Saskatchewan wants better care for seniors

Saskatchewan Health will be exploring the grey matter of many groups to create a seniors' care strategy.

Health Minister Don McMorris wants to identify and address problems in current community-based care programs, from home care to facility care.

"The goal is to keep seniors at home as long as possible but we hear that there are some gaps in that process, so we want to ensure that those gaps are filled," he said.

"We'll be starting to work with the regional health authorities because they play a major role and also senior groups and all the parties that are involved to identify where are the breakdowns."

Dr. William Klassen, a retired physician and senior, applauds keeping seniors at home as long as possible. But he said the elderly often have special needs such as mobility problems, which require supports such as paratransit to be expanded to improve access to health-care services.

"Those who use paratransit say the services are very good but hard to get," he said.

"Timely access to physicians is important for all residents, but seniors often have chronic and acute diseases so they are more vulnerable," Klassen said.

"The health care and the independence of seniors face one issue that is unique to them and that is the changes that come with old age, that makes their health problems more difficult to diagnose and sometimes more difficult to manage," Klassen said.

"That's an area that geriatricians, a physician who is a specialist in dealing with old age, play a special part. Unfortunately our province has only one geriatrician and only one geriatric unit and that's in Saskatoon."

Read the full story here

Frustration builds up among Canadian family doctors

Faced with an aging population requiring increasingly complex care, overwhelmed Canadian doctors are feeling more and more frustrated by their inability to properly serve their patients' health needs, a national survey of physicians reports.

In the survey of more than 20,000 doctors and doctors-in-training from across the country, 75 per cent reported that inadequate funding of the health care system and an under-supply of physicians and other health professionals, along with paperwork and bureaucracy, are curtailing the amount and level of care they want to provide patients.

While that attitude was expressed by all the specialties, it is perhaps most pronounced among family physicians, simply because of their number and the nature of their practice, said Calvin Gutkin, executive director and CEO of the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

Almost half of Canada's roughly 60,000 doctors are family practitioners, and it's usually the specialty seen most often by patients, he said.

"I think the frustration remains related to just the capacity within the family medicine community to address all of the needs of the population," said Dr. Gutkin, whose organization conducts the triennial survey jointly with the Canadian Medical Association and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

"Physicians in most communities across the country are doing their best to try to see as many patients as they can," he said.

"But still many of them have had to ... limit the number of new patients they can take. And we have community after community with patients who are unable to access a family physician for themselves or for their families. "

Read the rest of the story here

A related story about Calgary doctors can be read in here

Genetic mapping of Quebec commences

Efforts to create a genetic map of Quebec begin in earnest this month as researchers start recruiting people willing to offer up their bodies' blueprints.

The University of Montréal-driven project aims to sign up the first 400 people from Montreal, Monteregie and the Eastern Townships, with the aim of eventually collecting data on health and disease from just over 20,000 people.

The government-funded project is expected to create one of the largest data and biobanks in Quebec and will be made available to health researchers.

"The genome of each human being contains enormous quantities of information. The analysis of this information can increase our understanding of the underlying processes of health and disease," Dr. Claude Laberge, a geneticist and scientific director of the CARTaGENE project, said in a release.

The initial subjects, all between the ages of 40 and 69, will be selected at random using a list provided by the province's health insurance board.

Laberge says focusing on subjects in this age group means researchers know they will find that one-third are already coping with a variety of ailments including hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and arthritis.

Read the full story here

Insufficient warning dangerous drugs by Health Canada

Despite evidence indicating seniors are being prescribed potentially dangerous drugs, Health Canada says it can't do anything more to make its warnings about these medications more effective.

The department is responding to an investigation in December revealing that doctors continue to prescribe anti-psychotic drugs to seniors, despite Health Canada warnings in 2005 that the drugs increased the risk of heart attack, stroke and death.

The analyzed sales data for the drugs indicated that prescriptions increased from seven to 40 percent for a 24-month period after the warnings.

Dr. Marc Berthiaume, director of the Marketed Pharmaceuticals Division at Health Canada, said the department warns doctors and their patients about dangerous drugs through an increasing number of safety alerts such as letters, e-mails and its website.

"We have developed over the years different ways to increase our outreach of that safety information," he said.

But he acknowledges it is up to physicians to read the mailed material. "We cannot open the letter for them. We cannot make them read them."

He said that's because the department doesn't have the legal power to do anything more than publish warnings.

