1999 - 2000 ARCHIVE
Hormone Replacement Therapy, the best sites for your health and Dr. Paul Caldwell.
Hypothyroidism, a menu for cancer prevention and Viagra, the male impotency drug.
Why alcohol is a greater health risk for women, immunizing your children against chicken pox and is there a gender bias in health care funding?
What happens when your daughter decides she hates her body? What happens when how she looks becomes an obsession? In Canada eating disorders strike thousands of young women. This week the story of two of them and how they got their lives and their health back.
The cure for repetitive strain injury is to stop doing the repetitive thing that injured you. But what if that thing, is playing an instrument? And what if you're a professional musician whose performances pay the bills? This week we visit a one-of-a-kind clinic in Hamilton, Ontario where musicians are turning for help.
Superbugs .. is a hospital stay a threat to your health? It may sound like a new action figure, but the Superbug is no hero. Although, you have to admire it's adaptability. Superbugs are bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics. They've been multiplying in hospitals across North America at an alarming rate. Each year, an estimated 550,000 hospital patients in the U.S. and Canada are infected or colonized with a Superbug. Their illnesses range from minor skin infections to life-threatening diseases like pneumonia and meningitis. Our documentary feature explores this new health threat.
A special edition of Your Health - Living with chronic pain, We examine the treatments, the misconceptions and the prognosis. We all know what pain feels like. Childbirth is painful. Stubbing your toe can hurt like heck. But for millions of Canadians, the pain isn't transitory. It's chronic pain. And it changes their life. Meet Bonnie, Al, Rod and Ann. And try to imagine what it's like to feel pain 24 hours a day.
Can Fido's kisses make you sick? You probably consider you dog or your cat your best friend and constant companion. Cuddles with you on the couch, big sloppy kisses when you come home. You keep up on his shots so you know he's not going to get some nasty disease. Think again! It's not your animal that's going to get sick...it might be you. Our pet's mouth, claws and other body parts are teeming with bacteria. And something as innocent as licking a cut on your hand, stooping and scooping, or a small bite, could lead to a serious infection. Our documentary feature explores looks at your health and your pet.
The Cold-like Virus that puts some infants in intensive care. It's called Respiratory Syncytial Virus...or RSV and you've probably had it at one time or another. It's a common but little-known virus that acts much like a cold. All children will get RSV by the time they reach two. For most, the symptoms are no worse than a bad cold: fever, runny nose, phlegmy cough. But what most parents don't know is that for premature babies, infants less than a year old and children with lung or heart disease, RSV can be deadly.
We look at chubby babies and think: isn't she cute. We look at chubby children and think: isn't that a shame. But is it the overweight child who should feel ashamed, or the people who shun her? When you're overweight, there are two battles to fight: one against fat and the other for acceptance. In this week's documentary feature we look at one woman's struggle to be accepted and a clinic that helps children manage their weight.
In Britain, they're called Frankenfoods and consumers there are so fearful of them, that grocers have pulled the products off the shelves. In Canada, you may be surprised to learn that up to 60 per cent of the items on grocery store shelves have been genetically altered. Many researchers claim there are no health risks from these foods but now Canadians, like Dr. David Suzuki, are publicly questioning the safety of bio-engineered food.
We know that medicine is sometimes more art than science. Some conditions may look like one disease but turn out to be another, and require an entirely different treatment. That's the case with celiac disease. It's a condition of the small bowel that's often mistaken for more common stomach problems. If left untreated, celiac disease can lead to serious malnutrition, no matter how well you're eating. The Canadian Celiac Association estimates that as many as 13-thousand Canadians suffer from it, and they may not know it.
Gordie Howe, ski champ Todd Brooker, even the great one, Wayne Gretzky, is showing early signs of osteoarthritis. In fact, 3 million Canadians suffer from the most common form of arthritis, and they're not all athletes. New research is giving people hope and treatments are improving, but not soon enough for some.
Last week, we looked at the risks of developing osteoarthritis, and the standard treatments used today. Osteoarthritis already affects more than three million Canadians, and it's expected to explode as baby boomers reach old age. This week, we take you right into research laboratories and operating rooms, where doctors are developing -- and in some cases, already using, cutting-edge treatments.
We all know the type: hot headed, hostile and angry. And maybe, at risk of a heart attack. Don had no family history of heart disease. He hadn't smoked in 14 years, and he wasn't overweight. So how'd he end up with a quadruple bypass? Anger. Doctors now think that a short fuse and a bad temper can damage the heart.
