Health & Wellness

GENEVA — A quarter of those 25 or older now have high blood pressure worldwide, and almost one in 10 has worrying levels of glucose in their blood.
The World Health Organization’s tally of the latest global health statistics for the first time includes a look at blood pressure and glucose levels, two of the risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

WASHINGTON — Look for a fundamental shift in how scientists hunt ways to ward off the devastation of Alzheimer’s disease — by testing possible therapies in people who don’t yet show many symptoms, before too much of the brain is destroyed.

OTTAWA — Canadians have made slight progress in the battle to combat chronic disease through diet choices even as the nation’s children fall even further behind, a study from an independent think tank suggested Monday.

TORONTO — Medical tattoos are becoming more common, with some people choosing to ink their wrists or other body parts with warnings about a health condition instead of wearing standard MedicAlert bracelets or necklaces, says a report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

TORONTO—Ontario’s universal ’flu shot program isn’t making much progress with the under-two crowd, a new study suggests.
Vaccination rates among children aged six-23 months is very low and has been since Ontario started offering free ’flu shots for all, said the study, published today in the journal “Pediatrics.”
Ontario’s universal ’flu shot program began in 2000.

TORONTO, Ontario — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning Thursday about the so-called “liberation therapy,” a controversial procedure that proponents claim helps alleviate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

TORONTO — The death toll cancer takes in Canada is on the decline, fuelled in large part by the fact that lung cancer is killing fewer Canadian men than it did in earlier decades, the Canadian Cancer Society said Wednesday.

TORONTO—The Liberal government is cutting several hundred OHIP fees as it moves to freeze wages for Ontario doctors amid contentious negotiations over a new labour agreement.
The regulatory changes retroactively will take effect April 1, Health minister Deb Matthews said today.

WASHINGTON — Elaine Vlieger is making some concessions to Alzheimer’s. She’s cut back on her driving, frozen dinners replace once elaborate cooking, and a son monitors her finances. But the Colorado woman lives alone and isn’t ready to give up her house or her independence.

ATLANTA — Thousands of Facebook users have signed up to be organ donors this week, thanks to a new feature on the social networking site that makes it easier to register.
The new option was announced Tuesday by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg as a way to boost the number of potential organ donors.