/2009 6:27:19 AM
Health Canada warns against weight-loss product Health Canada is warning consumers who are watching their weight to stay away from an unauthorized product sold over the Internet that contains a synthetic substance called benzylpiperazine, or BZP. The product is RevolutionDS Weight Loss, and is sold in capsule form. 12/25/2009 11:20:21 AM
Penticton Hospital campaign turning dreams into reality Purchasing a new CT scanner for Penticton Regional Hospital is much closer to reality, thanks to generous donations to the Tree of Dreams fund. “We’ve had 15 people walk in the door just today,” said Janice Perrino. (Ed: The fund topped $1,500,000 on Christmas Eve., Thank You.)
12/25/2009 9:40:58 AM
Fake sugar may alter how the body handles real sugar Combining artificial sweeteners with the real thing boosts the stomach's secretion of a hormone that makes people feel full and helps control blood sugar, new research shows. What this all means to the average diet soda drinker is not known. 12/24/2009 6:13:58 AM
Alzheimer's disease may 'ward off cancer' Alzheimer's disease is associated with a reduced risk of cancer and vice versa, a study suggests. US researchers followed 3,020 people aged 65 and above for the study. "Alzheimer's disease and cancer are both characterised by abnormal, but opposing, cellular behaviour. 12/24/2009 5:57:45 AM
Judge: Condoms not mandatory on porn sets A Los Angeles judge has denied a request from an AIDS advocacy group calling for mandatory use of condoms on porn sets. The group sued the county in July after data showed there were more than 3,700 STD cases over the past five years reported by a clinic that serves porn actors. 12/23/2009 2:20:01 PM
Raw-milk operation faces heat For the second time in less than three years, Fraser Health is trying to close down the little dairy on the pretense that drinking raw milk is a health hazard because it's not treated by high-temperature pasteurization, which zaps nasty little bugs that may make us sick. 12/23/2009 6:23:39 AM
$432 Million spent: Year of milestones for Interior Health A $432-million investment in two new patient care towers, a UBC medical school. A $27-million angioplasty program and the promise of open-heart surgery. The words “historic” and “milestone” were often repeated during the past year as health care in the Okanagan moved up to the next level. 12/23/2009 6:19:40 AM
Court clears her name, but reputation still in tatters A B.C. court may have cleared her name, but Crystal Everson says her reputation is still in tatters. In 2008, Everson was accused of taking part in the sharing of nude photos of elderly residents at the Summerland Seniors Village where she worked. 12/23/2009 5:52:18 AM
Kids jewelry contains too much lead: Health Canada Half of the children's jewelry items tested at the government's product safety laboratory last year were made of almost pure lead. Health Canada oversaw the targeted testing of 67 suspicious pieces and identified 39 with illegal levels of lead. Twenty of the metallic pieces were made of almost pure lead. 12/22/2009 10:05:45 PM
Medical marijuana crusader gets a break on drug trafficking A Manitoba judge has cut a major break to a medical marijuana crusader found guilty of trafficking pot across Canada. Grant Krieger received a suspended sentence with nine months of probation Monday — a far cry from the jail sentence he feared he might receive and predicted would kill him. 12/22/2009 5:52:24 AM
Listeriosis warning issued over brand of salami The public is being warned to avoid eating a brand of salami because it may be contaminated with Listeria. The federal agency says the product is known to have been distributed in Ontario and Quebec, but may also have been sold nationally. 12/22/2009 5:15:48 AM
'Burn off' Christmas with a walk The public have been urged to have an active festive break, by going for a walk on Christmas Day to burn off the calories consumed during lunch. The typical Christmas menu of turkey and fixing's adds up to 1,500 calories - half of a man's recommended daily intake and three-quarters of a woman's. 12/22/2009 5:04:22 AM
US Airports: 3-hour limit imposed on tarmac strandings Stinky toilets, crying babies, airless cabins — the Obama administration says passengers don't have to take it any more. It ordered airlines to let people get off planes delayed on the ground after three hours. The airline industry said it will comply, but predicted more canceled flights. 12/21/2009 4:52:03 PM
Is milk good for your kids? Milk has long enjoyed a coveted place in refrigerators across the country. Pediatricians, health experts and the dairy industry have promoted consumption of dairy products by touting the fact that they're high in calcium, protein and vitamin D. 12/21/2009 4:40:57 PM
Studies question value of diabetes test strips Asking diabetics who don't take insulin to monitor their own blood glucose levels is a waste of health resources, two new studies suggest. The studies conclude that the costs of the test strips outweigh the modest benefits that glucose monitoring provides. 12/21/2009 11:25:46 AM
Vernon facility to contract out care aides A residential care facility in Vernon has announced it will contract out care aides and licensed practical nurses effective June 15. The news creates instability and uncertainty for the 58 staff – 54 of them women – and for the residents. 12/21/2009 5:24:39 AM
Blade-less ‘knife’ will revolutionize brain surgery, cancer treatment: surgeon Dr. John Sinclair has spent four years pitching the promise of a $4-million knife that doesn’t even have a blade. The neurosurgeon has told anyone who will listen that a technology called CyberKnife will revolutionize brain surgery and treatment of many cancers. 12/20/2009 4:22:04 PM
Smartrisk: Avoiding a painful lesson By Kevin Parnell - NewsAbout 30 minutes into my interview with bereaved father Scott Walker, a man pops his head into Walker’s office. “What I want to know is how you do it?” the man asks Walker. “How do you keep doing it?” It’s the same question I had been wondering since we first sat down. 12/20/2009 3:28:44 PM
Number of working nurses in Canada on the rise A new study finds that the number of nurses working in Canada rose by 8.3 per cent. It indicates the rate of growth for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses exceeded the rate of population growth over the past five years, while the registered psychiatric nurse workforce in Western Canada kept pace with population growth. 12/20/2009 5:57:21 AM
If you do karate at 79, you can have ice cream too A strange thing happened to John Weingust after he started skiing at 33. As he continued to exercise, he became fitter and functioned better, living out the adage that it's never too late to begin getting in shape. Prior to getting into the best shape of his life, eight years of law school had put his body in hibernation. 12/20/2009 5:29:43 AM
UK parents (Canadians too) 'misled' by food labels Nine out of 10 mothers questioned in a British Heart Foundation (BHF) survey misunderstood the nutrition information on children's foods. The BHF says mothers believe claims such as "a source of calcium, iron and six vitamins" mean a product is likely to be healthy. 12/20/2009 5:20:26 AM
Cherry calls Tator's comments unfair Charles Tator shouldn't expect to hear form Don Cherry any time soon. Tator, a doctor, called out Cherry's emphasis on “sock 'em, kill 'em type of hockey” during a Hockey Canada seminar on concussions last weekend in Regina. Cherry said he “wanted nothing to do with him.” 12/20/2009 5:15:53 AM
Good Samaritan saves baby using mouth-to-nose resuscitation A Good Samaritan who saved the life of a newborn baby girl said Friday he hopes to speak to the baby's mother to make sure she is OK. Jason Greensill, 41, who works in downtown Vancouver, came upon a distraught woman with a five-week old baby who had turned blue and wasn't breathing. 12/19/2009 8:25:29 PM
Africa: Typhoid, typhoid, everywhere Alongside a pitted rural road, a dozen women and children plunge yellow cans into a shallow pool of brown water. The few who can afford fuel might boil the water before consuming it. Fewer still will be able to afford the 30 cent purifying tablet that can treat 20 litres. 12/19/2009 8:21:11 PM
Woman’s kidney donation not your typical Christmas gift Requiring months of physical tests, a psychological assessment and finally, surgery followed by weeks of recovery, it was not your everyday gift to the boss. But Kimberly Jensen, 44, never thought twice about donating her kidney when she learned her boss was in need of one. 12/19/2009 6:46:42 PM
Prayer boosts forgiveness: study "What seems to be operative here is that people experience a selfless love when they pray; they appear to be connecting more with humanity and feeling more positively toward humanity as a whole. That's what leads them to be more willing to forgive." 12/19/2009 6:42:26 PM
Final Democratic holdout to support US health bill A holdout no more, Sen. Ben Nelson agreed Saturday to provide the 60th and deciding vote for sweeping health care legislation in the Senate, capping a year of struggle and a final burst of deadline bargaining on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority. 12/19/2009 9:47:45 AM
Weekend eating wrecks diets, study confirms It's no surprise that holiday feasts often bring expanding waistlines, but a new study finds that weekend eating can also be a cause for concern. Some people chow down more calories on Saturday and Sunday than on a typical weekday, researchers find. 12/19/2009 9:45:34 AM
Safe snow shovelling: a light load, 12 to 15 strokes a minute The I-Shovel Autonomous Robotic Snow Shovel is programmed to spring into action the moment snow begins to fall. It is equipped with a digital brain and a plastic scoop, and it works until the flurries stop, oblivious to fatigue or depression. It sounds like every Canadian's dream.. 12/19/2009 6:06:08 AM
Canadian Hospitals no longer want Palin on their ticket Never underestimate the polarizing power of Sarah Palin. Some Hamilton, Ontario philanthropists learned that the hard way this week when they were forced to drop two hospitals as beneficiaries of a spring fundraiser headlined by the former vice-presidential candidate. 12/19/2009 6:03:49 AM
Teens Think Smoking More Dangerous Than Drinking, Drugs American teens believe that smoking cigarettes is riskier than using illicit drugs or binge drinking, a new government report shows. That perception may increase the likelihood that they'll experiment with alcohol or illegal substances, the report authors said. 12/19/2009 5:48:38 AM
Canadian-made Vicks product recalled in U.S. About 700,000 packages of Vicks DayQuil Cold and Flu Liquidcaps, which are manufactured in Canada but sold in the U.S., were recalled because the packaging was not child-resistant, and lacked a label to warn parents that the contents could seriously harm a child. 12/19/2009 5:35:19 AM
