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Asthma risk in children with antibiotic use during infancy
Antibiotics play a pivotal role fighting pathologic bacterial infections. However, there use is being redefined for some conditions. For example, the standard of care in some countries for treating middle ear infections in children is to treat the pain and wait a few days because it can resolve on its own. This prevents bacterial resistance…
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CMA president discusses Medicare Plus
This week, the CMA issued a proposal to help correct some of the problems in our health care system. The plan entitled Medicare Plus envisions cooperation between public and private providers of health care services to better serve the needs of Canadians. Predictably, the bipolar nature of the debate has elicited strong statements on both…
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Canada’s Drug Price Paradox 2007
What is the true cost of prescription medications in Canada compared to other countries? It is generally assumed that the cost of prescription medications is increasing at a rapid rate. Governments looking for ways to control spending may not be saving as much as they could according to a new study, Canada’s Drug Price Paradox…
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Initiation of benzodiazepines in the elderly after hospitalization
Many people have difficulty sleeping in hospitals. Noisy wards to visits to the loss of a person’s lack daily routine are some of the contributing factors to insomnia. A new ICES study, Initiation of benzodiazepines in the elderly after hospitalization, in the July 2007 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine looked at prescribing…
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New molecule marker may help predict heart disease risk
Several months ago we talked with Dr. Paul Ridker about his study of heart disease risk markers in women that contributed to the development of the Reynolds Risk Score using C-reactive protein as a marker or indicator of the ten-year risk of developing a heart attack. Research into the prevention of cardiovascular disease continues apace.…
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Human genome used to search for genetic clues for Crohn's disease
A consortium of Canadian and American researchers led by Dr. John D. Rioux, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Montreal Heart Institute and the Université de Montréal, report in the April 15, 2007 online edition of Nature Genetics the results from a search of the entire human genome for genetic risk factors leading to…
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Understanding schizophrenia
There are certain common illnesses that make people uncomfortable. Let’s be honest and say that there are some diseases that have more than their fair share of media coverage and financial and public support. This is not a criticism of the effort to increase public awareness. In fact, it is to be encouraged. But in…
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In Bad Taste? The Adventures and Science Behind Food Delicacies
Stories of trekking through jungles, deserts and mountainous terrain, avoiding poisonous snakes, armed militias, crocodiles, lions, snakes, swarms of bats and zebra stampedes, is the stuff we associate with the adventures of Indiana Jones. What one person defines as a treasure quest may not seem like any quest anyone else would want to take. The…
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The Canadian National Palliative Care Survey
The relief of suffering is one of the central goals in all of health care, but very little research has examined how common suffering is and what it actually means to patients. Now, a new study of patients receiving palliative care for cancer has revealed that suffering may be far less common than traditionally assumed.…
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