Lyme Disease: Tick Talk

Chris Vanclief woke in the dead of night, gasping and clutching his chest. An ambulance quickly rushed him to the hospital where an ECG came back clear. Two weeks later, an episode of difficult breathing, chest and abdominal pain, shakes and fatigue gripped the 38-year-old, a chiropractor and hockey coach in prime physical condition. “I remember being in the hospital and turning to my wife to say, ‘Something’s eating me inside and nobody’s listening.’”

As the days lagged on, Vanclief slept through Christmas and forgot his niece’s name. Test after test came back with no conclusive answers. Doctors simply told him, ‘there’s nothing wrong with you.’

As his unexplained pain mounted, a serious and growing concern continued its breadth across Canada, infecting parents and children bite by bite. Read more

Peanut Allergies: Food for Thought

Crunchy, chewy, smooth and even chocolate-coated – peanuts may be a popular food but they can be extremely harmful to the many children who are allergic to them.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of school-aged children with food allergies has increased almost 20 percent since 1997.

As the summer winds down, parents who have children with peanut allergies may want to be a little more cautious when packing their little girls’ and boys’ back-to-school snacks and medication to relieve allergic reactions.

“Young children spend a large portion of their days in school and our study showed that a significant percentage of serious Read more

Workplace Safety: Better Safe than Sorry

A man working on the rooftop of a building is performing a site inspection. Since the procedure is routine and brief, he decides to bypass the safety harness. One misstep later and he becomes the middleman between a 25ft. rooftop and the ground. The man is no longer able to work – but that’s the happy version of a story that could have had a fatal ending.

This is just one of the unfortunate real-life scenarios that Roberto Desai, owner of Advance Safety World Limited, has the displeasure of hearing on a daily basis. “There are a lot of workplace injuries that take place every single day that can be avoided; you just have to know what could happen to a person and try to prevent it,” says Desai. Read more

Organ Trafficking: Desperation and Temptation

In the poorest corners of India, the skeletal bodies of street beggars reach forward with outstretched hands. Sunken faces and mouths open, searching for relief from the sweltering hell of their unfortunate existence. Speech is heard but only one word is understood – help.

Somewhere across the world, help is the shared sentiment of a total stranger who is suffering from acute kidney failure, fed up with the nauseating and weakening dialysis treatments, and scared of the average eight- to 10-year wait period for a healthy kidney transplant (most dialysis patients die in half that time). When the pain of any unhealthy organ becomes anywhere from noticeable to unbearable, individuals may feel inclined to search for ulterior motives of survival. Restoration of their depreciating health is the ultimate end result. The question is, at what cost? Read more

Female Oppression in 2010 — The Voice of the Voiceless

[UPDATED]

Once upon a time, a princess and her prince lived in a high tower. Then reality arrived with a forceful push, felling the princess to her battered knees. She held her bloodied head up, her gaze in the looking glass reflecting the scars of a hostage.

Shackled by custom or written law, women and girls around the world continue to live in a dark, controlled existence that is often ignored.

From Colombia to Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia to Haiti, the fairy tale of thousands of women is to embark on a flight to freedom – the right to vote and drive and walk down the road without fear of being raped or sexually mutilated or burned or murdered. Read more

Health Watch: Slashed Pharmacists’ Allowances

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Drug System Reforms are not the cheerful, one-dimensional guarantees his government claims they are, according to worried, independent pharmacists; but McGuinty’s government is steadfast and assures not only have the right steps been taken to ensure pharmacies’ survival, the reforms will also benefit the health care system overall.

Generic drug prices will soon drop from 50 per cent – set in 2006 reforms – to 25 per cent of their brand name counterparts, possibly saving the government more than $500 million a year. But looking past this money-saving exterior, pharmacists wonder, at what true cost to them?

In order to cut generic drug prices in half, the government must eliminate what pharmacists consider their lifeline, Read more

Live Mindfully: Find Peace and Comfort at Home

When it comes to today’s child-rearing techniques, children are often viewed as products to be refined and groomed for success. Lately, we have seen a burst of articles about ‘over-parenting,’ ‘helicopter parenting,’ ‘fear-based parenting’ – but no matter how you phrase it, the root problem is the same. Parents are feeling isolated, confused, and insecure about their ability to create a satisfying home life, so they send their children out into the world to “get ahead.” The result? A million extracurricular activities, private sessions with tutors, and a playroom stocked with enrichment DVDs.  Rather than forcing intellectual and creative development by putting your child on warp speed, try the opposite approach: make your home a “slow home.” Here are six ways to try it out: Read more

Michael J. Fox — Parkinson’s Disease Awareness

His brain and pill playing nice at alchemy, Michael J. Fox rose from the ground and onto the platform at the closing 2010 Winter Olympic Games, smoothly delivering a tongue-in-cheek monologue on Canada’s back bacon and ‘I’m sorry’ stereotypes. Comedic pokes at Canadiana aside, his flawless flow of words was what engaged the audience and viewers around the world. His unwavering gait and quick smile called for the crowd to rise to its feet to celebrate the victory and fortitude of the human spirit, garnering the loudest standing ovation on that mild Vancouver night.

He inhales conviction and exhales hope and because of that, we believe.

Michael J. Fox, 49, has Parkinson’s disease, a disease that tears at the brain, our throne of intelligence. The condition Read more

Jennifer Cohen — Unleash your Inner Rock Star

Jennifer Cohen is a health, fitness and lifestyle expert who has trained a wide range of people, from working men and single mothers, to Hollywood’s Keanu Reeves, Gabrielle Union and some of the Playboy Playmates. Cohen has written a book filled with on-the-go daily workout routines that can be done in your home, office or even while you’re out shopping.

No Gym Required: Unleash Your Inner Rock Star, teaches a reader to think outside the box when it comes to everyday routines and environmental challenges. The message Cohen is trying to get out is that “everything you need is right around you if you can just learn to use it.”

The book kicks with tips and tricks, including stacking books or magazines as a platform on which to do lunges, using Read more

Fitness and Nutrition Tips

1: There are so many different ways to take our workouts to the next level but we seem to get stuck in the same routine. Take some time to really explore all that your health club has to offer. Why not try a new kind of exercise that you don’t usually do to get different muscles working? A little push can make a big difference. www.elementsfitnesstoronto.com

2: In-home personal training could be a fast and effective way to get results. Having someone come to you means a hassle-free, no-excuses solution to your workout woes. www.puremotivationfitness.com

3: The most common mistake made by most trainees is under-eating. Muscle needs to be fed the proper nutrients. Skipping meals or not eating at least your basic metabolic requirements Read more

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