Maggots held up at border? That sucks, says B.C. group It's medicinal maggot mayhem. B.C. wound clinicians are calling on Health Canada to speed up the flow of U.S.-raised medicinal maggots across the border, arguing the delays are denying patients easy access to their treatment of choice and resulting in longer hospital stays. 12/19/2009 5:28:56 AM
Okanagan Flu shot clinics wrap up There were lots of excuses for their last-minute appearance Friday, but they did attend the final H1N1 and seasonal flu shot clinic. One last clinic was also held in Vernon Friday to complete Interior Health‘s 291 scheduled clinics in dozens of communities. 12/19/2009 5:26:13 AM
Protein Examined for Role in Liver Cancer A protein switch called TAK1 helps prevent liver damage, including inflammation, fibrosis and cancer, according to a team of scientists. Learning more about how TAK1 works could improve understanding about the development of liver disease and cancer, and lead to new therapies. 12/19/2009 4:51:35 AM
Man paralyzed by herpes denied benefit: top court Canada's top court has ruled that a man paralyzed by a sexually transmitted disease is not entitled to a disability payment from his health insurance company, saying the circumstances of his condition were outside the coverage of his policy. 12/19/2009 4:29:41 AM
SALOME staff to set up free-heroin clinic before Olympics A controversial Vancouver heroin treatment trial is set to start earlier than planned. The SALOME trial, which involves giving free heroin and heroin substitutes to the city's addicts, was set to get under way in the spring of 2010 with about 320 participants. 12/19/2009 4:21:50 AM
Whisky effects 'worse than vodka'
Whisky
Whisky produces a bad hangover
Drinking whisky will result in a worse hangover than vodka, according to research by US scientists. The reason might lie in the number of molecules called "congeners" which it contains compared to vodka, the Brown University team said. 12/18/2009 8:30:22 PM
Former NHLer had condition linked to concussions at time of death Even in death, Reggie Fleming’s brain is sending messages. Researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine have determined the former NHL player, who endured multiple concussions during his career, suffered from degenerative brain disease at the time of his death. 12/18/2009 5:23:45 PM
Baby car seats recalled due to handle malfunction A Montreal-based company is recalling 70,000 car seats in Canada and 447,000 in the U.S. after at least three babies were injured due to handles coming loose. The babies suffered bumps, bruises and a head injury. There were no injuries in Canada. 12/18/2009 5:20:56 PM
'Urgent need' to regulate sex toys, MP says When you're the young owners of a Toronto sex shop specializing in eco-friendly vibrators and other adult toys, getting the ear of a Member of Parliament can be a challenge. They sent the letter to Carolyn Bennett, a Liberal MP and physician. It impressed the MP. 12/18/2009 5:35:54 AM
Seniors' home residents need more protection: ombudsperson Residents of B.C. seniors' homes need a bill of rights, better access to information online, and greater say, according to a long-awaited report. Carter spent months listening to seniors and their families, hearing complaints about dreadful food, soiled linens, inadequate cleaning, and staff shortages. 12/18/2009 4:58:04 AM
Fire hall drinking: Tradition or risky behaviour? A day after the former Squamish fire chief raised alarm bells about drinking in that district's fire halls, there appears to be little consensus within the rest of B.C.'s firefighting community about whether the practice should be allowed. 12/18/2009 4:49:42 AM
Rink makes helmets mandatory for all Next month, a Halifax skating rink will be the first in Nova Scotia to require all skaters to wear helmets, regardless of age. The upcoming change at Dalhousie Memorial Arena was prompted by a local neurosurgeon who wants to prevent head injuries. 12/17/2009 2:47:40 PM
Doing your part for holiday safety So when you’re celebrating the season this year, make sure those celebrations include planning for a safe ride home. Arrange for a designated driver, call a taxi, plan to stay over with friends. The Princess Margaret Secondary dry grad committee will even arrange to get guests home from a Christmas party if you book ahead. 12/17/2009 6:33:49 AM
9 cruel calorie counts Forget the Who pudding and the rare Who roast beast, it's the "little" things — a chocolate here, a cashew there — that stack up the calories. An average woman needs about 2,000 calories a day, a man 2,500. 12/16/2009 6:12:40 PM
Sports doctor charged with selling unapproved drug Ninety-six vials of human growth hormone and various other drugs are at the centre of a controversy that threatens to engulf the career of a respected Toronto sports medicine doctor accused of selling an unapproved drug to patients. 12/16/2009 4:42:53 PM
Cancer treatment takes a giant step, scientists crack code The complete genetic codes of two human cancers have been mapped for the first time. The move could herald a medical revolution in which every tumour can be targeted with personalised therapy. It's the most significant milestone in cancer research in more than a decade. 12/16/2009 4:17:05 PM
B.C. must do more to stop domestic violence: officer The B.C. government needs to make fighting domestic violence a greater priority, a Victoria police officer said Tuesday after testifying at a coroner's inquest into the murder-suicide of five members of a Victoria-area family. Insp. Clark Russell said too many people are dying as a result of domestic violence. 12/16/2009 12:48:12 PM
Doctors find 50 needles inside boy A Brazilian toddler has up to 50 sewing needles inside him, which doctors suspect were deliberately inserted. The two-year-old boy was taken to hospital by his mother. X-rays revealed the needles, including one in his lung. A doctor said it was unlikely the boy had swallowed them. 12/16/2009 12:41:24 PM
Doctors missed woman's 17lb cyst A woman from Greater Manchester with a cyst which grew to the size of two newborn babies was told she had Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Janet Delaney's stomach was so swollen that people would ask her if she was pregnant and when her baby was due. 12/16/2009 6:10:51 AM
Surprise birth as athlete trains Chilean Olympic weightlifter Elizabeth Poblete has given birth to a baby boy during a training session, without having known she was pregnant. Ms Poblete, 22, who lives in Brazil, said she had felt unwell but had no idea she was expecting a baby. 12/16/2009 5:44:49 AM
Food hormone link to Alzheimer's High levels of a hormone that controls appetite appear to be linked to a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, US research suggests. The 12-year-study of 200 volunteers found those with the lowest levels of leptin were more likely to develop the disease. 12/16/2009 5:43:00 AM
Massive recall of H1N1 vaccines for babies and toddlers in U.S. Hundreds of thousands of swine flu shots for children have been recalled because tests indicate the vaccine doses lost some strength, government health officials said Tuesday. The shots, made by Sanofi Pasteur, were distributed across the country. 12/16/2009 5:31:20 AM
UBC researchers planning to study MS vein theory A medical centre in British Columbia says it wants to become the first in the country to test the controversial theory that multiple sclerosis patients have blocked veins, preventing proper blood flow from the brain. 12/16/2009 5:19:44 AM
Champagne can be good for you: study Champagne can be good for your heart, a new British study reveals. "Drinking around two glasses of Champagne can have beneficial effects on the way blood vessels function," similar to the benefits of red wine, reported Dr. Jeremy Spencer in the current British Journal of Nutrition. 12/15/2009 12:35:14 PM
Italian MS research brings hopeful patients to private Vancouver clinic A private clinic in Vancouver is being deluged by multiple sclerosis patients from across Canada and the U.S. who have heard about an Italian study that may revolutionize the way the disease is treated or possibly even cured. 12/15/2009 12:17:20 PM
Woodlands School abuse victim misses compensation cutoff by 10 days To the B.C. government, it doesn't matter that Bill McArthur was "beaten to a pudding on a regular basis" or locked outside naked at the age of six at Woodlands School — he will not get a cent of government compensation. He is among about 500 school survivors who will get nothing for their pain. 12/15/2009 9:08:50 AM
Sand safer for playground falls: study Children who fall off playground equipment and land on sand may be less likely to break an arm than if they land on wood chips. Safety specialists say arm fractures are the most frequent injury due to playground falls for kids aged five to nine, leading to emergency room visits or surgery. 12/15/2009 8:55:59 AM
Drinking cups of tea and coffee 'can prevent diabetes' Tea and coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a large body of evidence shows. And the protection may not be down to caffeine since decaf coffee has the greatest effect, say researchers in Archives of Internal Medicine. 12/15/2009 6:53:45 AM
Window blinds recalled in U.S. after 5 deaths More than 50 million Roman-style shades and roll-up blinds have been recalled in the U.S. after several deaths and near strangulations since 2006. The massive recall affects the whole window covering industry. 12/15/2009 6:32:44 AM
Seniors separate 'on a regular basis' to afford care Senior New Brunswick couples commonly get divorced or legally separated so they can afford nursing home care, says a seniors advocate. "It is happening, I would say, on a regular basis and I think the reason why we do not hear about it is I feel that people are afraid." 12/15/2009 5:48:32 AM
Summerland: Interior Health is incapable of investigating itself. A judge has awarded $10,500 to a former nurse at the Summerland care home after she sued for wrongful dismissal. Despite an RCMP officer clearing her of wrongdoing, a licensing officer working for IH decided she should be fired. 12/15/2009 5:27:01 AM
U.S.: 15,000 will die from CT scans done in 1 year Radiation from CT scans done in 2007 will cause 29,000 cancers and kill nearly 15,000 Americans. The findings add to mounting evidence that Americans are overexposed to radiation from diagnostic tests. A chest CT scan exposes the patient to more than 100 times the radiation dose of a chest X-ray. 12/14/2009 7:30:22 PM
