Health

Saanich resident Jason Whyte figures he lost 50 to 60 pounds by walking and eating healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Jason Whyte photo)

Saanich film buff drops the weight with five-hour walks during pandemic

Silver City staffer loads up on podcasts then hits the trails around Greater Victoria

 

(Canadian Press)

‘Hurts so much:’ Over 1,000 Nunavut children on wait-list for dental surgery

Territory back on schedule now that travel restrictions have eased, but it faces a backlog

 

Michael J. Fox was bestowed with Simon Fraser University’s highest honor this week. (YouTube/SFU)

VIDEO: High school dropout turned actor Michael J. Fox receives honorary B.C. degree

‘The closest I got to Simon Fraser University was parking at the Burnaby lookout with my girlfriend on Saturday night,’ he joked

 

Plumes seen from satellite footage taken June 30, 2021 over B.C. (@CIRA_CSU/Twitter)

FROM THE SKY: Pyrocumulonimbus plumes – aka extreme stormy clouds – forming over B.C. wildfires

Health officials urge those with pre-existing health conditions and respiratory issues to remain vigilant

Plumes seen from satellite footage taken June 30, 2021 over B.C. (@CIRA_CSU/Twitter)
Aira Khan waited for an ambulance that never came. (Submitted photo)

UPDATE: Surrey residents report calling 911 for ambulances that didn’t arrive

One was an eight-year-old girl, another a 64-year-old woman with a blood clot after getting an AstraZeneca vaccine

Aira Khan waited for an ambulance that never came. (Submitted photo)
David and Collet Stephan leave for a break during an appeal hearing in Calgary on Thursday, March 9, 2017. Alberta Crown prosecutors have stayed charges against the Stephans who were facing a third trial in the death of their toddler. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol

‘Life consuming’: Alberta Crown stays charges against parents in toddler’s death

David and Collet Stephan will not be prosecuted for failing to provide the necessities of life

David and Collet Stephan leave for a break during an appeal hearing in Calgary on Thursday, March 9, 2017. Alberta Crown prosecutors have stayed charges against the Stephans who were facing a third trial in the death of their toddler. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol
Premier of Manitoba Brian Pallister speaks at a news conference at the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski

Provincial leaders want more federal money for health care, plan to meet in fall

Premiers ask Ottawa to increase its share of overall health spending to 35 per cent from 22 per cent

Premier of Manitoba Brian Pallister speaks at a news conference at the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski
FILE - This July 6, 2017 file photo shows prescription drugs in a glass flask at the state crime lab in Taylorsville, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Contaminants in generic drugs may cause long-term harm to DNA: B.C. researcher

Scientist says findings suggest high volume overseas facilities require strict regulation

FILE - This July 6, 2017 file photo shows prescription drugs in a glass flask at the state crime lab in Taylorsville, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Minister of Seniors Deb Schulte responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle

Liberal government moves to define ‘elder abuse’ to better target ways to stop it

Increasing cases of abuse, neglect, financial abuse or abuse of power-of-attorney being flagged

Minister of Seniors Deb Schulte responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle
In this 2019 photo provided by Biogen, a researcher works on the development of the medication aducanumab in Cambridge, Mass. On Monday, June 7, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved aducanumab, the first new drug for Alzheimer’s disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasn’t been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease. (Biogen via AP)

U.S. approves much-debated Alzheimer’s drug aducanumab panned by experts

Drug from Biogen deemed “reasonably likely” to benefit Alzheimer’s patients

In this 2019 photo provided by Biogen, a researcher works on the development of the medication aducanumab in Cambridge, Mass. On Monday, June 7, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved aducanumab, the first new drug for Alzheimer’s disease in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the much-debated treatment hasn’t been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease. (Biogen via AP)
People gather next to the Lachine Canal on a warm spring day in Montreal, Saturday, May 15, 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada and around the world. A machine learning model used health data collected routinely to predict the majority of people most likely to develop the disease, says the lead author of a study that suggests the findings could be used to create targeted prevention programs years before someone develops the disease. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Knowing diabetes risk years ahead could mean targeted prevention, lower costs: study

The data can help develop targeted population-wide strategies to reduce disease prevalence among high-risk groups