Terence Young, whose 15-year-old daughter Vanessa died seven years ago after taking the drug Prepulsid, said that is nonsense. "Health Canada claims their responsibility stops when the information gets into doctors' hands. I find that disingenuous on several levels.

"The safety warnings sent out to doctors simply don't work, and this was well established at the inquest into Vanessa's death."

Young said Health Canada is wrong to claim it has no legal authority to beef up health warnings, because the law makes it clear the minister's ultimate duty is to protect the safety of Canadians.

Michèle Brill-Edwards, a pediatrician and clinical pharmacologist and one of Health Canada's fiercest critics, agrees. "The minister has in the enabling legislation called the National Department of Health Act very broad powers for the protection of the public."

"I think Dr. Berthiaume is voicing the standard views of the department that seek to limit the department's responsibility for safety."

Although Health Canada refers to its drug alerts as risk communication, Brill-Edwards said that it's hard to call it communication when no one seems to be paying attention.

Source: CBC News

Related article:

Dangerous drugs still prescribed to seniors

Tailor-made food supplements disputed by Science

From A to zinc, the choice is endless.
Should you choose single vitamins or a multivitamin? Or how about a special formula for stress, fitness, women, men or seniors?

Wouldn't it be great to know exactly which supplements are right for you?
That's what laboratories that specialize in 'body chemistry balancing' promise.
For several hundred dollars, they claim to identify vitamin and mineral deficiencies from a simple blood and urine test.

For David and Cheryl Solomon of Dollard des Ormeaux, nutritional testing takes the guesswork out of the perennial question of whether they're getting the proper vitamins.

Six months ago, the couple and their three sons, age 6 to 11, underwent testing by NutriChem, an Ottawa company founded by pharmacist Kent MacLeod that sells personalized nutritional supplements.

"The beauty of it is he'll customize the vitamin for the individual," said David Solomon, 38, who takes 20 capsules a day, containing vitamins, minerals, fish oils and amino acids.

Cheryl and the boys each take between seven and 10 capsules a day of custom-made supplements.

"This is not a jack-of-all-vitamins," said Solomon, an advertising manager for the Suburban newspaper.
"Until you get tested, you don't know what's right and what's wrong."

The family spends $1,000 a month on supplements. The initial test cost $600 per person.

"In the last few months I've been taking it, I feel fabulous," said Solomon, who used to suffer from chronic indigestion.

"Several doctors said, 'You're getting older. Your body is changing.' "

Solomon, who also takes prescription medication for his digestive problems, said the nutritional supplements have helped him digest food better and boosted his energy.

MacLeod provides personalized care that is sorely lacking in the health care system, according to Solomon, who regards the cost of the vitamins as a long-term investment in his health.

"It's about get in, get out as fast as possible," he said of mainstream medicine. "We wait until we break down before we take care of something."

"This is the future," said pharmacist MacLeod, who founded NutriChem in 1981 and now provides nutritional testing and supplements to 20,000 families around the world.
The company mails out kits for blood and urine samples, which customers return to Ottawa for testing.

Many people are vitamin-deficient because of poor diet or problems absorbing nutrients from food, said MacLeod, whose customers range from middle-aged women with depression to professional hockey players.

They hear about NutriChem from the Internet, referrals by alternative health practitioners and word of mouth.

"Ninety percent of the Canadian population is not getting one or more essential micronutrients," he said.
"There are people running around with no gas in the tank."

MacLeod got into the nutritional-supplement business 27 years ago by creating vitamin cocktails for children with Down syndrome.
He later expanded his practice to include children and adults with conditions from autism to depression, high-performance athletes and people simply seeking optimum health.

But experts dispute the claims of companies that perform nutritional testing......................

Read the full story here

Alzheimer Society kicks-off Brain Health awareness campaign

This January, the Alzheimer Society is challenging all Canadians, young and old, to make brain health a personal commitment as it kicks off its nationwide awareness campaign, 'Heads Up for Healthier Brains!'

"In 2007 we helped people make the connection between healthy living and a healthy brain," says Scott Dudgeon, chief executive officer of the Alzheimer Society of Canada.
"Now we are asking Canadians to make the commitment to do the things that will help keep their brains healthy, things that can also help to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease."

Making the commitment is easy.
It can involve the entire family, and include activities such as challenging your brain, being socially active, choosing a healthy lifestyle, and protecting your head from injury.
It is never too soon, or too late, to make changes that will maintain or improve your brain health.

