Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada

Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health Care

Canadian Mental Health Association

Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine

Poison Ivy

The oil from poison ivy is so potent that even a tiny amount .. only enough to cover the head of a pin could make 500 people itch. Here's Your Health's Family Physician from Cobourg, Dr. Paul Caldwell with this week's Medicine 101.

December 17

Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths. Every year it kills more than 6,000 Canadians. But many of those deaths are avoidable. If detected early enough .. most cases of colorectal cancer can be prevented. In spite of that, there is no formal screening program in Ontario for a disease that grows slowly and kills quickly.

In this moving field story, we profile two individuals who were diagnosed in the late stages of colorectal cancer. One man of 72 who was fortunate to recover after aggressive treatment, the second individual, Mariellen Black, a healthy woman all her life, died at the age of 54, only 18 months after being diagnosed with late stage colorectal cancer. Typical of colorectal cancer, it grows silently without symptoms for years. Mariellen was angry while she struggled with a disease that could have been prevented if caught earlier. She founded the Colorectal Cancer Screening Initiative Foundation. Her daughter laments her death as an unnecessary loss and pushes for screening to be made available to all.

Dr. Andy Smith, Surgical Oncologist with Toronto-Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre and Dr. Linda Rabeneck , Director of the Gastroenterology Unit at Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, explain the disease, the need for screening programs, and how it would save lives.

Anti-Prozac I/V
We may joke about being a Prozac nation, but there's more truth than folly behind the line. A recent study found that in the past two decades, Canadian's use of antidepressants has increased by a whopping 353 per cent. But some doctors argue that popping pills is not the only way to cope with depression.

Dr. Hyla Cass, psychiatrist and assistant clinical professor at UCLA School of Medicine, says we need to consider natural alternatives to antidepressants more often. We caught up with the author of "Natural Highs" on her recent visit to Toronto.

Schedule

Your Health airs Tuesday evenings at 7:30 p.m and then at 11:00 p.m. on TVO, and on Saturdays at 3:30 pm.

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Repeat of Special edition on Lyme Disease
The risk of contracting Lyme Disease in Ontario is still relatively small, but in this story we learn about two women .. bitten in different parts of the province .. by ticks they never saw.

Think about what it must be like to be perfectly healthy one day and the next bedridden and wracked with pain. And imagine the anger and frustration you’d feel after turning to doctors for help. Many don’t have the answers and some dismiss your pain as psychological.

It’s a nightmarish scenario and a reality for some people with Lyme Disease. Until recently we didn't think there were many places you could get infected in Canada but the little blacklegged tick that spreads lyme disease is on the move. While your risk of contracting lyme disease is still relatively small, you're about to meet 2 women .. bitten in different parts of Ontario .. by ticks they never saw.