Fat intake has little bearing on weight gain: Study People who want to maintain a healthy weight over time shouldn't obsess about their fat intake. The percentage of calories that a person got from fat, as opposed to protein or carbohydrates, had nothing to do with how much weight they gained in the coming years, the research team found. 12/14/2009 1:13:44 PM
High school students study career options High school students are getting out in the community to have a look at what they might do with their lives at a series of career days, not in their schools but in the real workplaces, with the people doing the work. Students recently traded in their classrooms for the education room at Penticton Regional Hospital. 12/14/2009 9:54:55 AM
Marijuana Mom and the Cannabis Kid The crop has been harvested, and Diane Irwin's secret technique paid off. "Every morning I would go out and talk to my girls," she said, "pray over them and ask them to provide good medicine." Her "girls" are marijuana plants destined for her son Jason's medical marijuana dispensary in Denver. 12/14/2009 8:55:35 AM
Effects of concussions follow athletes to later years: Research Canadian researchers have found the first evidence that athletes who suffer concussions show mental and physical declines more than 30 years later. It is estimated several hundred thousand North Americans experience mild to moderate concussions each year 12/14/2009 8:07:20 AM
Negative influence on game: A shot At Don Cherry With concern over hockey concussions mounting, a Toronto brain surgeon has singled out television personality Don Cherry for promoting an aggressive on-ice culture he believes is leading to more hits to the head. "I think he is a negative influence because he applauds aggressive hockey," Dr. Charles Tator said. 12/14/2009 8:02:15 AM
Osoyoos: Final Swine Flu shot clinic on Monday The final combined H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccination clinic in Osoyoos will take place at the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre at 100 Rancher Creek Rd. on Dec. 14 from 1 to 6 p.m. According to Interior Health, anyone who wants an H1N1 flu vaccination is now eligible for the shot 12/14/2009 6:31:46 AM
UK: More drivers using mobile phones since penalty introduced (Video) More drivers are using hand-held mobile phones than before tougher penalties were introduced two years ago, the Transport Research Laboratory has said. Safety campaigners argue hands-free mobiles are little better because most of the problems come from the concentration. 12/14/2009 5:01:24 AM
'Baby-faced' people live longer People blessed with youthful faces are more likely to live to a ripe old age than those who look more than their years, work shows. Danish scientists say appearance alone can predict survival, after they studied 387 pairs of twins. 12/14/2009 4:56:49 AM
Obama sees Senate healthcare passage by December 25 President Barack Obama said he expects the U.S. Senate to pass by the end of next week legislation to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, but the top Senate Republican scoffed on Sunday that Obama's Democrats were too divided to do so. 12/14/2009 4:33:06 AM
Healing powers of a good guitar Hari Sihvo, known as "the guitar guy" to many of his friends' children, is sitting in the living room of his comfortable house in Scarborough surrounded by stringed instruments. A 45-year-old executive with Molson Canada Inc., Sihvo is, like many of his generation, passionate about pop music. 12/13/2009 8:20:14 PM
Menopause, as brought to you by drug makers Millions of American women in the 1990s were told they could help their bodies ward off major illness by taking menopausal hormone drugs. Some medical associations said so. Many gynecologists and physicians said so. Respected medical journals said so, too. 12/13/2009 8:11:48 PM
Body clock link to heart disease Scientists have raised the possibility that cardiovascular disease is linked to disturbances in the body's 24-hour clock. The Japanese team found a genetic risk factor for a form of high blood pressure is influenced by 24-hour or circadian rhythms. Malfunctions in the body clock have been linked to many diseases. 12/13/2009 11:03:51 AM
Hockey coaches, trainers talk safety, pressure to play at concussion seminar Former NHL defenceman Jamie Heward says he was "bred to be a hockey player." "I've been playing hockey since I was five years old," says Heward. "It's what I do." That is until a series of concussions left Heward on the sidelines. 12/13/2009 10:40:42 AM
Too Much Drinking, Eating Tied to Breast Cancer Recurrence Overeating and drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol may be bad news for women with breast cancer. Drinking alcohol is already known to boost breast cancer risk, and a new study finds even moderate drinking may increase the odds of breast cancer recurrence. 12/13/2009 10:38:22 AM
Hospital suspends 6 in ignored patient probe Six University Medical Center employees have been suspended while the county investigates claims that a woman was ignored for so long in the emergency room that she went home and gave birth to a premature baby who later died. 12/12/2009 9:14:57 AM
Interior Health falls short of target in Swine Flu shots Interior Health is ending its H1N1 public mass vaccination clinics next week, with plenty of vaccine on hand and far short of its goal of inocculating two thirds of its 750,000 residents, making it more likely B.C. will experience a so-called third wave of the disease. 12/12/2009 5:47:56 AM
Summerland Care home nurse cleared An employee at the centre of an uproar over naked photos of seniors at a Summerland care home has been vindicated. Judge Jane Cartwright awarded Crystal Everson $10,500 for wrongful dismissal and condemned the seniors home and the licensing arm of Interior Health. 12/12/2009 5:21:04 AM
N.S. lab gets green light for cancer vaccine A small Halifax laboratory has received permission from the U.S. FDA to conduct human trials on a cancer vaccine. Immunovaccine will enter the first phase of human clinical trials. It aims to develop a "therapeutic cancer vaccine" for breast, ovarian and prostate cancers. 12/12/2009 4:58:59 AM
Using dentists as dope dealers Kenny Morrison soaked in life from his beachfront home. A top chef at a trendy L.A. restaurant, he served dinner to the Hollywood stars, including A-listers. But within a couple years, he lost it all. He got hooked on pain medication after some dental work. 12/11/2009 5:02:42 PM
Feeling blue? Look to hugs before religion A new Canadian study has found that people who get hugs regularly are more likely to report better mental health. A warm embrace, in fact, had a more significant connection to an uplifting frame of mind than attending church regularly. 12/11/2009 3:10:26 PM
H1N1 less lethal than feared: U.K. study The strain of swine flu virus currently circulating around the world is less deadly than previously thought, say British scientists who compared its effect to that of other pandemic viruses. The findings are similar to a U.S. study published on Monday. 12/11/2009 11:31:20 AM
Aging: Boomers will soon hit their stumbling prime Anne Spitzer looks surprisingly at home sitting in a wheelchair and flipping through a newspaper, despite the fact her real home – and her real life – is blocks away and may well be out of reach forever. It's been five weeks since the 80-year-old retired nurse fell in her downtown apartment. 12/11/2009 9:19:09 AM
Health bosses accused of flu-mongering Public health officials are misleading Canadians by continuing to characterize the H1N1 virus as a threat in the hopes of unloading millions of doses of unused vaccine, charges Ontario's former chief medical officer of health. They are trying to save face because of an expensive overreaction. 12/11/2009 7:34:14 AM
Scientist discovers new way to repair damaged nerves After she arrived in Canada from Jamaica, 18-year-old Patrice Smith repeated her final year of high school in hopes of winning a university scholarship. And discovery, announced Thursday, is of a new way to coax damaged nerves to repair themselves. 12/11/2009 5:58:16 AM
$86m hospital upgrade gains regional support A proposed $86-million ambulatory care expansion at Penticton Regional Hospital has gained local support, but provincial government approval could be a long way off. The Okanagan-Similkameen Regional Hospital District board has ranked the PRH project as its top priority. 12/11/2009 5:18:19 AM
CFIA issues warning over Heinz Mixed Cereal for babies The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Heinz Canada are warning the public that Heinz Mixed Cereal for babies should not be consumed. They say the product – Heinz Mixed Cereal, a Baby Cereal, Stage 2, From 6 Months in the 227 gram package – may contain elevated levels of Ochratoxin A and is being recalled. 12/11/2009 4:35:12 AM
Blood poisoning a top cause of patient deaths in hospitals More than 9,300 hospital patients died of sepsis – a form of blood poisoning caused by infections – last year in Canada. Moreover, the number of sepsis cases has increased and the mortality rate has held steady over the past five years. 12/10/2009 6:45:34 PM
Insurance Company Tricks: Internet users lured to oppose health bills Internet users looking for gift cards and other free merchandise are being steered to Web pages inviting them to send e-mails to Congress expressing their views on President Barack Obama’s push to reshape the country’s health system. 12/10/2009 5:59:32 PM
239 lbs. lighter, he’s ‘Biggest Loser’ of all time Like the previous seven seasons of “The Biggest Loser,” Tuesday’s finale ended with dramatic weight losses and one fit winner. But season 8 also had a few surprises, including a live marriage proposal and a new big-money challenge for one contestant. 12/10/2009 5:41:51 PM
Hitting the gym? The workout may go straight to your knees Last May, Phil Chilibeck found himself somewhere no fit, 41-year-old should be: on an operating-room table. Years of daily vigorous running had ground down his hip and dealt him a severe case of osteoarthritis. The fix? A gleaming sheath of metal to resurface his hipbone. 12/10/2009 10:53:39 AM
Let your kids play in the dirt, suggests study Parents who let their kids romp in the mud and get chummy with germs could be helping to protect them against maladies like heart disease later. "In the US we have this idea that we need to protect infants and children from microbes and pathogens at all possible costs." 12/10/2009 9:46:45 AM
Kaleden: Water improvements may carry a hefty price tag Changes to B.C.’s Drinking Water Protection Act in 2003 may have some hefty financial consequences for Kaleden’s Irrigation District. The Interior Health Authority has issued the decree that all surface water used in community water systems must be filtered. 12/10/2009 5:27:57 AM