For people already living with Alzheimer's disease, these kinds of activities go a long way in improving quality of life, as well as delaying the progression of the disease.
"Across the globe, top scientists are continuing to focus their efforts on the prevention of Alzheimer's disease, and much of this research is happening right here in Canada," says Dr. Jack Diamond, scientific director of the Alzheimer Society of Canada.

"In just the last year we have learned so much more about the importance of a healthy lifestyle, and the need to keep your brain active."

The Alzheimer Society is making its own commitment to helping Canadians improve their brain health with the launch of BrainBooster, an online gym of challenging games and puzzles designed to increase mental performance.
The gym also features brain boosting recipes and simple exercises to get people moving.

Canadians can access the gym by visiting www.alzheimer.ca.
Once there, they can also sign up with their personal 'brain' pledge and enter the 'Puzzled about Alzheimer's Contest,' showcased in the Feb/Mar issue of Homemakers and Madame magazines, as well as their online sites.

Source: CNW Group

More Canadians should get tax-incentive to start exercising

If we look at the numbers according to Obesity Canada, a network of health care professionals, as many as 25% of all teens and 50% of all adults in Canada are overweight.

A staggering 10%-12% of adult Canadians are classified as obese, putting them at serious risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes, to name but a few of the threats they are exposed to.
The leading factors in the 'obesity epidemic' are a poor diet and inactive lifestyles.

Therefore, a New Year's resolution of the Harper government should be to get more Canadians off their couches and start exercising.
In 2007, the Tories already made a great step in the good direction with the introduction of the Children's Fitness Tax Credit, which allows parents to claim on their income tax a portion of the fees they pay to enroll their kids in sports.

The government really needs to expand the program now and include everyone over the age of 16.
Rewarding people for joining health clubs or signing up for recreational sports programs is a simple, yet effective way to get more Canadians active in our increasingly sedentary society.

Over the years, governments leaned toward using the 'stick-approach' to improving our health, but shaming and hectoring people through nagging awareness campaigns, food labelling, tobacco-use restrictions and the like will only go so far.

Now it's time to start offering rewards to people for making healthy choices.

Allowing people to claim only a portion of activity fees on their taxes will be a safeguard against abusers simply buying a gym membership as a tax write-off and then never showing up, but it will still reward people genuinely trying to get healthier.

In the long run, all Canadians will benefit.
More people leading healthy lifestyles will ease pressure on our overburdened health care system.

Source: Winnipeg Sun

The Ottawa Hospital starts testing overnight patients for superbugs

The Ottawa Hospital will begin testing overnight patients for two virulent strains of bacteria beginning in January to help combat infections and deaths.

Overnight patients will be screened for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), two strains of bacteria that, along with other hospital-acquired superbugs, kill thousands of Canadians annually.

The mandatory screening follows a pilot project the hospital conducted in the summer, which found that certain members of the patient population should but weren't screened for the drug-resistant bacteria, hospital spokeswoman Allison Neill said.

The Ottawa Hospital will be the second hospital to adopt universal screening for these two superbugs. Toronto's University Health Network initiated testing for these two bacteria in the fall.

If patients test positive for either bug, they will be isolated in private hospital rooms, the hospital said.

In the six months ended September 30th, there were 82 cases of hospital-acquired MRSA at the Ottawa Hospital.

In the same period, there were 18 cases of hospital-acquired VRE at the hospital.

Source: CBC

Doctors of Ontario urge smokers to quit smoking in 2008

Ontario's doctors are encouraging those who smoke to make 2008 the year they quit.

Doctors and other primary care providers have been working with patients to help them develop a plan to quit smoking and can help increase the chances of success.

"Doctors understand that smoking is a serious addiction and we want to provide patients with the support they need to become smoke-free," said Dr. Ken Arnold, President-elect of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA).
"The beginning of a new year is always a good time to renew your commitment to improving your health and to make the decision to quit smoking for good."

