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Sorry, you are too old for a new hip
A Calgary accountant is challenging the Alberta Government in a class action case before the courts because he was denied the choice of receiving an artificial hip because he was too old. Mr. Bill Murray is 59 years old and he joins us today.
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The genetic switch for Friedreich's Ataxia
Genetic research continues to broaden our understanding of the mechanism or pathophysiology of diseases. Reports seem to present themselves daily about new avenues for treatments of once incurable or uncontrollable illnesses. A team from the Scripps Research Institute and the University of California School of Medicine has developed compounds that reactivate the gene responsible for…
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The impact on light exposure on our health
With the advent of 24 hours service and shopping, people have had to accommodate the demands associated with night shifts and trying to sleep during daylight hours. Some office buildings are devoid of natural sunlight and are windowless, factors that disrupt one perception of the hours that pass. Casinos are a great example of how…
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New insights into the mechanism of neuropathic pain
Chronic pain affects nearly millions of Canadians from such varied causes as arthritis, sciatica, cancer, diabetes. Pain usually serves to warn us when something is wrong and to seek help or to rest. Another kind of chronic pain may start with a specific injury, surgery or disease event, but may linger for weeks or even…
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A better solution to reconnect the sternum after open chest surgery
The challenge: offer to undergraduate students at John Hopkins University to design a better way to reconnect the breastbone or sternum after open heart surgery. The reason: a half-century-old technique of using steel wires that pierced the bone and pulled the halves together poses some risks to both the surgeon and the patient. The 11-member…
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Partial knee replacements
There are many people waiting for knee replacement surgery. Innovations in surgical techniques have made this a relatively routine procedure despite its invasive nature. However hospital stay and recovery times can be a protracted affair. A new technique has been developed that can save parts of the original knee joint replacing only the damaged areas…
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How to reduce the doctor shortage
How should we approach the issue of reversing the doctor shortage and temporizing the effect in the short-term over the looming cohort of Physicians set to retire? Due to government restrictions on education and training, the number of physicians per capita in Canada will fall between now and 2015, unless Canada relies on foreign-trained doctors…
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The European Food Safety Authority's evaluation of aspartame
The AFC Panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has evaluated the new long-term study on the carcinogenicity of aspartame conducted by the European Ramazzini Foundation in Bologna, Italy. In its opinion published today, the Panel concluded, on the basis of all the evidence currently available, that there is no need to further review…
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New allergy treatment guidelines proposed
Last November, the story of Quebec teen, Christina Desforges, made headlines around the world when reports suggested that she had died after kissing her boyfriend who had eaten peanut butter earlier that day. Desforges, who was peanut allergic, was also asthmatic. Her friends were unaware of her food allergy and that she carried an EpiPen.…
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