2002 - 2003 ARCHIVE
Friends for Life
Right now there are more than 1700 people in Ontario waiting for an organ transplant - four times as many people as there are donors.
In the Studio
As we detail in the documentary - living donors may eventually account for one third of all transplants. So the majority of donated organs will always have to come from cadavers. And right now Ontario is facing a critical shortage.Testicular Cancer
It wasn't that long ago that nobody talked about breast
cancer or prostate cancer. Now of course that's changed. The taboo is gone, and there's information everywhere about early detection and prevention.Hormone Replacement Therapy
Millions of Canadian women on hormone replacement therapy were shocked earlier this year when they found out the hormones they‚d been taking did more harm than good.Lice
They're tenacious, they like girls more than boys, and once they've found a warm home, they're almost impossible to turf out. Head lice. They're not particular about clean or dirty heads, any scalp will do. And as anyone who's done battle with them knows, nitpicking
an be a nightmare…even for the pros.Controlled Drinking
If you abuse alcoholic can you be taught to control your drinking? There's a fine line between a problem drinker and an alcoholic and ten years ago a program was developed to help so-called problem drinkers control their intake. DrinkWise was controversial then but has it made a difference in people's live? Dr. Karen Spivak is a psychologist and runs a DrinkWise program. Dr. Graeme Cunningham is the director of addiction treatment at the Homewood Health Centre in Guelph.Lyme Disease
The risk of contracting Lyme Disease in Ontario is still relatively small, but you're about to 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 bedridden and wracked with pain the next. 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 this disease is on the move.Getting Fit & Eating Right
A Special Edition
Daily Exercise
Most Ontarians say they are too busy with jobs and familiesbut in this edition we examine the benefits of exercise and nutrition with a program that's easier than you think. Be honest! After handing over your money to that fancy fitness club, how many times did you actually show up?
However, there IS a simple everyday solution for keeping fit and staying lean. Later we'll get some advice from 2 experts but first, the latest in a mountain of research that shows moderate exercise is all you need.
Lori Kirwan knows all about getting the best boost out of moderate exercise. She's a registered nurse, fitness trainer and PHD student inexercise physiology at the University of Toronto.
Eating Right
A good fitness program should be accompanied by a healthy diet. Leslie Beck is registered dietician in Ontario and author of several books.Aphasia
The word aphasia is Greek and means loss of language or communication. It's usually the result of a stroke but unlike more visible signs like paralysis or slurred speech, aphasia leaves people suffering in silence.
Think of all the conversations you have in a single day – from meetings at work, catching up with friends or just complaining about the weather. How would you cope if your ability to do that was taken away?
That 's what it's like living with aphasia. We visit the Aphasia Centre in Toronto to find out how volunteers and doctors are helping stroke victims communicate.
Stroke Drug
In a survey for the Heart and Sroke Foundation more than 60% of Ontarians were unable to identify even one of the five warning signs of stroke.
Every sixty seconds in North America, someone has a stroke. It is the fourth leading cause of death in Canada, and when it doesn't kill, it can be profoundly disabling. There is a drug available and if given early enough it can prevent the disastrous effects of a stroke. But it can also be deadly if given to the wrong person. So should it be available to everyone who might be having a stroke? To help us understand this controversial treatment for strokes is Dr. Glenn Sheiner, a Toronto doctor and former emergency room physician, and Dr Miriam Shuchman, a medical ethicist and professor at the University of TorontoWork Stress
Show me someone who isn't stressed at work. We all are but there are certain kinds of stress that are actually making people sick. Stress can be responsible for everything from depression, to heart disease, and even the common cold. And employee absenteeism is skyrocketing. So health and business professionals, including doctors from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, have teamed up to try to discover exactly what is making people sick on the job, and how to prevent it. Irma Lutkin is one person they want to help.