People gather next to the Lachine Canal on a warm spring day in Montreal, Saturday, May 15, 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada and around the world. A machine learning model used health data collected routinely to predict the majority of people most likely to develop the disease, says the lead author of a study that suggests the findings could be used to create targeted prevention programs years before someone develops the disease. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Lia Crowe takes a cold water swim in Okanagan Lake in Kelowna. Don Denton photograph

When Cold Is Hot

Cold water swimming is therapy and exercise

  • May 26, 2021
Lia Crowe takes a cold water swim in Okanagan Lake in Kelowna. Don Denton photograph
Cardiac surgeon Dr. Richard Whitlock of Hamilton Health Sciences is the lead author of an international study that found a simple surgery reduces the risk of stroke after blood clots in patients with an irregular heartbeat. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Hamilton Health Sciences

Surgery to prevent strokes in heart patients recommended worldwide: Canadian doctor

A simple surgery to remove a piece of unnecessary tissue in the heart could prevent strokes in patients with a common condition that requires them to take blood thinners

Cardiac surgeon Dr. Richard Whitlock of Hamilton Health Sciences is the lead author of an international study that found a simple surgery reduces the risk of stroke after blood clots in patients with an irregular heartbeat. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Hamilton Health Sciences
A nurse asks screening questions at an immunization appointment in Nanaimo earlier this year. (Shawn Wagar/Island Health photo)

Island Health appreciates nurses answering the call in challenging times

Health authority draws attention to National Nursing Week

A nurse asks screening questions at an immunization appointment in Nanaimo earlier this year. (Shawn Wagar/Island Health photo)
Foundation President Karen Morgan displays one of the two Dr. Bonnie Henry, John Fluevog shoe-inspired quilts being raffled to raise funds. (Janis Jean Photography)

Saanich Peninsula Hospital fundraiser draws on influences of John Fluevog, Dr. Bonnie Henry

Tickets on sale to June 30 in quilt raffle raising funds for hospital equipment

Foundation President Karen Morgan displays one of the two Dr. Bonnie Henry, John Fluevog shoe-inspired quilts being raffled to raise funds. (Janis Jean Photography)
A Gladstone Secondary School student was diagnosed with the respiratory infection. An exposure notice was sent out Thursday, April 22. (Google Maps)

Case of infectious tuberculosis confirmed at Vancouver high school

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control issued an exposure notice Thursday after a student was diagnosed

A Gladstone Secondary School student was diagnosed with the respiratory infection. An exposure notice was sent out Thursday, April 22. (Google Maps)
National HIV Testing Day is June 27. (Wikimedia Commons photo)

Study looks at how HIV self-tests can help queer people overcome health-care hurdles

Study will send 15,000 free self-test kits to participants across Canada to either use themselves or share with others

National HIV Testing Day is June 27. (Wikimedia Commons photo)
Father Marinaldo Batista, who served at Catholic parishes in Saanich and Sooke, died April 1 in Brazil from complications of COVID-19. (Facebook/St. Elizabeth Church)

Brazilian priest who served in Saanich and Sooke dies from COVID-19

Father Marinaldo Batista, 53, went to Brazil to visit his parents and died there April 1

Father Marinaldo Batista, who served at Catholic parishes in Saanich and Sooke, died April 1 in Brazil from complications of COVID-19. (Facebook/St. Elizabeth Church)
The hiring of out-of-province workers by the Canadian Red Cross to staff the vaccination centre in Langford has raised eyebrows. (Black Press Media file photo)

Red Cross hires out-of-province workers to staff Langford vaccination centre

Staffer worries local jobs weren’t offered to local people

The hiring of out-of-province workers by the Canadian Red Cross to staff the vaccination centre in Langford has raised eyebrows. (Black Press Media file photo)
The public health laboratory says providing precise figures for variant cases is challenging, in part because of the delay to complete whole-genome sequencing and because not all the samples can be sequenced. (Medicago)

Variants of concern higher than reported, but giving precise data challenging: BCCDC

Director Mel Krajden attributes it to a delay to complete whole-genome sequencing and not all the samples can be sequenced

The public health laboratory says providing precise figures for variant cases is challenging, in part because of the delay to complete whole-genome sequencing and because not all the samples can be sequenced. (Medicago)