Health & Lifestyle

Captain Nichola Goddard of the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery in Shilo, Man., was a forward observation officer during a firefight with the Taliban roughly 24 kilometres west of Kandahar in May 2006. She had been standing in the turret of a LAV (light armoured vehicle), helping to target artillery, when a rocket-propelled grenade hit, unleashing a storm of lethal shrapnel; the piece that killed Goddard penetrated above her body armour.

At some point in life everyone experiences acute pain from broken bones, wrenched joints, burns, sports injuries, childbirth, illness or medical procedures. About 20 per cent of Canadians also live with chronic pain, and that percentage climbs as we age. Statistics Canada has reported that 27 per cent of seniors living on their own and 38 per cent of those in health institutions live with chronic pain.

In 2008, Master Corporal Mike Trauner, deployed with the 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment (3 RCR), was on foot patrol in the Zhari District west of Kandahar, Afghanistan, when a remotely controlled IED (improvised explosive device) was detonated under his feet. The blast blew off his legs and propelled him in a high arc six metres through the air. In 2010, on a road in the Panjwai District, a LAV III (light armoured vehicle) drove over a buried IED, setting off an explosion. The blast sent the 16,950-kilogram vehicle as much as a metre in the air and blew a hole in the bottom of the vehicle, breaking the bones in M.Cpl. Owen Kolasky’s feet and injuring his spine. In earlier wars, both likely would have died; today both soldiers hope to continue their Canadian Forces careers following rehabilitation.

Autumn is a traditional time of abundance, with crops being harvested and commercial and home preservation kicking into high gear. It’s also a good time to consider the wisdom of the old saying; we are what we eat. It’s pretty common knowledge that food provides the vitamins and minerals our bodies need, but research is showing that what you eat, how much you eat and what’s in what you eat can have a bigger impact on your health than expected.

Health and medical news seems to fly at us from every direction these days—rising disease rates; new tests or treatments; new risks; medical breakthroughs; the state of our health care system; a seemingly unending series of reports on new research and health trends. Health care today is like a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle—many interconnected pieces need to link up to build the complete picture.

A Case For The Stairs The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the Canadian Council for Health and Active Living at Work (CCHALW) are encouraging workers to stay healthy while on the job by simply using the stairs instead of the elevators and escalators. The PHAC is a federal agency with the goal of protecting and improving the health of Canadians to help reduce pressures on the health-care system. The CCHALW is a volunteer, not-for-profit organization that promotes healthier workplaces.

Last fall Harold Stephenson, 89 and with dementia, was found outside his rural home in Mount Pleasant, N.B., without a coat and confused. His family was constantly worried it might happen at night or in the cold, where every minute would make him harder to find. Even with THE help of a FULL-TIME home care worker, a niece who drops by every day and two sons who check in many times a week, there was still the constant worry Harold might fall or wander—and it could be hours before anyone knew.

Blood Tests To Detect Cancer A less invasive alternative to surgical biopsy to identify and track serious diseases is now in the works. Researchers are using biomarkers—like certain antibodies and proteins—to diagnose several serious diseases, including prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer and mesothelioma, asbestos-related lung cancer. Prostate cancer researchers in England have developed a way to detect autoantibodies in blood samples long before symptoms begin. Not only do researchers claim it’s more accurate than current methods—a rectal examination and prostate specific antigen (PSA) test—but it would do away with biopsies. It should also increase survival rates, since men could be treated much earlier.

When people enter the home of Derek and Maria Lunden in North Vancouver or the home of Alison and Peter Faid in Edmonton, they are impressed by roomy kitchens and bathrooms, wide doorways and hallways, fine finishings and lots of natural light. What isn’t so obvious is that these private homes were designed to help their owners negotiate through the later stages of life, whatever life throws at them.

Oxygen Therapy For Foot Ulcers Canadian diabetics with non-healing foot ulcers face a double barrier in access to a healing therapy that could prevent a significant number of amputations of toes, feet and legs.