When gluttony loves company The website and now book, This Is Why You're Fat, was always supposed to be a joke. TIWYF documents the heights/depths of gluttonous stunt cooking through crowd-sourced photos. Fans send in pics of grotesqueries with names such as "McNuggetini," "Porkgasm" and "Spamsicle." 12/9/2009 7:06:34 PM
Use of stomach drugs by seniors soars The number of seniors taking acid-reducing drugs to treat gastrointestinal woes has soared by 60 per cent over the past five years, newly released data show. More than one in five Canadians over the age of 65 were treated with proton pump inhibitors in 2007-08, up from one in eight in 2001-02. 12/9/2009 5:07:29 PM
Breast cancer survivors shouldn't shun soy foods In the past several years, soy foods have been showing up regularly on grocery store shelves. And it's not just tofu. Packages of soy nuts, burgers, drinks, cereals, yogurt and desserts as well as edamame have become mainstream grocery items. 12/9/2009 5:00:00 PM
Special Needs kids in BC classrooms is not a negative The inclusion of special-needs children in B.C. classrooms does not negatively affect the achievement of other students, according to a study released today. B.C.'s policy of inclusion sometimes arouses concern among parents that their children could be negatively affected. 12/9/2009 4:26:51 PM
Drinking rises faster in B.C. than rest of Canada Alcohol consumption has increased almost twice as much in British Columbia as it has in the rest of the country. British Columbians' alcohol consumption has risen 16 per cent since 1998. That's almost twice the nine per cent increase seen in the rest of Canada. 12/9/2009 3:54:43 PM
Coffee, Exercise Fight Prostate Cancer Having a few more cups of coffee and running that extra mile each day can reduce a man's risk of dying of prostate cancer, two studies indicate. And there was a clear relationship between the amount of coffee consumed and prostate cancer risk, Wilson said: "The more coffee you drank, the more effect we saw." 12/9/2009 1:01:14 PM
Smoking bans still rare: WHO Only about five per cent of the world's population was covered by smoking bans last year. Yet in 2008, only 5.4 per cent of the global population was protected by bans on smoking indoors in public places, up from 3.1 per cent in 2007, according to the report. 12/9/2009 12:16:06 PM
Big drop-off in swine flu deaths in Canada There were far fewer swine flu deaths across the country in the Public Health Agency of Canada's most recent reporting period, which ended Tuesday. For the five days ending Tuesday, six H1N1 deaths were reported in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, and Newfoundland/Labrador 12/9/2009 12:06:43 PM
Rethinking Green: Eat global, not local At the annual convention of the North American Farmers' Direct Marketing Association in Calgary a couple of years ago, organizers offered a seminar entitled "The New Classic: Creating an upscale urban farmers' market with down-home country Chutzpah." 12/9/2009 10:58:41 AM
South Okanagan: Don’t be fooled by flu Two more people in their 50s have died of swine flu in the Southern Interior as fewer people line up for vaccinations. Public health officials say two women with underlying conditions died last week, bringing the total number of H1N1 deaths in the Interior Health region to 11. 12/9/2009 6:15:41 AM
Antidepressants change personality People who take antidepressants such as Paxil often say they feel less stressed and more outgoing, lively, and confident. Now a new study suggests it's not just because they're less depressed. In fact, such drugs may alter two key personality traits linked to depression. 12/9/2009 5:59:40 AM
General Mills reducing sugar in kids' cereal General Mills — the maker of Lucky Charms, Trix and Cocoa Puffs — plans to reduce the amount of sugar in its cereals marketed to children. The move, announced Wednesday, comes as many food companies alter their products and face growing scrutiny. 12/9/2009 5:50:34 AM
TV chosen over longer life: Poll What would you refuse to give up even if it added five healthy years to your life? According to many Canadians, you can put television on that list — and don’t try to take away booze or red meat, either. The breakdown was more pronounced along gender lines. 12/9/2009 5:27:55 AM
Childhood cancer heart checks urged Children who battle and survive cancer run a higher risk of heart problems and must be closely screened, say experts. Aggressive cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy can harm the heart, multiplying the patient's death risk by seven, data shows. 12/9/2009 4:46:02 AM
Drinking coffee 'will not sober you up' when drunk Reaching for a mug of coffee may be the worst thing you can to do to try to sober up, a study suggests. Research on mice indicates the drink may make you feel that you are coming to your senses - but it is only an illusion. The study appears in Behavioural Neuroscience. 12/9/2009 4:44:48 AM
Pain relievers linked to more deaths: Study It's Canada's hidden drug problem; one that kills more people than heroin overdoses. Deaths as a result of taking narcotic pain relievers, also known as opioids, have nearly doubled in 14 years, says an Ontario-based study released Monday. 12/8/2009 3:49:16 PM
H1N1 vaccine clinics to close next week B.C.'s H1N1 vaccine clinics will close on Dec. 18. Medical Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall said Tuesday that people should take advantage of the clinics until then to get immunized against the swine flu. 12/8/2009 2:57:19 PM
Cancer From the Kitchen? What if breast cancer in the United States has less to do with insurance or mammograms and more to do with contaminants in our water or air -- or in certain plastic containers in our kitchens? What if the surge in asthma and childhood leukemia reflect, in part, the poisons we impose upon ourselves? 12/8/2009 10:33:39 AM
Colon cancer deaths could make big drop Colon cancer deaths could drop dramatically in the next decade because of better screening and treatment, according to an optimistic new prediction by top researchers. The battle against colorectal cancer has been a growing success story. 12/8/2009 8:46:10 AM
Health Canada advises parents to stop using hammock bed for babies Health Canada issued on Tuesday an urgent advisory to parents to immediately stop using Amby Baby Motion Beds after two infants in the United States recently suffocated in the hammock. The products "should be disassembled and disposed of in such a way that they cannot be used again." 12/8/2009 7:37:55 AM
Feds probing chemical levels in Zhu Zhu Pets The Consumer Product Safety Commission has opened an investigation into the popular Zhu Zhu toy because it may contain a higher than allowed level of antimony, a heavy metal which if ingested can make children sick, NBC News reported on Sunday. 12/7/2009 6:27:57 AM
DNA snafu turns some kids into nonstop eaters Some children get severely obese because they lack particular chunks of DNA, which kicks their hunger into overdrive, researchers report. The British researchers checked the DNA of 300 children who'd become very fat, on the order of 220 pounds by age 10. 12/7/2009 6:26:34 AM
Cost of diabetes could hit $17B a year by 2020 The rising rates of diabetes in Canada could cost the economy as much as $17 billion by the year 2020, according to a new report that calls on the federal government to do more to ease the economic burden. More than 20 people are diagnosed with the disease every hour of every day. 12/7/2009 4:34:28 AM
Dix slams B.C. government decision to cut back on MRIs More people will "suffer longer in pain" after a decision by Vancouver Coastal Health to cut back on the number of MRIs it plans to perform next year, according to NDP health critic Adrian Dix. "Wait times will effectively increase by one year." 12/7/2009 4:24:33 AM
Letter: Paramedic says service will suffer As a paramedic, I am absolutely appalled at how far the B.C. Ambulance Service will go to save a few bucks. To save just $50,000 a year in costs, BCAS has put in policy that would literally increase the response time in Osoyoos (as well as other stations) from 90 seconds to approximately 20 minutes. 12/5/2009 6:03:32 PM
Seniors fall into high-risk category It doesn’t have quite the recognizable danger of cancer or the flu, but falling is one of the main causes for elderly people ending up in the hospital. “Fractured hips are a huge disaster to older folks,” said Harald Simmerling, South Okanagan area fall prevention co-ordinator for Interior Health. 12/5/2009 5:36:36 PM
This test can spare women from chemo. But you can't get it here A molecular test that analyzed a piece of Coree Hanczyk's breast tumour told her something no oncologist in the Canadian health-care system could – she didn't require chemotherapy after all. And she paid for it out of pocket. So far, 130 Canadian women have paid for the test themselves. 12/5/2009 5:22:29 AM
Science and sport go head-to-head Neurosurgeon Charles Tator is leading a team of researchers at Toronto Western Hospital who are asking NHL and other competitive hockey players to donate their brains after their deaths for a new research project aimed at understanding the long-term effects of concussions. 12/5/2009 5:09:35 AM
Some Slim-Fast shakes recalled due to bacteria concerns Consumers are being urged to throw out Slim-Fast ready-to-drink meal replacement shakes due to fears the products could be contaminated with an illness-causing bacteria. Unilever Canada has issued a voluntary recall that covers "the whole line" of ready-to-drink shakes. 12/4/2009 6:10:06 PM
No time for 'terminal' in her busy life Samantha Mattersdorfer is living with more than 20 tumours in her lungs -- and a dire diagnosis. Yet the 19-year-old from Ladner, who is battling an aggressive form of bone cancer, intends to defy expectations armed with little more than a smile, courage and unyielding optimism. 12/4/2009 6:01:26 PM
Dutch scientists grow meat, see end to factory farming Scientists who have grown meat in a Dutch laboratory are hopeful that their breakthrough could eliminate the need for factory farming within a decade. 12/4/2009 5:24:27 PM
Fat to fit: Woman loses 200 pounds These days, Becky Griggs starts her morning well before the sun comes up, in time to meet her clients at the gym at 5:30. It's a big change from six years ago, when she was 352 pounds and, as she calls it, engaged in a "slow form of suicide." 12/4/2009 4:13:30 PM
Mobiles 'not causing brain risk' There has been no substantial change in the number of adult brain tumours since mobile phone usage sharply increased in the mid-1990s, Danish scientists say. The Danish Cancer Society looked at the rates of brain tumours among 20 to 79 year olds from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. 12/4/2009 5:20:40 AM
