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Ontario Health Ministry limits coverage for Hepatitis B medications
Chronic hepatitis B affects an estimated 230,000-290,000 people in Canada. Though there is a range of new effective antiretroviral treatments that can help reduce disease complications, the estimated 80,000 – 100,000 chronic hepatitis B patients in Ontario have only limited options paid for by the Ontario Drug Benefit Program. Last week the British Columbia government…
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Cervical cancer screening: Paps are good, DNA may be better
Original broadcast date: March 30, 2008 The PAP test has been in existence for over 60 years. It is a screening test for cervical cancer and has the potential to detect precancerous changes, as well as to detect early stage disease and decrease cancer mortality. Although this test is credited with reducing cancer mortality, researchers…
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Oral appendectomies: removing the appendix through the mouth
Original broadcast date: March 30, 2008 In mid March 2008, surgeons at UC San Diego Medical Center performed what is the first removal of a diseased appendix through the mouth in the United States. One of the first reactions and questions from people who hear this story is amazement and wonder how the surgery was…
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The Sunnybrook Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator
Original broadcast date: March 23, 2008 A comprehensive, clinical nomogram tool, the Sunnybrook Prostate Cancer Risk Calculator – the first to use all known risk factors for prostate cancer – is available online to help men determine individual prostate cancer risk in consultation with their primary care physician. A nomogram is a statistical model to…
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Patients not compliant with medications after heart attack
Original broadcast date: March 23, 2008 We are repeatedly reminded that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in Canada. Yet, why is it that even after a heart attack, many people do not get around to filling that doctor-ordered prescription? A new study published in the journal Circulation from Ontario’s Institute for Clinical…
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Genes for Lupus identified
Original broadcast date: March 9, 2008 With a greater understanding behind the mechanism or pathophysiology of disease, the ability to provide effective treatments can follow. An international consortium of scientists led by Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation investigator John B. Harley, M.D., Ph.D., has identified multiple genes linked to lupus, a devastating autoimmune disease that affects…
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Screening for ovarian cancer: the quest continues
Original broadcast date: March 9, 2008 Ovarian Cancer is one of the most lethal cancers afflicting about 2300 Canadian women a year. A major contributing factor to its poor prognosis is that there is no effective means to screen for the disease. In January 2008, researchers from the University of Guelph reported that they have…
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STEMI program improves survival after heart attack
Original broadcast date: March 2, 2008 What are the factors or treatment protocols that contribute to improved survival after a heart attack? That was a question asked by the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Coronary Care Unit and the results published in January in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Michel Le May, MD,…