The OMA is offering the following tips for individuals who are looking to quit smoking:

• If you smoke, avoid exposing others (especially children) to second hand smoke
• Never smoke in a car with children present
• Nicotine Replacement Therapies, like nicotine gum and the patch, will help you deal with the cravings. Keep nicotine gum with you at all times. It's available over the counter at pharmacies
• Remove ALL cigarettes and ashtrays in your home and car
• Regular exercise can help calm you down and relieve tension
• Make an appointment to see your doctor to discuss how they can help
• Make a resolution that you're going to have a healthy and smoke-free 2008

Tobacco use is the number one preventable cause of death and disease in Canada.
One in every four deaths from heart attacks and strokes in Canada is caused by smoking, and tobacco use causes about 30 percent of all cancers in Canada and more than 85 percent of lung cancers.
In Ontario and each year 16,000 patients die prematurely because of smoking.

"Make a commitment to be smoke-free in the New Year to keep you, and those around you, healthier in 2008," said Dr. Arnold.

"Everyday doctors treat patients whose health is compromised from smoking, which is why we have been advocating so strongly to protect Ontarians from tobacco use and second-hand smoke."

Editor's opinion:

"Does anyone know anyone who quit smoking with the 'help' of nicotine patches or gum?
You could get addicted to those instead and they don't solve the problem anyways.

Nicotine, the main addictive substance in tobacco products, is processed by the human body in a few hours, hence the need to light up a new one after approximately and averagely an hour.

If a smoker quits smoking cigarettes their body is in complete control.
Many smokers quit smoking cigarettes daily but they never experience any physical problems.

Even chain smokers hardly ever wake up in the middle of the night to 're-fuel', unlike a Heroin or Cocaine addict who often wake up at night to feed the addiction.

A smoker can simply spend a couple of hours watching a movie in a theater or being on an airplane, without having a cigarette and without shaking, screaming and sweating.
This shows clearly that smoking cigarettes is not at all a physical addiction!

There are always smokers who claim that they cannot sit for such long hours without cigarette while I'm sure they never even tried it or are simply lying about it, it's called addictive behavior.
This, in my opinion, only tells us that smoking is a mental addiction.

Therefore quitting smoking doesn't require products that only prevent your body to be in a state of total nicotine neutralness as a starting point to deal with the more important job: the bending of the lies your telling yourself in your mind why you shouldn't quit or just not yet.

Take it from an extreme, 2-packets-a-day, EX-smoker since 7 or 8 years (don't really remember!).
There is another painless, effortless, inexpensive and effective way to quit, since it deals with the mental and not the physical part of the addiction.

Believe it or not, it only requires to read a very amusing book, written by Allen Carr, called "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking"

It was the most valuable, yet in-expensive present I ever gave myself."

Source: CNW Group

Sleep has great effect on behavior and weight of children

The length of sleep at night, can affect children's behavioral patterns and lead to changes in eating habits, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Children who slept for less than nine hours a night, were more likely to have behavioral problems and also to become overweight or obese, the study indicated.

"Short sleep duration was associated with a three-fold increased risk of the child being overweight or obese," said Ed Mitchell, the study's author in a release.
"Attention to sleep in childhood may be an important strategy to reduce the obesity epidemic."

The study examined the sleep patterns of 591 children using 'actigraphy' which is a method of charting movement in sleep without the use of invasive tools.

The children were assessed at birth, at one year, at 3½ and at seven years.

The researchers in New Zealand determined that the children spent on average 10.1 hours in bed per night.
This differed at different times of the week, in different seasons and in cases where the kids had brothers or sisters.

The researchers state that the recommended amount of sleep for children in preschool is 11-13 hours a night and 10-11 hours for children who are school age.

The study will be published in the January 1st issue of the Journal Sleep.

Source: CBC

Poor people in Canada healthier than in the U.S.

Poor and less-educated Canadians are healthier than their American counterparts, according to a Kaiser health economist based in Portland.

Although overall population health is similar in both countries, there were differences at the lowest levels of income and education, said David Feeny, senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research.
He was co-author of a study that included the largest survey comparing health in the two countries.

"Income and education are well-known predictors of health status," said Feeny.
"What was surprising, however, was the statistically significant health gap between people in the U.S. and Canada at the lowest levels of income and education. The question is, what explains this gap?"

The most obvious difference between the two countries is Canada's universal health coverage, Fenny said.

"From prenatal care through death, there is no co-pay to see a family doctor or visit the hospital," he said.

"Some people think that is probably important in the differences people observe in the less advantaged. The less advantaged in the United States often have no health insurance, or inadequate insurance."

"There is an argument, not a definitive one, that with access to routine care, people seek care earlier in the progression of a disease, instead of coming in late when you've already become a complicated case."