Rush to get H1N1 vaccination begins to subside The steady H1N1 immunization of people throughout the region has continued with relatively little hiccups since the vaccine was made available to everyone over six months old Nov. 20. The seasonal influenza vaccine has also been available at clinics to anyone who has been eligible in past years. 12/4/2009 4:31:05 AM
Sixth-graders' heart screenings shock researchers Heart screenings offered to sixth-graders at a Houston middle school revealed seven with undiagnosed heart conditions — two of which required surgery — and the results shocked researchers who want to see such tests offered at every campus. Those 94 students at Key Middle School were the first tested. 12/3/2009 3:21:46 PM
Smart phones give disabled help on the go One day, a new driver dropped him off on the opposite side of the street. This made it difficult for Mr. Raman to get to his home, because he is blind. He and his colleagues went to work on a software application that uses a smart phone's capabilities to help users figure out where they are. 12/3/2009 1:47:50 PM
H1N1 still killing B.C. people, two more in Interior Health Don’t give up on the H1N1 vaccination just yet. People are still dying, including two in the last week within the Interior Health Authority. While H1N1 activity is on the decline, the two deaths represent almost 25 per cent of the nine Interior deaths recorded since the pandemic began in April. 12/3/2009 9:42:22 AM
Interior Health pushes vaccination as H1N1 demand dwindles The lights went out just after the start of the public H1N1 vaccination clinic held yesterday at Prospera Place, forcing its cancellation, and public health officials at the Interior Health Authority better hope it’s not a metaphor for public interest. 12/3/2009 7:24:02 AM
All men watch porn, finds University academic When Simon Louis Lajeunesse launched his project with men in their 20s, he wanted to interview subjects who had never been exposed to pornography — porn virgins. But he couldn't find any. Lajeunesse suggested that pornography has been demonized and that its effects are negligible. 12/3/2009 6:03:46 AM
Goat's milk ice cream 'almost killed woman' A UK woman who almost died after having an allergic reaction to an ice cream she ate on holiday is having to learn how to walk and talk again. Rachel Devine, 24, went into anaphylactic shock and suffered heart failure minutes after eating the ice cream. 12/3/2009 5:32:36 AM
U.S. toy study finds toxic substances Seven hundred products geared toward children have tested positive for high levels of toxic substances, including lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury, a new U.S. study shows. The products tested include toys, clothing and jewelry. Many of them are inexpensive items made in China for sale in North America. 12/3/2009 5:14:02 AM
'Higher risk' of lung cancer from smoking first thing Smokers who light up on waking display higher levels of nicotine than those who wait, regardless of the number of cigarettes smoked, US research shows. Scientists measured smokers' levels of cotinine. Waiting until you had eaten breakfast reduced the amount of this chemical. 12/3/2009 5:05:39 AM
Prescription drug kiosks get OK in Ontario People in Ontario will soon be able to buy prescription drugs through an ATM-like self-serve machine now that Bill 179 has been passed. PCA Services of Oakville, Ont., plans to roll out hundreds of kiosks across the province in places like malls and grocery stores once regulations are in place 12/2/2009 3:03:54 PM
U.S. MS group calls for research into vein theory The call comes after CTV's W5 was the first to report on the vein condition discovered by Dr. Paolo Zamboni of Ferrara, Italy. Zamboni had conducted research that he says shows that over 90 per cent of MS patients have narrowed or blocked veins in their necks and chests that drain blood from the brain. 12/2/2009 12:38:16 PM
More family doctors needed: report Two medical groups say Canada should aim to ensure 95 per cent of people in every community have a family doctor by 2012. The College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Canadian Medical Association set that target in their final report on primary-care wait times. 12/2/2009 10:34:54 AM
Having two mothers may be key to a longer life Genes that are passed on by fathers may be shortening the lifespans of their offspring. Scientists have discovered that mice with two biological mothers but no father live about 30 per cent longer than usual, in an experiment that could have implications for understanding human ageing. 12/2/2009 6:37:44 AM
Agencies dragging feet on foreign-trained MDs: Kenney Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has singled out the Canadian medical profession as less willing than others to "play ball" to speed recognition of the credentials of foreign-trained professionals. Medical doctors are among six other professions that will be required to have a speedier processing system. 12/2/2009 4:31:58 AM
OkaSim: Dreaming of a new CT scanner With a price tag of over $1.5 million, raising money for a new CT scanner at Penticton Regional Hospital is the biggest fundraising campaign the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation has ever taken on. They’re hoping this year’s Tree of Dreams campaign, starting today, will push them over the top. 12/1/2009 5:55:06 AM
Are you raising a bratty kid? Okay, parents, here's a pop quiz. Say you're at the sandbox and your two-year-old bops another toddler on the head. You tell him not to. He does it again. Do you a) apologize to the kid's mom and explain that your son is teething/overstimulated/going through a tough developmental stage. 12/1/2009 5:23:32 AM
Few cases of suspected flu test positive Public health officials are warning the wave of H1N1 this fall is not nearly as widespread as suspected, leaving a significant number of Canadians who believe they have gained immunity still vulnerable to the virus. Even doctors aren't very good at telling the difference between H1N1 and the common cold. 12/1/2009 5:18:50 AM
Loneliness can be contagious, new study finds We’re used to hearing about people spreading colds and flu. But according to a new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, there’s another human condition that’s equally contagious: loneliness. “Loneliness spreads across time,” says John Cacioppo. 12/1/2009 5:08:47 AM
Young people more likely to flip their lids: Study Young people in their late teens and in their 20s are more likely to experience bouts of anger than older adults, according to research about the experience of anger, conducted by a sociologist at the University of Toronto. 11/30/2009 5:56:17 PM
Filipino nurses want credit for training "Our call is a reciprocity call where the Canadian government recognizes that the education and skills of Philippine-trained nurses is at par and they are allowed to work immediately," said Leah Diana of the Filipino Nurses Support Group. 11/30/2009 3:36:39 PM
Compulsive hoarders suddenly in the spotlight For years, no one on Crest Drive paid much attention to the little white house with pink trim. The front yard was overgrown with shrubs and three cars sat motionless in the driveway. Neighbors on the quiet street knew the owner, a retired psychologist named Carina DeOcampo, was an odd, private person. 11/30/2009 12:35:11 PM
Quest for firm glutes cost former Miss Argentina her life A 38-year-old former Miss Argentina, Solange Magnano, died over the weekend from complications resulting from cosmetic surgery, friends of the victim said Monday. "She only underwent the procedure because she thought it was no big deal," said Guillermo Azar. 11/30/2009 10:51:43 AM
Experts change HIV 'drug advice' The World Health Organization is changing its advice on HIV drugs, asking that they be given sooner and to breastfeeding mothers with the virus. Experts say the advice is based on the most up-to-date information available and will cut infection rates and save lives. 11/30/2009 6:10:02 AM
'Arthritis risk' for middle-aged exercise addicts Middle-aged men and women may be risking arthritis if they overdo their exercise regime. A US study of more than 200 people aged 45 to 55 and of "normal" weight found those doing the most exercise were the most likely to suffer knee damage. 11/30/2009 6:07:44 AM
Overweight? Blame the Internet If you really want to win the weight-loss battle, learn to strike a balance — not just on your plate, but also in how you spend your free time. A new study finds that people who spend more time in front of computers have a higher obesity risk, even if they think they get enough exercise. 11/29/2009 11:43:43 AM
Swedes hit on nail beds as cutting-edge cure-all The famously pain-resistant Vikings might have approved of the latest fad sweeping Sweden. Nail beds are becoming popular with health-conscious consumers convinced that lying on rubber pads embedded with sharp, plastic pins is good for them. 11/29/2009 11:25:31 AM
Flu clinics see steady crowds One week after the provincial government opened up H1N1 vaccination eligibility to anyone six months or older, immunization clinics across the Okanagan have continued to see steady crowds. As of Tuesday, =about 9,868 Pentictonites and over 88,000 people in the region had received H1N1 vaccine. 11/29/2009 5:30:12 AM
Staring at computer screens may be causing chronic eye ailments After a day at the office, Charlene Simchuk’s red eyes well up with tears. The Winnipeg financial analyst often has to explain to her co-workers that she has not been crying — something they assume, especially after she uses her eye drops. "By the end of the day, my eyes are so fried." 11/29/2009 4:26:04 AM
Flu clinics cancelled in Victoria and Duncan due to vaccine shortage Anyone on southern Vancouver Island hoping for an H1N1 flu shot will have to wait until next week. Vaccine supplies for the south Island have run out. The next vaccine delivery to Vancouver Island is Tuesday, meaning the next clinics in Greater Victoria and Duncan will be held Wednesday. 11/29/2009 4:23:09 AM
Tories Appointment of Pfizer exec to health funding body criticized Prominent bioethicists have expressed alarm at the recent appointment of a senior pharmaceutical executive to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the government's funding arm for medical research. "This person is in an intractable conflict of interest — on the one hand." 11/28/2009 7:18:19 PM
World's Strongest Beer: How about 32% alcohol? A Scottish brewery is courting controversy by releasing a beer that is 32 per cent alcohol — nearly as strong as whisky. Fraserburgh's BrewDog calls its creation Tactical Nuclear Penguin. Only 500 bottles will be sold. BrewDog - www.brewdog.com - is selling it online for $69 per bottle.
