Edmonton Protocol team reports treatment is safe and reliable for people with hard-to-control diabetes
After 20 years of perfecting their technique, the team behind the largest islet transplant program in the world reports the procedure is a safe, reliable and life-changing treatment for people with hard-to-control diabetes. In results published recently in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, the researchers report on patient survival, graft survival, insulin independence and protection from life-threatening low…
Risk of transmission to people and pets is very low unless you're regularly in contact with birds
If the recent increase in avian influenza cases has you concerned, you likely have nothing to worry about and don’t need to take any added measures, according to a University of Alberta expert on influenza in birds. As with human flu, there are a variety of strains of avian flu, explains Katharine Magor, a professor…
One of the greatest peacetime policy failures in Canada’s history
COVID-19 just ain’t what it used to be. The SARS-CoV-2 virus was never as deadly as feared in its early days and has evolved to be even less so today. The vaccines rushed to production in response weren’t the answer that some hoped and they’ve proved less effective as the virus evolves. It’s high time…
Its largest baby formula plant ships all its products to China
Parents of toddlers are concerned about baby formula shortages due to a combination of factors. A major recall in the United States affecting the top manufacturer of baby formula, coupled with supply chain challenges, has made things difficult for parents. In the U.S., some parents are driving hours just to get the right product for…
Imagining what a thorough investigation of the Trudeau government’s mismanagement of the COVID crisis might reveal
By way of introduction, I come from a Canadian political family with 55 years experience in the political and public policy arenas; 33 of those in association with the legislature and government of the Province of Alberta and 22 in association with the Parliament of Canada. My father spent 13 years in the Canadian Senate,…
Can be a trigger for both grief and healing in people coping with the loss of a loved one
When Donna Wilson pulled up to visit her aunt and uncle on their farm near Eatonia, Sask., a few years ago, she came across a comical scene: Her uncle Doug was running around the yard chasing turkeys. The birds kept jumping up on his dog and he was trying to shoo them away with a broom. It’s…
The nurse-patient relationship is being re-shaped by the proliferation of technology
When Gillian Lemermeyer decided at age 17 to become a nurse, she was following in her mother’s footsteps, so she expected her mom to be thrilled when she told her the news. “I was surprised when she grew very serious,” Lemermeyer remembers. “She said, ‘Okay, but do you understand what it means to be looking after…
Pilots, athletes, dementia patients and more could benefit from this brain boost
Imagine putting on a helmet embedded with tiny electrodes that sit on your scalp, delivering a gentle electrical current to certain areas of your brain. After about 10 to 20 minutes, you might find yourself with a better ability to focus, sharper memory and a host of other cognitive benefits. That’s the idea behind a…
The evidence is overwhelming: Canada needs more doctors
The coronavirus pandemic has accomplished what a multitude of government reports could not – that is, to draw Canadians’ attention to a faltering health-care system characterized by a chronic shortage of beds, overflowing emergency departments, and limited numbers of surgical personnel and operating suites. The flaws have been there for decades, but willful blindness on…
The only professor in academia working on deaf education
There is a fierce debate raging in the deaf community. Many audiologists believe sign language is obsolete, recommending instead that deaf children rely exclusively on technology such as cochlear implants and hearing aids. Sign language, they contend, interferes with learning to speak. Joanne Weber argues the whole dispute is absurd and unnecessary. The first Canada Research Chair in…
Researchers working in a U of A laboratory have uncovered two previously unknown ways that metabolism triggers cancer cell growth, uncovering potential new pathways for diagnosis and treatment. Both papers come out of the laboratory shared by Evangelos Michelakis, professor and associate chair of research in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and Canada Research Chair in Applied Molecular and…
Researchers working to identify drug combinations to treat people with obesity, Type 2 diabetes
Canadian and German researchers are teaming up to identify new drug combinations to treat people with obesity and Type 2 diabetes. The goal is to develop personalized prescriptions that are more effective than single drugs and that can potentially replace more invasive treatments such as bariatric surgery, especially for children. “As a pediatric endocrinologist, I…
Politicians have to stop creating impediments to access
By Nigel Rawson and John Adams Macdonald-Laurier Institute On April 14, 2022, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced the federal government’s decision to cancel most of its plan for the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) to regulate significantly lower prices for new medicines in Canada – a mess created five years ago by then Health…
Celebrating the small wins in life will make you happy in no time
There will always be conversations within our minds that dictate our words and actions and how we perceive the world. The things we tell ourselves have the power to raise us to the greatest heights or plummet us to the deepest depths. It can be argued that there’s nothing so telling regarding our success as…
A government-run monopoly could lead to the same problems we see elsewhere in our health care systems
One of the big-ticket items in the most recent federal budget was the new NDP-approved dental care program. Since oral health falls under provincial jurisdiction, the announcement raises several questions as to the application of this program across the country. Expanding access to dental care is a goal we can all get behind, especially when…
After 20 years of perfecting their technique, the team behind the largest islet transplant program in the world reports the procedure is a safe, reliable and life-changing treatment for people with hard-to-control diabetes. In results published recently in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, the researchers report on patient survival, graft survival, insulin independence and protection from life-threatening low…
