Embracing Innovation: Exploring the Latest Advancements in Hearing Aid Technology

 Hearing aids have come a long way in recent years, evolving from basic amplification devices to sophisticated pieces of technology that offer advanced features and capabilities. With continuous innovation and advancements in digital signal processing, wireless connectivity, and miniaturization, modern devices are more discreet, comfortable, and effective than ever before. 

Judge Aquilina: A New Perspective on Sympathy

 Former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar has been sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexually assaulting young girls and gymnasts, including Olympians. The once-doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, admitted to abusing his position as a trusted medical professional in order to molest young women

Double Check the Diagnosis

 The other day I dropped by a café where I crossed paths with an old acquaintance.  As we talked, she told me her business partner had died of cancer only a year earlier.  Saddened for her, I asked her some details of his illness.  He had complained of back pain

Reforming Healthcare Funding to Address the Needs of Our Aging Population

 Why we need a publicly funded insurance program for home care and long-term care By Réjean Hébert Funding home care and long-term care is fast becoming the main challenge of our outdated medicare system – a system developed in the mid-twentieth century for a young population that mostly required acute

What Should be Covered by our Publicly Funded Healthcare System?

 Patients and doctors need to learn the difference between ‘need’ and ‘want.’ All across Canada provincial governments are grappling with ever growing healthcare demands in the face of shrinking resources.  Our enviable publicly funded health system is now well into a downward spiral of unenviable disrepair.  As patients are becoming

How Doctors Can Tackle the Their Patients’ Poverty Without Leaving the Office

 Can a question asked in a doctor’s office contribute to ending poverty for patients and their families?  This is what we asked ourselves 10 years ago, as we set out to convince health providers to tackle poverty. There were two factors that pushed us into this work: first, the evidence

Chinese Ambassador and Canadian Veterans Commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Victory Against Fascism and Japanese Aggression

 Mr. George S. MacDonell, Ambassador Luo Zhaohui and Senator Joseph Day (left to right).  Ambassador Luo Zhaohui spoke at the commemoration ceremony for the 70th anniversary of the victory against fascism and Japanese aggression. In a touching ceremony on a sunny morning at the Hong Kong Memorial Wall at the corner of Sussex

Why this U.S. Doctor is Moving to Canada

 I’m a U.S. family physician who has decided to relocate to Canada. The hassles of working in the dysfunctional health care “system” in the U.S. have simply become too intense. I’m not alone. According to a physician recruiter in Windsor, Ont., over the past decade more than 100 U.S. doctors

The Gluten Free Diet: Why it Might Not be Helping You

 I have lost count of the number of clients at Ottawa Holistic Wellness that I have advised to go on a gluten free diet because I determined it would help their symptoms. For the vast majority, it was a positive experience. Their long-term chronic symptoms disappeared. For the minority, the

Shave for a Cure

 During cancer treatment, patients often tend to lose their hair. A common way people show their support to family, friends and others going through treatment is by shaving their heads. It binds people together in an effort to show their love and care. On Wednesday, April 8, from 4 p.m.

Health Canada Fails to Enforce its own Rules on Pharmaceutical Advertising

 A handsome man struts over to the office water cooler with a smirk on his face. When his colleagues ask about his weekend, he replies enthusiastically, with audio muted. A large blue pill appears with the tagline, “Viagra, Ask Your Doctor.” Vibrant, energetic older people are shown swimming, bowling and

How to Get a Good Night Sleep

 Having trouble sleeping? Do you wake up some mornings with back or neck pain worse than the night before? Not getting a good night sleep can leave you tired and grumpy throughout the day. Many people are confused about how to create an optimal sleep environment. Simple and effective changes

Be Spellbound with the Magic of the Arthritis Society

 Do you believe in magic? The Arthritis Society is hosting an evening of wonder and awe at the National Gallery of Canada with Spellbound, in support of childhood arthritis. On Thursday, March 12, the National Gallery’s Water Court will be magically transformed into a spellbinding street fair. Featuring the entertaining

Five challenges for bending the health care cost curve in Canada

 By Greg Marchildon and Livio Di Matteo Why health reform remains a challenge Canadian economists received a pleasant surprise this year: expenditure growth on public healthcare in Canada finally appears to be slowing down. However, it is unclear if this slowdown is the result of explicit success in sustainably bending the cost-curve

LIGHT at the end of the tunnel

 Eating disorders push perfectionists into dark worlds where all they want is to be light, and all they need is a ray of it. Produced and performed by Lisa Jeans, Light is a theatrical duet between a live performer and audiovisual technology like video projections, live sound and original electronic

Heartburn: is medication your right option?

 Paul is a policy analyst working for the Government of Canada in Ottawa. With recent cut backs in his department his work load has been significantly higher over the last two years. About six months ago he began to notice what he described as heartburn. At first it was mild

Why Do I Feel So Achy, Cold and Tired?

 Photos courtesy of Dollar Photo Club Lets talk about Laura, aged 30. It’s 7 a.m. on a January morning in Orleans and Laura leaves her house, jumps into her car and starts her 45-minute drive to work into Ottawa. The mornings are really cold this time of year and although she’s

New Hospital Funding Model is a Leap of Faith

 Activity-based funding may discharge patients from hospital ‘quicker but sicker’ Most Canadians probably don’t realize that health care in Canada is quietly undergoing a major transformation in funding that could significantly impact patients.  Three provinces—Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia—are implementing a new funding model for hospitals and other provinces are

Ontario Spends More than $11 billion a Year on Prescription Drugs

 Why an income-based drug plan would not be good for Ontario’s economy or its seniors Ontario spends $11 billion per year on prescription drugs. Nearly half of this is spent on medicines used by senior citizens, a group that receives public subsidies for nearly all of their prescription drug costs

Naturopathic and Conventional Medicine Team Up to Fight Cancer

 The Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre (OICC) and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) have been given a $3.85 million research grant to look into the effects of naturopathic medicine combined with conventional medicine. The two Ottawa-based institutions will be researching the effectiveness of different types of medicines used in conjunction with one

A New Paradigm for Cancer Prevention

 There have been several advances in the treatment of cancer over the last 20 years. We have new targeted oncology drugs with fewer side effects and improved technology allowing for more sensitive and earlier detection. Evolving research guides oncologists not only when to use chemotherapy, but more importantly, when not

Making Memories Last: The Memory Clinic of Outaouais

 The Memory Clinic of Outaouais, in Gatineau, Quebec, is open and ready to help the community. Specializing in research on neurological disorders, the Memory Clinic strives to ensure its patients receive the best possible care. Dr. Richard Bergeron (M.D., Ph.D., FRCPC) is the owner and principal investigator. He assists patients

Functional Medicine: A Holistic Approach to Health

 In Western medicine, we have many specialists—each with their own area of expertise. When you go to your family doctor with a complaint, you will be referred to the specialist that deals with that health issue. Functional medicine doctors prefer to look at whole picture. They believe all your health

Five Things Most People Get Wrong About Canada’s Health-Care System

 By Kathleen O’Grady and Noralou Roos A recent court challenge before the British Columbia Supreme Court threatened to change the rules of the game for the Canadian health-care system—should the challenge have made its way to the Supreme Court of Canada and found success there. Dr. Brian Day of the

Sex, Lies and Physician Supply

 Why female doctors are not to blame Among the many reasons offered for why many Canadians are increasingly facing difficulties finding a family physician to call their own is the fact that the workforce has become increasingly female. The argument usually goes something like this: female family practitioners work fewer