11/27/2009 7:59:54 AM
Paramedic questions change to ambulance service An Osoyoos paramedic has concerns about a change in how they operate their station that he says could have serious consequences for the community. Mark Jeffery said the two ambulance vehicles that are at the station will be switching priorities. 11/27/2009 5:22:00 AM
Canada's Doctor supply outpaces population The number of doctors practising in Canada is increasing at a faster rate than the population, according to a new report. Between 2004 and 2008, the number of active physicians in Canada grew from 60,612 to 65,440, an eight-per-cent increase across the country. 11/27/2009 4:43:49 AM
Liberal accuses federal Conservatives of demonizing abortion Winnipeg Liberal MP Anita Neville accused the federal Conservatives Wednesday of vilifying women after a Saskatchewan MP linked abortions to breast cancer. Neville was one of several opposition MPs denouncing the comments made by Conservative Maurice Vellacott. 11/26/2009 7:03:33 AM
Diabetes may soon add $1-billion to B.C. health tab Rates of diabetes among British Columbians have more than doubled over the last decade, a trend that if left unchecked is expected to drive up health-care costs by more than $1-billion by 2014. Last year, nearly 285,000 B.C. residents were living with diabetes, up from 133,000 in 1998. 11/26/2009 6:13:31 AM
Embracing the future of fitness Today, people run with a phone that not only plays music and takes calls, it maps your run while tracking speed, mileage, pace and calories burned. And runners aren't the only exercisers being courted by technology: There are smartphone apps for cyclists, gym junkies, triathletes and swimmers. 11/26/2009 6:03:25 AM
Food waste has environmental impact: scientists Americans are wasting food at a rate of 1,400 calories per person per day which has implications for obesity and climate change, U.S. researchers say. The U.S. National Institutes of Health found that food waste in the U.S. has increased by about 50 per cent since 1974. 11/26/2009 5:53:12 AM
Granola bars recalled over salmonella fears The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued a warning Thursday over a granola bar distributed through a popular dieting program. The CFIA said the Canadian version of Nutrisystem brand peanut butter granola bars could contain salmonella bacteria. 11/26/2009 4:50:10 AM
Crib recall: As usual, no help for Health Canada Health Canada won't say whether this week's crib recall, the largest in Canadian history, complied with strict rules laid down last year to speed up investigations into potentially deadly cribs. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission informed Health Canada of multiple incidents first. 11/25/2009 11:34:02 AM
Kelowna: Sheriffs to undergo pot training Courthouse sheriffs will soon get a lesson on medicinal marijuana after a Kelowna pot smoker was detained for two hours. Don Pio, 35, has a Health Canada card authorizing him to light up when he needs to. Sheriffs detained him Friday after he walked into the courthouse smelling of weed. 11/25/2009 6:31:57 AM
Cup of mint tea 'can kill pain' A cup of Brazilian mint tea has pain relieving qualities to match those of commercially available analgesics, a study suggests. Hyptis crenata has been prescribed by Brazilian healers for millennia to treat ailments from headaches and stomach pain to fever and flu. 11/25/2009 5:16:24 AM
Crib anxiety jams Stork Craft website, phones Parents are reporting they are unable to get through to Stork Craft Manufacturing, the B.C.-based company involved in the largest-ever North American recall of baby cribs after four infant deaths. Stork Craft's phone lines have been busy, and its website has been unresponsive. 11/25/2009 4:49:14 AM
Severe reactions to swine flu vaccine in Canada: WHO An unusual number of severe allergic reactions to swine flu vaccinations have been recorded in Canada, where a batch of the vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline has been recalled, the WHO said on Tuesday. “The Canadian authorities are conducting the appropriate investigations on the vaccines.” 11/24/2009 5:54:42 PM
'Comfort food' relieves stress: Australian study A high-fat, high-sugar diet could have the same effect on brain chemistry as mood-altering drugs. "We asked the question, if you're stressed early in life and then you're given yummy food to eat does that reduce your behavioural deficit, and basically that's what we found," said researcher Margaret Morris. 11/24/2009 5:52:38 PM
Four more H1N1 deaths in B.C. Four people died and 109 new severe cases of H1N1 were lab-confirmed in B.C. in the past week, bringing the total number of deaths to 34 since the pandemic began last spring. One in Interior Health, one in Vancouver Coastal Health, one in Northern Health and one on Vancouver Island. 11/24/2009 3:16:16 PM
Buying crack or crystal meth takes just minutes in Vancouver Illicit stimulant drugs are so cheap and abundant in Vancouver that a majority of users say they can score crack or crystal meth within minutes, suggests a report by an independent health group. The authors conclude that focussing on law enforcement isn't working to combat the problem. 11/24/2009 3:14:48 PM
Care for seniors eroding in B.C., critics say A labour disruption that almost saw the elimination of 200 workers at three long-term care facilities on B.C.'s south coast is not isolated. CTV News has learned of at least one more facility that is in the midst of a labour disruption. 11/24/2009 7:03:34 AM
Shame Gordo: B.C. leads Canada in child poverty for sixth year For the sixth year in a row, British Columbia has the highest child poverty rate in Canada. Figures from the 2009 Child Poverty Report Card shows 18.8 per cent of children in the province lived in poverty in 2007. The Canadian average for the same year was 15 per cent. 11/24/2009 6:51:45 AM
Debunking our 'fetish of the fresh' So you're grocery shopping in Halifax, waffling between buying fresh Atlantic salmon or frozen Alaskan sockeye. You choose the fresh filets because buying local adds up to a bigger environmental and sustainable bang for your buck, right? Well, maybe not. 11/24/2009 6:21:11 AM
China executes 2 for role in tainted milk powder scandal China executed a dairy farmer and a milk salesman Tuesday, the only two people sentenced to death in a scheme to water down infant formula with an industrial chemical that left at least six children dead and sickened more than 300,000. 11/24/2009 6:00:07 AM
One in Four Teen Girls Have STDs As many as one in four U.S. teenage girls have had a sexually transmitted disease (STD), many infected soon after their first sexual encounter, a new government report shows. "The high burden of STDs among teen girls reminds us that we can't ignore this," said study author Dr. Sami L. Gottlieb. 11/24/2009 5:46:50 AM
Vioxx Problems Known Years Before Recall Problems with the popular arthritis drug Vioxx, including increased risk for heart attack, stroke and death, were known for years before the drug's voluntary withdrawal from the market in 2004. Dangerous side effects were evident in 2000, a year after the drug was put on sale, 11/24/2009 5:45:27 AM
Mistletoe kisses adapted for H1N1 It's more hygienic to exchange kisses on the cheek than to shake hands, so the swine flu pandemic should not make people afraid of kissing under the mistletoe this holiday season, Britain's authority on etiquette says. 11/24/2009 5:37:14 AM
Housing first for mentally ill homeless A new research project designed to study the link between mental health and homelessness is giving more than 1,300 people across Canada a chance to get something many might not have thought possible: a roof over their head. 11/24/2009 5:34:08 AM
Kelowna: Sheriff's hassle medical marijuana smoker Don Pio, 35, says he has a medical condition that requires him to smoke pot every 40 minutes or so. He had marijuana on his breath when he followed his wife into Kelowna Law Courts on Friday – an odour that landed him in handcuffs on the floor of a sheriff‘s van and later in a jail cell. 11/24/2009 5:31:39 AM
MS group calls for research into 'potentially paradigm shifting' theory A new theory that multiple sclerosis is a vascular disease that could be treated with simple surgery is so “exciting” and “potentially paradigm shifting” that the MS Society of Canada is calling on scientists to research it thoroughly and promising to back their work with significant research dollars. 11/23/2009 8:56:08 PM
New olive planting method prompts Calif. oil boom An oil boom is underway in the state's agricultural heartland, as evolving tastes and a trend toward healthy fare have transformed a profession as old as civilization: olive production for the extra virgin market. This year California's olive oil production will top 1 million gallons for the first time. 11/23/2009 7:21:54 PM
Safe Kids Canada asks public to support ski helmets Safe Kids Canada is asking the public for their virtual votes in favour of the use of helmets on the slopes. An online petition launched on the group's website Friday is aimed at showing support for the "Vancouver Charter on Skiing Safety." 11/23/2009 3:56:47 PM
Bathhurst, N.B.: Winter tires lesson lost already? Have you ever looked at the tires on your child's school minibus? I haven't either. Three New Brunswick women have and they didn't like what they saw, and they are very, very angry. And so am I. They all lost sons in the tragic crash of a 15-passenger school van. 11/23/2009 3:50:55 PM
Man in ‘coma’ heard everything for 23 years For 23 torturous years, Rom Houben says he lay trapped in his paralyzed body, aware of what was going on around him but unable to tell anyone or even cry out. The car-crash victim had been diagnosed as being in a vegetative state but appears to have been conscious the whole time. 11/23/2009 3:47:11 PM
Drop-side cribs to be banned worldwide Drop-side cribs will no longer be sold in Canada and elsewhere now that the world's standards organization has come down against them in wake of multiple baby deaths. The new safety standards come as parents brace for a massive recall of drop-side cribs, to be announced Tuesday. 11/23/2009 2:27:29 PM
Clinic with two doors, a symbol of two-tier care In America, you get what you pay for. Those who pay more get better service. That's the way it is in restaurants, and in health care, too. But imagine a restaurant with one kitchen, one chef, but two doors and two price lists. That's the model of health care that some doctors are practicing. 11/23/2009 7:44:29 AM
Britain: Abused by their own children Beaten and abused, but what if the bully is your own child? Parents are regularly being threatened, abused, even beaten up by their own children, says a UK parental guidance charity. Many have reached the point where they are afraid to be left alone in the house with them. 11/23/2009 5:45:05 AM
Dirt 'can be good for children' Children should be allowed to get dirty, according to scientists who have found being too clean can impair the skin's ability to heal. Normal bacteria living on the skin trigger a pathway that helps prevent inflammation when we get hurt, the US team discovered. 11/23/2009 5:42:19 AM
Kamloops: NDP's Dix asks for data on leak A pathologist at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops mistakenly posted private medical information, including the Care Card numbers and phone numbers for 77 people in the Interior, on an IH website that was visible to the public from July to October. 11/23/2009 5:40:07 AM
Teens love to be miserable: Study Parents who've ever wondered how a teen with an iPhone in one hand and the world in the other can be so miserable now have their answer: adolescents, sometimes, intentionally seek to feel unhappy. By contrast, people over 18 are more often pleasure-seekers. 11/23/2009 5:02:50 AM
Penticton: Swine Flu virus a really nasty bug A Penticton woman is struggling with the H1N1 flu that has been plaguing her for about three weeks. In early November, Donna Courneya came down with a touch of the flu. When the symptoms receded, she assumed she was clear, but, three days later, symptoms resurfaced with greater intensity. 11/22/2009 4:39:52 AM
Bullying is a public health issue: researcher Bullying should be considered a public health problem and governments should adopt national strategies to deal with it, says a Canadian psychology professor who led a study of bullying in 40 countries. It found that countries with established anti-bullying campaigns had the lowest bullying rates. 11/21/2009 5:45:09 AM
