The Canadian Community Health Survey conducted by Statistics Canada has revealed that Canadian consumption of tobacco is decreasing. Over the past year, the number of Canadians aged 12 or older who smoked either daily or occasionally has dropped by 0.4%, from 18.1% to 17.7%. This is encouraging progress, considering that in the year 2000-01 this percentage was much higher at 26%.

The negative effects of smoking have been widely advertised. Most people are aware of its links to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and many other health conditions. The World Health Organization predicts that there will be 8 million deaths related to smoking per year by 2030.

“These decreases in smoking prevalence are encouraging, but an enormous amount of work remains to be done,” said Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS). The CCS is one of the main advocates for modifying cigarette packaging to become more plain and generic. The idea is to reduce brand identification and incentive to purchase tobacco products. A similar campaign in Australia has shown that this method can have a positive effect and reduce smoking .

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Canada’s attitude and approach towards medical research is making a slow-but-steady shift; from doctor centric, to patient centric. Previously, doctors and scientists conducted research without much public input, but patients and caregivers are starting to get an increasing amount of say in what is being investigated, and how.

(Image credit: Tim Fraser)

Canada is following the lead of organizations such as the James Lind Alliance in the United Kingdom, which uses community input to establish a list of top 10 research priorities for major medical conditions. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research launched its Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research in 2011. Its goal is to promote community involvement to ensure patients’ voices are being heard.

“What we’re trying to do is change the culture of medicine by putting patients in all our activities. Sometimes if you’re really trying to change the way you understand a disease or care for a group of patients, having them there is very grounding and makes you much more efficient,” says Dr. Adeera Levin, a principal investigator at the Can-SOLVE network, which seeks solutions and innovations to overcome chronic kidney disease.

This approach does come with some drawbacks. Some view patient involvement as an unnecessary extra step in research. Investigators who already have a lot on their plate may be overburdened by the extra work required to keep patients involved each step of the way buy cialis uk.

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A recent scientific study has predicted that life expectancy in many 1st world countries could break the 80-year barrier in just over a decade. In 2030, women born in South Korea could be expected to have an average lifespan of 90 years, with most developed countries not too far behind. Improvements in the economy, education, and universal healthcare are the major factors driving this increase in life-span.

Canadians born in 2030 will also live longer than the previous generation. The average age for males will increase to 84, while for women it will be 87. Meanwhile, life-expectancy in the U.S. will only improve slightly, due to the lack of socially supported healthcare and increasing obesity and other healthcare concerns.

While many may see this increase in life expectancy as a positive, it could have a negative impact on the healthcare system. Health and social care for people over the age of 80 will become more expensive as the demographic increases.

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Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has long been considered a behavioral problem, but new research published in Lancet Psychiatry shows that people with ADHD may actually have a smaller overall brain volume, and certain regions of their brain may be smaller as well.

(Image credit: Laura Meader)

To determine this, scientists analyzed the MRI scans of 3,200 people. 2 different groups of patients from age 4 to 63 were analyzed, those diagnosed with ADHD, and a control group of patients without the condition. The difference in brain volume noted by the researchers was most noticeable when looking at the MRIs of children, and less noticeable in adults.

Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou, a Toronto-based pediatric neurologist, hopes that this research will help health professionals, parents and teachers understand this disorder better: “It is a bit distressing that kids are still getting feedback that they are misbehaving or that [ADHD] is not real. If anything comes out of this very large study, it’s that this is a brain disorder.”

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We all know that maintaining a balanced diet and consuming an appropriate amount of fruits and vegetables is necessary to live a healthy lifestyle, but new study results show that these benefits may not be limited to your physical health.

In a study conducted at the University of Otago in New Zealand, researchers studied 2 groups of young adults (ages 18-25); one group maintained their normal eating habits, while the other consumed extra servings of fruit and vegetables. After a two-week period, the group consuming the extra servings of fruit and veg reported higher levels of motivation and vitality, which are associated with better mental health.

The study team concludes that: “This is the first study to show that providing high-quality FV to young adults can result in short-term improvements in vitality, flourishing, and motivation. Findings provide initial validation of a causal relationship between FV and well-being, suggesting that large-scale intervention studies are warranted.”

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