In some homes, a simple elbow to the ribs will take care of it. For others, only separate bedrooms will guarantee a good night's sleep. Snoring is a common cause of sleep deprivation for the snorer and the bed partner. It's probably at the root of more than a few divorces too. There are snoring appliances that can help but when those failed Steve Brannan, he chose a more radical solution.
There's been alot of attention in the media around the issue of homelessness in Canada, most of it focused on the lack of shelter. But the homeless lack more than a roof over their head. They don't have doctors. They don't have medicine. They do have a plethora of health problems and each time they end up in hospital emergency rooms it costs taxpayers thousands of dollars. We look at a unique program in Toronto called Shared Care that's bringing healthcare to the hostels.
Urinary incontinence affects one in four women and 1 in 10 men in Canada. Adults lose bladder control because of weak muscles after childbirth or injury, it can be the side effect of medications or surgery, and nobody wants to talk about it. But two people from the Ottawa area want others to know that most cases of incontinence can be managed or even cured.
If you're a hockey fan, you know Ron Ellis. He helped the Toronto Maple Leafs win their last Stanley Cup in 1967 and he played for Team Canada in that fateful 1972 Canada-Russia series. But after retiring from hockey, Ron Ellis struggled for years with depression. He's not alone, but men are less likely than women to seek help for depression, putting them at greater risk. Tonight, Ron Ellis shares his personal journey with us.
If you knew you had an almost 80% chance of developing breast cancer, would you let doctors remove your breasts to drastically reduce that risk, even before any cancer was detected? That's the very difficult decision facing women who test positive for the gene mutation called BRCA 1 and BRCA 2. That mutation tends to run in families. We meet one remarkable family that is dealing with this genetic legacy, and the imperfect options that science can offer them today.
For most women, childbirth is the most intense physical experience they will undergo in their lifetime. And although your partner may have attended childbirth classes with you, and although he may mean well, some women find they need another woman beside them to help them get through it. That's where doulas come in. Doula is the Greek word for female slave, but today, they provide a supportive role for women in labour.
Age-Related Macular Degeneration, or AMD, is the leading cause of blindness in people over 50. It affects about 130,000 Canadians. Until recently, there was little doctors could do to stop people from eventually going blind. But that's changed. A new proceedure is about to be approved in the United States and is showing good results in trials here in Canada.
The claims about chelation therapy are dramatic and attention grabbing. With a few treatments you can cut your risk of heart attack by 80%, improve your cardiovascular function, reduce chest and leg pain. Provincial health plans don't cover it, yet clinics that perform chelation therapy are popping up across the country. So, is it a safe and effective alternative to bypass surgery? The American and Canadian Heart Associations certainly don't think so, but believers and those who've been successfully treated swear by it.
An allergy to peanuts is dangerous and even deadly. Those with the allergy can never let their guard down, but recently doctors started to suspect that some people who've been diagnosed as peanut-allergic either grow out of it, or were never truly allergic in the first place. To test this, they give them the peanut challenge.
We know that when men start to lose their hair, some will go to great lengths to hide their baldness. But when the baldness is caused by an autoimmune disease, it's hard to hide. That disease is called alopecia, and it affects men and women, young and old.
Doing what comes naturally isn't working as well as it used to. About 250,000 Canadian couples trying to have a baby, can't. Reproductive technology has opened up a new frontier in medicine, but the treatments have a varied success rate. Here's a profile of two couples who are hoping science can help give them the family they want.
Ask the Expert Archive
Week 1: Children and Backpacks
Week 2: Avoiding Problems Associated with a Desk Job
Week 3: What you need to know about supplements
Week 4: Skin Care Products
Week 5: Feeding your Vegan Teen
Week 6: Transfats
Week 7: Migraine Triggers
Week 8: Migraine Medications
Week 9: Acne Medications
Week 10:Your Medicine Cabinet
Week 11:Snoring or Sleep Apnea
Week 12:Head Lice
Week 13:Too Much Exercise
Week 14:Xenicol
Week 15:Grapefruit Juice
Week 16:Diabetic Footcare
Week 17:Female Incontinence
Week 18:Pregnancy and Smoking
Week 20:Forgetfullness
Week 21:Sport Supplements
Week 22:Heel Pain
Week 23: Flaxseed
Week 24:Common Cold
Week 25: Golfing Cool Down Tips
Week 26: Sun Screen
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© TVOntario, 2000