Trade show pitches surgical passages to India Exhibitors at a Toronto trade fair are hoping to add surgery to the list of reasons Canadians travel. At the convention centre in downtown Toronto on Friday, 20 of India's biggest private hospitals were pitching everything from spinal surgery to hip and knee replacements to facelifts. 11/21/2009 5:42:50 AM
Movie-house popcorn a monster disguised as friendly, study finds Nutritional analysis of popcorn servings at some of America's biggest cinema chains has found mind-boggling calorie counts that may surprise consumers who think of the snack as a relatively healthy treat. 11/21/2009 5:37:16 AM
Ambulance union to boycott inquiry The appointment of Chris Trumpy "is nothing short of a complete sham," said B.J. Chute, spokesman for CUPE 873, Ambulance Paramedics. "This is going to do nothing to fix what's wrong with the ambulance service." Most paramedics in B.C. work part-time, since it can take years to get a full-time job. 11/21/2009 5:00:51 AM
Real hope with new treatment for MS, Multiple Sclerosis Elena Ravalli was a seemingly healthy 37-year-old when she began to experience strange attacks of vertigo, numbness, temporary vision loss and crushing fatigue. They were classic signs of multiple sclerosis, a potentially debilitating neurological disease. 11/21/2009 4:41:55 AM
YouTube introduces automatic captions for deaf viewers YouTube's parent company Google has announced on its blog that automatic captions are to begin to roll out across the site. The machine-generated captions will initially be generated in English. At first they will only be found on 13 channels. The software engineer behind the technology is deaf. 11/20/2009 7:20:29 PM
Eat and drink your way to a healthy colon? Eating fruits and vegetables, and drinking tea and red wine may offer overweight men and normal weight women some protection from colon and rectal cancers, hint study findings from the Netherlands. Plant-based foods contain flavonoids, compounds thought to interfere with cancer-causing processes. 11/20/2009 6:26:06 PM
3,400-year-old epidemic still plagues humans today: study AAbout 3,400 years ago, a mysterious plague is believed to have spread across Europe, killing vast numbers of people. No written records of the unknown disease survive today. A small cluster of genes protected part of early Europe's population against a disease that must have been horrific. 11/20/2009 4:09:52 PM
Low turnouts lead to H1N1 vaccine availability for everyone in B.C. The H1N1 swine flu vaccine is now available to every British Columbian. Dr. Perry Kendall said the move to broaden vaccine eligibility as of Friday comes after a week of low turnouts at immunization clinics. "I frankly expected lineups and crowds," said Kendall. 11/20/2009 8:18:17 AM
Canadian health-care spending to top $180B Health-care spending in Canada is expected to reach $183.1 billion this year, up more than five per cent from last year. Health ministries are about midway through the first ministers' 10-year plan to strengthen health care signed in 2004, so money committed then is still going through the system. 11/20/2009 7:37:41 AM
Fewer teens drinking, but 1 in 4 now bingeing, survey says Fewer Ontario teenagers are drinking alcohol today than they did a decade ago, but binge drinking and use of cannabis and prescription drugs hasn't recently declined, a new survey from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has found. 11/20/2009 5:55:54 AM
Canadians want salt, food makers tell MPs Canadians are to blame for the excessive sodium in everything from frozen dinners to breakfast cereal, according to major food manufacturers under increasing political pressure to cut salt in their products. “Consumers will simply not compromise on taste,” Catherine O'Brien, of Nestlé Canada Inc., told MPs. 11/20/2009 5:54:56 AM
Avoid online pharmacies, cops warn Canadians who buy prescription drugs and health supplements from online pharmacies may think they’re saving money, but they’re probably not getting what they paid for. They may even be risking their health. 11/20/2009 5:23:16 AM
Morphine may accelerate cancer growth, research suggests Evidence is mounting that morphine, commonly used to manage pain, may accelerate cancer growth, but a newly-approved drug that blocks its side effects could also keep tumours from spreading. They said the drug Relistor appeared to reverse some of the tumour-causing effects. 11/20/2009 5:02:32 AM
Batch of H1N1 vaccine recalled after bad reactions More than 100,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine are being withdrawn across the country, after Manitoba health officials announced Thursday they'd noticed a higher-than-usual number of allergic reactions from one batch. 11/20/2009 4:50:15 AM
Problems plague U.S. swine flu vaccination program When the nation's swine flu vaccination program began in early October, health officials predicted it was going to be "messy." They were right. The program has been plagued with problems and information gaps. 11/19/2009 4:54:51 PM
All of a sudden: H1N1 vaccine available to everyone in B.C., starting tomorrow All British Columbians who need and want to be immunized against the H1N1 flu virus will now be eligible to receive the vaccine starting tomorrow, the B.C. government announced today. B.C. expects to receive an additional 258,000 doses of vaccine today. 11/19/2009 4:06:41 PM
Alcohol 'protects men's hearts' Drinking alcohol every day cuts the risk of heart disease in men by more than a third, a major study suggests. The Spanish research involving more than 15,500 men and 26,000 women found large quantities of alcohol could be even more beneficial for men. Female drinkers did not benefit to the same extent. 11/19/2009 12:13:55 PM
RCMP warn of fake drugs sold online RCMP are cautioning consumers about online ads offering swine flu treatments and cheap drugs, saying many of the products are phoney and could be dangerous to your health. Mounties say organized crime is believed to behind many of the false products. 11/19/2009 11:58:19 AM
Health experts say extraordinary measures against swine flu -- most notably quarantines imposed by China, where entire planeloads of passengers were isolated if one traveler had symptoms -- have failed to contain the disease. China's Health Minister Chen Zhu defended his country's aggressive quarantine policy. 11/19/2009 4:36:30 AM
'Viagra for women' stumbled upon by researchers A drug that failed to fight the blues could be the female Viagra. Women who took the drug flibanserin when it was being tested as an anti-depressant said it didn’t help them beat the glums, but did give them "an increase in libido that they liked," said John Thorp. 11/18/2009 7:47:57 PM
Folic acid may increase cancer risk, study shows More questions are being raised about the safety of folic acid supplementation. Researchers in Norway found that heart-disease patients treated with a combination of folic acid and vitamin B12 had an increased risk of cancer and death. 11/18/2009 7:18:48 PM
Flu shot more widely available in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta Anyone living in Ontario or Winnipeg who wants the H1N1 flu shot will be able to get it starting Thursday, public health officials have announced. Priority group lists have been eliminated as officials say they are confident there is ample vaccine on hand. (Ed: BC people told to wait 2 more weeks.) 11/18/2009 5:55:45 PM
Tiny chip developed to diagnose dozens of diseases Researchers have demonstrated a tiny chip based on silicon that could be used to diagnose dozens of diseases. A tiny drop of blood is drawn through the chip, where disease markers are caught and show up under light. 11/18/2009 4:26:40 PM
Birth defects caused by medications avoidable: study A disturbing number of pregnant women are still taking medications that are known to be dangerous to their unborn babies, new research reveals. The study found that more than six per cent of pregnant Quebecers in the study took prescription medications that are known to increase the risk for birth defects. 11/18/2009 3:57:51 PM
Penticton: Training delivers life-saving skills There is still room left to sign up for St. John Ambulance’s free CPR training day, this Saturday at the Convention Centre. Standard adult-CPR courses will begin at 8 a.m., 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., while a course that includes adult, child and infant-CPR will begin at 12:30 p.m 11/18/2009 3:38:29 PM
Health advocacy group find excessive lead levels in Barbie, Disney toys Children's toys carrying the Barbie and Disney logos have turned up with high levels of lead in them, according to a California-based advocacy group - a finding that may give consumers pause as they shop for the holiday season. 11/18/2009 11:59:52 AM
Ford, Subaru, VW win top safety picks Ford, Subaru and Volkswagen sit atop the U.S. insurance industry's annual list of the safest new vehicles. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded its "top safety pick" on Wednesday to 19 passenger cars and eight sport utility vehicles for the 2010 model year. 11/18/2009 10:34:38 AM
High income translates into longer life: Study The highest-earning Canadians can look forward to 10 more years of full health. The study also related income to conventional life expectancy, finding that highest-earning Canadian men can expect to live more than 7.4 years longer, while the richest women can look forward to 4.5 years more. 11/18/2009 9:03:10 AM
Shots on horizon for Alzheimer's, AIDS, herpes Malaria. Tuberculosis. Alzheimer's disease. AIDS. Pandemic flu. Genital herpes. Urinary tract infections. Grass allergies. Traveler's diarrhea. You name it, the pharmaceutical industry is working on a vaccine to prevent it. Many could be on the market in five years or less. 11/18/2009 5:59:39 AM
Patient unwillingly discharged suffers stroke A Winnipeg man's ordeal after undergoing brain surgery is raising questions about discharge policies for patients who undergo major operations. Monty Vann, 60, had a brain tumour surgically removed. After less than two days of recuperating, the hospital issued a discharge order. 11/18/2009 5:18:06 AM
Osoyoos to host Swine Flu clinic on Friday More H1N1 vaccine has arrived, and Interior Health is resuming its mass vaccination clinics. “The eligibility criteria has expanded to include all healthcare workers, first responders, children and teens five to 18 years inclusive, and seniors with chronic health conditions,” 11/18/2009 5:03:21 AM
B.C. sees spike in severe reactions to flu shot As Canadian health officials assured the public that the pandemic H1N1 vaccine is as safe as the seasonal flu shot, at least one province is reporting almost double the rate of severe allergic reactions. British Columbia Centre for Disease Control said it is probing why. 11/17/2009 6:59:48 PM
Penticton Flu clinic attracts a heavy turnout It almost was as if a big-name rock band was blowing through town not just a wicked wind, as a line snaked around the Penticton Health Centre on Monday. “Except you don’t get tickets to a good show, just a shot,” said Judy Scott, who lined up with her niece and nephew. 11/17/2009 6:27:54 PM
Feds to break promise of H1N1 shot for every Canadian by Christmas If every Canadian heeds the advice of public health officials to get the H1N1 shot, there will not be enough vaccine available by Christmas as the federal government has been promising. Dr. David Butler-Jones and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq have consistently said there will be enough. 11/17/2009 2:21:50 PM
Better not cough: Santas lobby for H1N1 shots Forget cookies and milk. Santa wants the swine flu vaccine. Many U.S. Santas want to be given priority for the vaccine. Swine flu has become such a concern that the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas featured a seminar on the illness at a recent conference. 11/17/2009 2:14:22 PM
Listeria fears prompt second B.C. salmon recall The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) warned Monday two smoked salmon products sold in B.C. might be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Vancouver-based Classic Smokehouse Inc. is voluntarily recalling the products. 11/17/2009 1:17:00 PM
School absenteeism is H1N1's canary in the coal mine Absenteeism in schools is one of the indicators the Interior Health Authority uses as a barometer of influenza activity and if recent numbers in the Central Okanagan School District hold true, then the H1N1 pandemic seems to be declining. 11/17/2009 10:08:46 AM
Twins joined at head successfully separated A team of 16 surgeons and nurses successfully concluded 25 hours of delicate surgery Tuesday to separate twin Bangladeshi girls who had been joined at their heads, sharing blood vessels and brain tissue. It is too early to know whether the two-year-old girls suffered any brain damage. 11/17/2009 5:13:20 AM
