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Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Canada: Trends in Use and Public Attitudes, 1997-2006
A new survey shows that more than half of Canadians used at least one form of complementary or alternative medicine or treatment during the 12 months. The most commonly used complementary and alternative medicines and therapies reported were massage (19 per cent), prayer (16 per cent), chiropractic care (15 per cent), relaxation techniques (14 per…
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New device lets quadraplegic man breathe on his own for the first time in five years
High level spinal cord injuries and neurodegenerative diseases can paralyze a patient’s ability to breathe. This ability is wholly dependent on an intact nervous system and the diaphragm, a specialized muscle that sits just under the base of our lungs. Paralysis of this muscle as a result of nerve damage requires can result in a…
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A look at an experimental malaria vaccine
Malaria infects as many as 300-500 million people a year most of these occurring in Africa and more than one to three million cases of malaria each year result in death. It is the leading cause of death for children under age five in sub-Saharan Africa, and a predominant killer of pregnant women and their…
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The case for banning trans-fats
What are the health consequences of banning trans-fats? Will our food be more heart healthful for it? What will be substituted for trans-fats and will a ban mean to people that the food is now safer to eat? These are some questions that need to be answered when one considers the ban-the-trans-fats issue. To discuss…
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The Canadian Association for People-Centred Health Patient-Centred Health (PCH) Challenge
The Canadian Association for People-Centred Health, (CAPCH) is a grassroots organization dedicated to finding a way for people to have a say in health care reform. They have sponsored a Patient-Centred Health (PCH) Challenge. The challenge is a contest which is solicited ideas for health reform, all of which are intended to help make the…
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Children’s Mental Health Week
Children’s Mental Health Week runs from today to May 12th. A Leger Marketing Survey conducted between April 13 and 18, 2007 of 1500 Canadian adults reveals that the stigma of mental illness remains a potential obstacle to prompt assessment and management of childhood mental illness. Dr. Laurel Johnson, psychologist with Kinark Child and Family Services.
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A genetic test that predicts early stages of lung cancer
Cancer treatment success depends on early diagnosis. Lung cancer, unfortunately for many, is discovered too late. Various imaging technologies have been used to try to detect early lung cancer with some success and new detection methods are under development. In a recent study, US scientists have developed a genetic test, the results of which are…
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Routine male circumcision could reduce a man's risk of HIV infection
HIV infection rates are a major public health problem especially in Africa. Treatment with retroviral medications is expensive and not available in many regions of the continent. Prevention is of great importance if the spread is to be curtailed. According to final data from two National Institute of Health-funded studies conducted in Uganda and Kenya…
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New surgical technique to replace defective heart valve in children
Is there another method to repair a child’s defective heart valve other than invasive surgery? Two Montreal cardiologists went to London, England to learn a new technique that accomplishes just that. The procedure, called percutaneous pulmonary valve implant, replaces open-heart surgery, and was performed in February this year by Montreal cardiologists Giuseppe Martucci and Adrian…