Source: The Columbian

First human-to-human Bird Flu case NOT confirmed

Editor:

"Earlier today I reported that the World Health Organization had established human-to-human transmission of the bird flu virus in Pakistan.
In fact, officials now say no evidence has been found of that, despite the fact a single case of the H5N1 virus has been established in a sick family.
However, there was no apparent risk of it spreading further."

A statement from the U.N. agency said tests in its special laboratories in Cairo and London had established the “human infection” through presence of the virus, collected from one case in an affected family.

But it said a WHO team invited to Pakistan to look into an outbreak involving up to nine people from late October to December 6th had found no evidence of sustained or community human-to-human transmission.

No identified close contacts of the people infected, including health workers and other members of the affected family, had shown any symptoms and they had all been removed from medical observation, the WHO added.

The outbreak followed a culling of infected chickens in the Peshawar region, in which a veterinary doctor was involved. Subsequently he and three of his brothers developed proven or suspected pneumonia.

The brothers cared for one another and had close personal contact both at home and in hospital, a WHO spokesman in Geneva said. One of them, who was not involved in the culling, died on November 23rd, but the cause of death was not known.

On November 28th another brother who had not been involved in the culling died, and tests on him (in Pakistan as well as in Cairo and London) had established the presence of the H5N1 virus.

The WHO spokesman said there was suspicion that there had been human-to-human transmission, as there had been similar suspicion of such transmission within families in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, but this could not be confirmed.

Earlier this week 2 more Egyptians tested positive for bird flu H5N1, a day after an Egyptian woman died of the disease.
This brings the total number of bird flu deaths in Egypt to 41.

Read the full story about that here

Related articles:

First human-to-human Bird Flu case officially confirmed

Alert: first cases of bird flu emerged

House dust greater health risk for kids than lead paint

Canadians may be exposed to a wide variety of metals, chemicals and pesticides on a daily basis as the result of a seemingly harmless domestic nuisance: house dust.

It's a potential health hazard that scientists are only beginning to understand.
Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada have embarked on a landmark four-year national study to determine levels of metals and chemicals in house dust across the country, and how health risks should be addressed.

Dust typically contains a variety of toxins released by common household products including plastics, electronics, furniture, garden soil and lead paint, which is common in older homes.

Scientists don't know for sure where all the toxins commonly found in dust come from.
They also don't know the typical concentration of metals and other toxins in house dust.

Unlike lead paint on toys or chemicals in plastic, scientists say house dust presents a far greater, unique risk because the loose, free particles can be easily ingested by children crawling on the floor or may be inhaled when dust becomes airborne.

Research has linked lead, flame retardants and pesticides found in house dust with the accumulation of these toxins in children's bodies.

"We've found high levels of lead in house dust is associated with higher blood lead levels in kids," said Paul Lioy, director of the exposure science division of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, at jointly sponsored by Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

"We don't know what typical concentrations are for metals in house dust and other substances," said Pat Rasmussen, research scientist at Health Canada and principal investigator of the national house dust study.

Read the rest of the story here

Alberta bans smoking completely

In November, the provincial government of Alberta passed Bill 45, 'The Tobacco Reduction Act', with support from all sides of the House.
Each year Alberta spends more than $470 million on health care costs associated with tobacco use.

"This prompted the introduction of Bill 45," said Shannon Haggarty, spokesperson for Alberta Health and Wellness.

A recent report, released by 'Campaign for Smoke-Free Alberta', says Bill 45 will reduce absenteeism, sick leave and disability from tobacco use.

Alberta is shedding the image of the "Marlboro man" as it gears up to introduce one of the strongest tobacco laws in Canada and the world.

The bill will make all workplaces and establishments completely smoke-free and will also ban tobacco retail displays and promotion, along with removing tobacco sales from pharmacies, health care settings and post-secondary institutions.

Bill 45 is set to protect all Albertans from the effects of second-hand smoke and will be implemented in three parts.

1. Coming January 1st, all work and public places will be smoke-free
2. On July 1st, 2008 all power walls will be banned
3. On January 1st, 2009 there will be a complete ban on tobacco products in pharmacies, post-secondary institutions and other health-care facilities.

“The minister has said a number of times that we are losing a lot of people through the effects of smoking and second-hand smoke,” said Haggarty, adding there is also an economic issue of people missing time from work.
Each year, Alberta employers lose more than $1.3 billion from lost productivity.