Controversy over New advice: Wait until 50 for mammograms Most women should wait until age 50 to get mammograms and then have one every two years, a government task force said Monday in a major reversal that conflicts with the American Cancer Society's long-standing recommendation of annual screening starting at 40. 11/16/2009 6:48:02 PM
Opium poppy-derived 'doda' drug making inroads in Alberta It's a close cousin to opium — a highly addictive brew made from the dried seeds and husks of the opium poppy that produces a sustained feeling of bliss. It's called doda — a "new trend in opium consumption," according to the RCMP — and it's got police and politicians very worried. 11/16/2009 6:42:49 PM
General Public: Want a Swine Flu shot, wait 3 more weeks The general public in B.C. will have to wait up to 3 more weeks before being eligible for the swine flu shot. One reader commented: "I guess I won't be getting a flu shot, by the time it is my turn I will either have died from swine flu or old age! Makes me wish I was a member of the Calgary Flames!" 11/16/2009 4:38:28 PM
Health Canada orders recall of baby teethers Two types of baby teethers were recalled Monday after testing by Health Canada found that they may be contaminated with bacteria that can cause infections. The recall affects two liquid-filled teethers by Natursutten, sold in the shape of a blue fish and a yellow apple 11/16/2009 3:05:15 PM
N.B.: Cancer rates linked to industrial activity Several New Brunswick communities that have a history of industrial activity or environmental contamination have high overall rates of cancer, according to a study. The environmental group's two-year study released Monday analyzed how prevalent particular types of cancer were in 14 communities. 11/16/2009 11:32:32 AM
Opinion: Let's face reality on alcohol use From Sooke to London to Victoria, our confused and destructive attitudes toward drugs and alcohol have been on display of late. In Sooke, a Councillor urged the RCMP detachment to be more relaxed about enforcing laws against drinking in public. He was concerned that officers had seized beer from hockey players. 11/16/2009 9:25:52 AM
Greedy: US Drug firms raise prices ahead of Health reform Even as drug makers promise to support Washington’s health care overhaul by shaving $8 billion a year off the nation’s drug costs after the legislation takes effect, the industry has been raising its prices at the fastest rate in years. 11/16/2009 8:11:31 AM
Refused shifts by paramedics sparks marathon labour-relations talks More paramedics showed up for work in the Lower Mainland on Sunday than on Saturday after the union and management spent a day wrangling before the B.C. Labour Relations Board. CUPE B.C. president Barry O’Neill said workers probably aren’t showing up because they’re sick or exhausted because of long hours of overtime. 11/16/2009 7:58:39 AM
Next wave of flu clinics on this week Combined H1N1 and seasonal flu shot clinics are set for Penticton on Nov. 16 from 3 to 8 p.m. and Nov. 21 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Penticton Health Centre Room 138. Summerland is scheduled for Nov. 19 from 3 to 8 p.m. at the St. John Lutheran Church. 11/16/2009 5:54:26 AM
Paramedics fight with BC Government is far from over Fewer ambulances are responding to Okanagan emergencies, but residents should still dial 911, say paramedics. B.C. Ambulance officials urged residents across B.C. to call 911 only in life-threatening situations. Paramedic's spokesman B.J. Chute says the press release is a lie. 11/16/2009 4:57:38 AM
Toxins in plastic 'feminize boys' Chemicals in plastics alter the brains of baby boys making them "more feminine", say US researchers. Males exposed to high doses in the womb went on to be less likely to play with boys' toys like cars or to join in rough and tumble games, they found. 11/16/2009 4:36:02 AM
The lowdown on the Acai berry craze There's little doubt that açai offers nutritional benefits, as almost every fruit does. What is in question is its rep as a purple powerhouse that makes all other produce look like just so many still-life props. 11/15/2009 7:07:31 PM
Niacin shrinks artery plaque; Merck's Zetia does not and may carry risks A new study raises fresh concerns about Zetia and its cousin, Vytorin - drugs that are still taken by millions of people to lower cholesterol. In the study, Zetia failed to shrink buildups in artery walls while a rival drug, Niaspan, generically known as niacin, did so significantly. (Niacin is vitamin B3). 11/15/2009 6:01:07 PM
Study says post-traumatic stress disorder being over-diagnosed A new study suggests post-traumatic stress disorder is being over-diagnosed in Canada and the western world - a potentially costly situation. It flies in the face of popular opinion as more and more soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan struggle to re-integrate. 11/15/2009 5:53:02 PM
Long toes may give sprinters more speed Research on sprinters suggests that runners with long toes and short heel bones could have an advantage over other athletes. They used these images to compare the subjects' toe lengths and examined how the Achilles tendon at the back of the heel slides during ankle motion. 11/15/2009 5:48:50 PM
Hollywood's dirty little secret One of the most health conscious cities south of the border has a dirty little secret. Without exaggeration, the majority of yoga-stretching, wheat-grass drinking, vegan-eating movie stars SMOKE CIGARETTES. "I witnessed first-hand stars smoking like chimneys." 11/15/2009 5:25:17 PM
Seven new technologies to help aging drivers Senior drivers get a bad rap. They're thought of as slow, dangerous traffic cloggers who don't look where they're going and back into things in parking lots. In fact, statistics show drivers over the age of 55 are some of the safest on the road. 11/15/2009 4:50:53 PM
Hundreds of H1N1 doses thrown out due to shelf life Some health authorities across the country have tossed out hundreds of doses of the swine flu vaccine because of miscalculations over how many of the time-sensitive dosages are needed at community clinics. 11/15/2009 4:49:26 PM
Mutant genes 'key to long life' There is a clear link between living to 100 and inheriting a hyperactive version of an enzyme that prevents cells from ageing, researchers say. Scientists from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the US say centenarian Ashkenazi Jews have this mutant gene. 11/15/2009 5:20:17 AM
More eligible for swine flu vaccine As of Tuesday, the virus had claimed three lives and made 130 seriously ill in the Southern Interior. On Friday, three infected adults were breathing through ventilators in intensive care at Kelowna General Hospital, said Nancy Serwo, the hospital‘s director of health services. 11/15/2009 4:52:49 AM
Swne Flu vaccine arrived too late says Ontario Health Officer The Public Health Agency of Canada has made a "mess" of the H1N1 vaccination campaign and proceeding with it should be up for debate says Dr. Richard Schabas. "If we're immunizing people now essentially you're barring the barn door after the horse is well out the farm gate." 11/14/2009 11:55:06 AM
Parents could be fined for allowing alcohol at teen parties PARENTS could be slapped with $6000 on-the-spot fines for allowing alcohol at teenage parties under a radical reform of drinking laws. The parents of secondary students nationwide will tomorrow receive a letter from the Australian Drug Foundation warning of a binge-drinking epidemic. 11/14/2009 11:03:35 AM
The best window on overall health? Your mouth Cavities, gum disease, abscessed teeth — everyone knows a dentist is looking for these at your checkup. What most people don’t know is that the dentist is also looking for the connections these things may have to your overall health. 11/14/2009 7:00:41 AM
Hooked: Canada's painkiller problem Janey Nagle wasn't looking for kicks when she began courting a drug habit. The Percocets her doctor prescribed were the only thing that could take away the excruciating pain that lingered a decade after a car accident threw her into a windshield with such force that her face left an imprint in the glass. 11/14/2009 6:29:09 AM
Muscle strength may reduce risk of Alzheimer's: study Older people with stronger muscles are at reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The greater a person's muscle strength, the lower their likelihood of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The same was true for the loss of mental function that often precedes full-blown Alzheimer's. 11/14/2009 6:08:57 AM
B.C. Ambulance warns of delays, trouble continues The B.C. Ambulance Service urged residents of the Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland not to call 911 Friday evening. Only 2 ambulances were available after workers booked off. (Editor: No surprise after BC Liberals stopped a bargaining vote and forced ambulance staff back to work.) 11/14/2009 5:16:09 AM
Canada finally recalls stroller linked to amputations Facing public pressure, Health Canada announced the recall Friday of a popular brand of strollers linked to a dozen reports of fingertip amputations in the United States. The department also revealed it has received one report of a Canadian child lacerated by a Maclaren stroller. 11/13/2009 6:11:38 PM
Auction of H1N1 flu vaccine was a hoax Victoria police say a man has turned himself in and admitted that his online auction for a vial of swine flu vaccine was a hoax. The Vancouver Island Health Authority filed a complaint after a person claiming to be a nurse posted the ad on the website UsedVictoria. 11/13/2009 5:04:39 PM
The secret life of psychiatrists, they may be nuts As the world pored over the ashes of the massacre at Fort Hood this week, a number of disturbing new questions emerged about the character of Major Nidal Hasan, the U.S. army psychiatrist accused of perpetrating one of the worst cases of military fratricide in American history. 11/13/2009 4:46:19 PM
Breast 'regrowth' trial planned Researchers in Australia plan to test a medical "scaffold" designed to stimulate natural breast tissue to regrow following surgery. If this is successful, they hope to develop it into a breast reconstruction technique that avoids using silicone. 11/13/2009 4:30:12 PM
No sick Canucks allowed on team flights The Vancouver Canucks have confirmed that players sick with the flu or other illnesses are banned from the team's chartered aircraft, but they say the players fly home, or on to the next city, by commercial airlines only after they have recovered. 11/13/2009 4:00:03 PM
Woman denied mammogram fights back and wins A woman from Newfoundland, who complained Tuesday that she was being denied a mammogram despite a strong family history of breast cancer, will get the breast screening she wants. She complained to her local member of the house of assembly and CBC News. 11/13/2009 3:56:56 PM
A water-filled flush isn't even an option Every day, plumber Marcel Fortin watches water – and money – go down the drain with leaky taps and running toilets. Bothered by his constant encounters with water waste, Fortin last year redesigned the water-free, odourless Eco-Urinal he created about 13 years ago for his little son. 11/13/2009 5:59:12 AM
Next wave of flu clinics will reach Penticton region next week The next round of H1N1/seasonal flu clinics have been announced and Interior Health expects the eligibility criteria will be expanded next week. Provincial officials don’t yet have any firm date for when the vaccine will be available to the general public. 11/13/2009 5:54:24 AM
Pfizer drug studies fudged, report says Analysis of a dozen published studies testing possible new uses for a Pfizer Inc. epilepsy drug found that reporting of the results was often misleading, indicating the medicine worked better than internal company documents showed. 11/13/2009 5:40:57 AM
No second flu shot necessary for most healthy children All but the youngest children need only a single half-dose of H1N1 vaccine. The decision means many parents of healthy children who have already endured long waits to have them vaccinated will not have to line up again for a second shot. 11/13/2009 5:18:00 AM
Health officer hopeful H1N1 has peaked in B.C. It was the first province to see the resurgence of H1N1 this fall and now British Columbia's provincial health officer hopes it's the first to see the pandemic virus peter out. Dr. Perry Kendall says provincial health officials have been tracking several indicators. 11/13/2009 4:18:22 AM
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