Pain Guidelines
It's difficult enough to face the death of a loved one but what if the person was suffering unbearable pain? You'd want drugs to ease their pain .. but what if those drugs hastened their death? That's a choice made every day at the bedsides of the terminally ill. And it's a decision doctors are often reluctant to make, worried that their intentions may be misinterpreted. A new set of pain guidelines hopes to ease those fears. Dr. Laura Hawryluck is an intensive care doctor, ethicist at the University of Toronto and the lead author of the new guidelines. Joining her is Margaret Anderson, who founded a hospice for cancer patients in Oakville.Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common condition that affects as many as one in a hundred Canadians. At least 120,000 Ontarians have it. Not all of them suffer seizures but, for the majority, those few moments of uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain wreaks havoc with their lives. Drugs help control the intensity and frequency of seizures, but for some, medications just don't work. But there's good evidence now that for a select group of patients their best hope is brain surgery. They just have to get over the fear that can keep them from their best chance for a cure. Michael Mooradian is one such patient. He lives in Toronto and had his surgery at the Toronto Western Hospital.
Cancer Myths
It seems these days you can't turn around without hearing about something else that causes cancer ... everything from bacon to cell phones. But what's myth and what's reality? Here's our contributing editor and oncologist Dr. Rob Buckman from Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital.Adult Autism
What do Alexander Graham Bell, Winston Churchill and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart have in common? Well they all exhibited symptoms of ADD – Attention Deficit Disorder.
Disciplining Doctors
In Ontario If you've got a complaint against your doctor, you have to go to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Surgeons. Because if any of the 23,000 doctors in this province make a mistake, it's the College that hands out the discipline. But critics say the College is more interested in protecting doctors than the public.Teenage Girls Risking Osteoporosis
If you thought only the elderly needed to worry about brittle bones, think again. For most teenaged girls, staying thin is far more important than healthy bones. More than eighty percent of Canadian girls under the age of 18 are on a diet And that means growing bones are not getting the nutrients they need at the most critical time.
Disciplining Doctors
In Ontario If you've got a complaint against your doctor, you have to go to the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Because if any of the 23,000 doctors in this province make a mistake, it's the College that hands out the discipline. But critics say the College is more interested in protecting doctors than the public.Living Donors
Right now there are more than 1700 people in Ontario waiting for an organ transplant - four times as many people as there are donors. Traditionally donor organs come from cadavers but with the shortage there's another option... at least when it involves kidney or liver failure. It's called a living donor transplant. Most often the donors are family members. But what if there's no one in the family who's suitable? Would you give your friend a liver? That's what Ted Little did for his best friend Terry Smith.
Environmental Pollution and our Health
We know we can cut our risk of cancer through diet and exercise but what about the things we can't control? What about the toxins in our air and water ... toxins we can't see, touch or taste? We learn from Devra Davis about the effects of pollution on human health in her new book “ When Smoke Ran Like Water: Tales of Environmental Deception and the Battle Against Pollution”. It was nominated for a national book award in the States. Devra Davis is a leading epidemiologist and public health expert and an advisor to the World Health Organization.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.
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.A Bitter Pill; Living on AIDS Cocktails
Twenty years ago when someone was diagnosed with AIDS, there wasn't very much that doctors could do. Virtually nothing could stop the slide towards crippling illness and death. But in the mid-90s there was a breakthrough in treatment.
Studio Interview – Do Not Resuscitate Orders
If one of your family members was dying of a terminal illness in hospital and a doctor slapped a "Do-not-resuscitate" order on their chart without your knowledge, how would you feel? Some hospitals and chronic care facilities in Ontario do just that.Medical Error: Sharon’s Story
Twenty years ago, Harvard University concluded health care is needlessly dangerous for patients. That's still true today, according to experts who study medical error. It's estimated that five to ten thousand Canadians die every year because of medical mistakes.
Disclosure: The Aftermath of a Medical Mistake
Nobody likes to admit when they're wrong but when doctors don't reveal mistakes, the lack of disclosure may cause as much harm as the mistake itself. But some hospitals are making it policy that medical professionals reveal their mistakes to patients. This is the case at Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre - a leader in disclosure of medical error in North America – and hospitals like the Hospital for Sick Children and John Hopkins are adopting similar policies. Sunnybrook is also taking steps to prevent errors, like the one Sharon has to live with, from happening in the first place.
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© TVOntario, 2002