“The different parts of this bill make it a world-class policy,” said Kim Tradewell, a member of Lloydminster Action for Smoke-Free Places.
She added there is only a handful of jurisdictions such as Ireland, Iceland, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories and Nunavut that have gone this far.

Source: Meridian Booster

First human-to-human Bird Flu case officially confirmed

Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva confirmed a single case of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 bird flu virus in a family in Pakistan but said there was no apparent risk of it spreading wider.

A statement from the U.N. agency said tests in its special laboratories in Cairo and London had established the "human infection" through presence of the virus collected from one case in an affected family.

But it said a WHO team invited to Pakistan to look into an outbreak involving up to nine people, from late October to December 6 had found no evidence of sustained or community human-to-human transmission.
No identified close contacts of the people infected, including health workers and other members of the affected family, had shown any symptoms and they had all been removed from medical observation, the WHO added.

The outbreak followed a culling of infected chickens in the Peshawar region, in which a veterinary doctor was involved. Subsequently he and three of his brothers developed proven or suspected pneumonia.

The brothers cared for one another and had close personal contact both at home and in the hospital, a WHO spokesman in Geneva said. One of them, who was not involved in the culling, died on November 23.

His was the human-to-human transmission case confirmed by the WHO. The others all recovered.

"All the evidence suggests that the outbreak within this family does not pose a broader risk," the WHO spokesman said.

"But there is already heightened surveillance and there is a need for ongoing vigilance."

It was the first human-to-human case of H5N1 transmission in Pakistan, while others have been confirmed in Indonesia and Thailand in similar circumstances of what the WHO calls close contacts in a very circumscribed area.

Global health experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily from one person to another, possibly triggering a pandemic that could kill millions.

So far, the virus has killed 211 people out of 343 infections reported since 2003.

Source: Reuters

Related article:

Alert: first cases of bird flu emerged

Health claims endorsed by physicians debunked

In an article published in the year-end edition of the British Medical Journal last weekend, the Indianapolis-based team of Rachel Vreeman and Aaron Carroll identified seven widely held health beliefs in need of critical review.

They included the notion that people should drink at least eight glasses of water a day, that we only use 10 percent of our brains, and that turkey causes fatigue.

"These medical myths are a light-hearted reminder that we can be wrong and need to question what other falsehoods we unwittingly propagate as we practice medicine," the authors say in the article.

The researchers used Google and Medline, an archive of medical literature, to find evidence to support or debunk health claims endorsed by physicians and the general public.

The following myths are busted or just have meager medical evidence:

• People should drink at least eight glasses of water a day
  
• We use only 10% of our brains
  
• Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death
  
• Shaving hair causes it to grow back faster, darker, or coarser
  
• Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight
  
• Eating turkey makes people especially drowsy
  
• Mobile phones create considerable electromagnetic interference in hospitals.

Source: British Medical Journal

Editor:
"Enjoy reading the report, it's rather amusing!"

Calgary Health Region huge deficit due to nearly 1 million hours overtime

The Calgary Health Region will post a sizable deficit this year as staffing shortages leave the medical authority with a massive bill for nearly one million hours in overtime, says the region's chief executive.

Despite earlier predictions of a balanced budget, Jack Davis, CEO of the Calgary Health Region, said the CHR will sink into the red in the '07-'08 fiscal year, due to a larger-than-expected pay hike for nurses and $63 million in overtime costs.

Davis would not reveal the anticipated size of the deficit facing the CHR, the body in charge of Calgary's health system including four hospitals. He said it will be larger than last year's $70-million shortfall, which required a government bailout.

"There's no question we'll have a deficit," Davis said in a year-end interview with the Herald.

"It's definitely going to be harder than last year."

The health authority has faced persistent problems finding enough nursing staff in recent years, which has forced local hospitals to close beds and cancel procedures.

Earlier this month, the Alberta Children's Hospital had to reschedule six surgeries in two weeks because there were not enough critical care nurses.

The CHR has faced ongoing financial pressures, largely because of Calgary's booming population and increasingly expensive medical technology.

The cash-strapped region has posted several deficits in recent years, including a $70-million shortfall last year and a $58-million deficit in 2004-05.

This year, shortages of nurses and other health workers have placed a new strain on the region's budget: overtime costs have climbed from $43.5 million last year to $63 million this year.

CHR is also picking up its share of the tab for a new contract the government signed with the province's registered nurses.

