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Lung Association calls for universally accessible smoking cessation supports for all smokers
The Lung Association is calling for universally accessible smoking cessation supports for all smokers living in Canada. This recommendation is based on the results of its new report entitled “Making Quit Happen: Canada’s Challenges to Smoking Cessation”. Dr. Anthony D’Urzo, MD, MSc, BPHE, CCFP, FCFP, Family Physician and Director of Primary Care Lung Clinic, Toronto…
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New smoking cessation aid
The options for people who want to quit smoking increased by one this week with the introduction of a new treatment approved by Health Canada. Varenicline tartrate (Champix) is a new class of medications specifically designed to compete with nicotine’s affect on the brain. What are the indications for its use? What is its efficacy?…
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Insights into nicotine addiction
During this past National Non-Smoking Week many people have called up radio talk shows to talk about their successes and failures when they tried to quit. It seems that in the United States at least, making the effort to quit has been made just a bit more difficult. The Harvard School of Public Health’s report…
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The social cost of addiction
Many of us have our own interpretation of addiction. We use the word to describe cravings or desires for many things other than drugs. Food, shopping, gambling, video games and sex are a few examples. Nevertheless, addictions destroy relationships, marriages and families. They can result in financial ruin and destroy one’s sense of self. Friends…
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Alberta Mental Health Board launches Mental Health First Aid Canada
Many people have knowledge abot what to do in the face of a medical emergency and can provide some form of first aid. However the same cannot be said for psychiatric care. There continues to be a stigma about mental illness when there should not be and a new and innovative program has been established…
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What is coming down the pipe medically on the smoking cessation front?
For some, smoking cessation can be a simple as throwing the pack away, for others it is a mighty hill to climb. Cigarette smoking is responsible for 30 per cent of all cancers, is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke and is the principle cause of COPD. Dr. Andrew Pipe will present a…