The deal, which makes Alberta's nurses the highest paid in Canada, came in higher than the CHR anticipated, leaving the region with a

$13-million unbudgeted expense.

In the past, when the CHR has run a deficit, the province has announced additional funding to help the health body remain in the black.

It is not yet clear if the government will offer the CHR additional funding to cover the deficit for the 2007-08 budget.

"Regions are required by legislation to balance their books," said Howard May, a spokesman for Alberta Health. "Those running deficits need to have a credible deficit elimination plan in place."

Laurie Blakeman, health critic for the Alberta Liberals, said the CHR could save money by hiring more nurses full time, rather than paying them time-and-a-half or double-time to work when they have a day off.

"It's penny wise and pound foolish, and we're paying the price for it," she said.

Davis said the region is already working to address the large number of part-time nurses at city hospitals and is discussing the issue with unions.

"In terms of part-time and full-time, we'll have to work with unions on something that works for everyone," said Davis.

The United Nurses of Alberta says this province has more part-time nursing jobs than any other Canadian jurisdiction.

Read the rest of the story here

Safety warning by Health Canada for sleep drug Alertec

Health Canada has issued a warning about serious skin and allergic reactions related to Alertec, a drug used to relieve excessive sleepiness due to narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea and shift-work sleep disorders.

The federal agency said patients taking Alertec (modafinil) should seek immediate medical attention if they have any of the following symptoms: skin rash, hives, sores in the mouth, blisters and skin peeling; swelling of the face, eyes, lips, tongue or throat; trouble swallowing or breathing; or a hoarse voice.

Alertec, made by Shire Canada Inc., is not approved in Canada for use in children for any condition.

The drug can cause mental problems. Depression, anxiety, hallucinations, mania and suicidal thoughts have been reported in patients using the drug, although these events were rare during controlled studies.

Health Canada says anyone experiencing such psychiatric conditions should stop taking Alertec and seek medical attention.

Those taking the drug should tell their doctor if they have any heart problems, chest pain, have had a heart attack or a history of psychiatric disorders. There have been previous but rare reports of severe life-threatening skin reactions and allergic reactions in adults and children using Alertec.

Two of the more severe forms of skin reaction are known as toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) and Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), either of which may quickly develop into a serious condition. There are no known factors that can predict the risk of occurrence or the severity of rash associated with Alertec.

Shire Canada has sent a letter to Canadian health-care professionals informing them of the new safety information.

The Canadian Press

Country-wide Physicians' health checkup

Doctors across the country are getting a checkup.

A national study launched by the Centre for Physician Health and Well-being of the Canadian Medical Association will survey physicians' health, from nutrition and physical activity to job satisfaction and burnout.

"There's abundant data in the literature showing a relationship between mental health issues such as depression and exercise for example," said Dr. Erica Frank, the principal investigator and the Canada Research Chair in Preventative Medicine and Population Health at the University of British Columbia.

"There are a number of other areas that we'll be looking at as well. One of the key pieces that we're going to be looking at is physicians' personal health practices because there's a lot of really interesting research that shows that can really make a difference in the population."

The surveys are sent out to more than 8,000 randomly selected practising physicians.

Dr. Vino Padayachee, the chief of staff at St. Joseph's Hospital of Estevan and the past Saskatchewan Medical Association president, is keen to participate and hopes many of his counterparts do the same.

"This is not just about physician health," he said. "Indirectly it's about patient health. If you have healthy physicians, then you'll have healthy patients. We don't allow airline pilots to fly beyond a certain number of hours because of the risk to the passengers and we should look at the same thing for physicians as well."

CMA research conducted in 2003 reported that 46 per cent of physician respondents were in advanced stages of burnout.

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Trans fat reduction going the right way, but more to be done

According to their latest study about trans fat reductions, Health Canada says that more needs to be done to lower the levels of trans fat, although progress is being made.

A trans fat task force recommended in 2006 that processed trans fats should be limited to no more than five percent of total fat.

The federal government then gave the food industry two years to reduce the amount of heart-clogging trans fat in their foods.

Sally Brown, CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and co-chair of the national trans fat task force, says many companies have made "significant progress in reducing trans fats."

However, she adds that other companies "do not seem to be getting the message" and points to fast food restaurants as the leading culprits, Burger King in particular.

Brown says that Burger King has "unacceptably high levels of trans fat in many of their products" and this makes her wonder if they care about their customers.

Canadian Press and Marketwire