Health

Portrait of Suzanne Degner by Lia Crowe photography

Secrets and Lives with Suzanne Degner

Kelowna has always been on my radar

  • Jun 7, 2023

 

Cowichan Valley senior Grace Price said the costs of shingle vaccinations in B.C. are out of reach for many people. (Robert Barron/Citizen)

Costly shingles vaccines spark call for change from Cowichan senior

Many seniors on fixed incomes can’t afford them

 

UBC researchers aim to lead the charge in defining what is a concussion. (Black Press File Photo)

B.C. researchers look to bridge gap in ‘wildly inconsistent’ concussion diagnoses

Researchers at UBC looking to create new criteria when it comes to diagnosing concussions (Photo: Daniel Taylor)

 

The Central Okanagan Food Bank is one alternative source of support for local families unable to financially sustain a healthy food diet. (File photo)

Report highlights high cost of healthy eating for Interior B.C. families

Food cost issues identified but solutions not readily evident

The Central Okanagan Food Bank is one alternative source of support for local families unable to financially sustain a healthy food diet. (File photo)
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry spoke about the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 during a press conference in Victoria. (Chad Hipolito/ Canadian Press)

What seniors still need to know about COVID

Dr. Bonnie Henry provides answers to a few specific questions on behalf of Langley’s aging population

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry spoke about the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 during a press conference in Victoria. (Chad Hipolito/ Canadian Press)
British Columbia will review a U.S. draft recommendations to determine if any changes will be made to its mammogram screening program. (pixabay photo)

Some doctors, patients want Canada to follow U.S. proposal for earlier mammograms

Regular mammography screening recommended for women between the ages of 50 and 74 in Canada

British Columbia will review a U.S. draft recommendations to determine if any changes will be made to its mammogram screening program. (pixabay photo)
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix speaks during an announcement about funding coverage of application and assessment fees for internationally trained nurses, at Langara College in Vancouver, on Monday, January 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. sets record, delivers 350,000 surgeries last fiscal year, health minister says

From April 2022 to March 2023 B.C. delivered more than 350,000 surgeries

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix speaks during an announcement about funding coverage of application and assessment fees for internationally trained nurses, at Langara College in Vancouver, on Monday, January 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Minnesota Wild’s Marcus Foligno (17) fights Chicago Blackhawks’ Andreas Englund (28) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, April 10, 2023, in Chicago. A study looking at National Hockey League players who spend more time dropping the gloves or in the penalty box tend to live 10 years less than their peers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Paul Beaty

NHL tough guys die 10 years younger than their fellow players, study finds

Differences in causes of death between the enforcers and their fellow players was striking

Minnesota Wild’s Marcus Foligno (17) fights Chicago Blackhawks’ Andreas Englund (28) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, April 10, 2023, in Chicago. A study looking at National Hockey League players who spend more time dropping the gloves or in the penalty box tend to live 10 years less than their peers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Paul Beaty
(File photo by BLACK PRESS)

Paramedic shortages still plague B.C. rural areas, but remedies may be in the works

Part-time staffing model, better on-call wages may help areas facing staffing gaps

(File photo by BLACK PRESS)
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks to journalists during a press conference about the Global WHO on World Health Day and the 75th anniversary at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday April 6, 2023. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

WHO downgrades COVID pandemic, says it’s no longer emergency

Announcement marks a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks to journalists during a press conference about the Global WHO on World Health Day and the 75th anniversary at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday April 6, 2023. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)
B.C. Nurses’ Union President Aman Grewal speaks as B.C. Premier David Eby, back right, listens during an announcement at Langara College in Vancouver, on January 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. nurses ratify new three-year collective agreement

BCNU says 61 per cent of its members voted in favour of the new deal

B.C. Nurses’ Union President Aman Grewal speaks as B.C. Premier David Eby, back right, listens during an announcement at Langara College in Vancouver, on January 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
FILE - Cigarette butts fill a smoking receptacle outside a federal building in Washington, Thursday, April 15, 2021. According to government survey data released Thursday, April 27, 2023, U.S. adults are smoking less. Cigarette smoking dropped to another new all-time low in 2022, with 1 in 9 adults saying they were current smokers. Meanwhile, e-cigarette use rose, to about 1 in 17 adults. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Adult cigarette smoking rate hits new all-time low in the United States

New government survey says 1 in 9 Americans are smokers

FILE - Cigarette butts fill a smoking receptacle outside a federal building in Washington, Thursday, April 15, 2021. According to government survey data released Thursday, April 27, 2023, U.S. adults are smoking less. Cigarette smoking dropped to another new all-time low in 2022, with 1 in 9 adults saying they were current smokers. Meanwhile, e-cigarette use rose, to about 1 in 17 adults. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
This image provided by Eli Lilly shows a 15 mg dosage of the company’s drug Mounjaro. Already approved to treat type 2 diabetes, Mounjaro is being considered for fast-track approval as a weight-loss drug based on the results of key clinical trials, with the latest announced on Thursday, April 27, 2023. Also known as tirzepatide, it is part of new class of medications that treat overweight and obesity by targeting the metabolic conditions that lead to extra weight. (Eli Lilly via AP)

Powerful new obesity drug poised to upend weight loss care

Tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro, has a track record of leading to significant weight loss

This image provided by Eli Lilly shows a 15 mg dosage of the company’s drug Mounjaro. Already approved to treat type 2 diabetes, Mounjaro is being considered for fast-track approval as a weight-loss drug based on the results of key clinical trials, with the latest announced on Thursday, April 27, 2023. Also known as tirzepatide, it is part of new class of medications that treat overweight and obesity by targeting the metabolic conditions that lead to extra weight. (Eli Lilly via AP)
Michelle Logeot, seen in an undated handout photo, says health professionals repeatedly misdiagnosed her but more education and awareness about women’s heart health could change that so others don’t have to endure what she did — a massive heart attack and cardiac arrest. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Michelle Logeot

Women’s heart health conference aims to raise awareness beyond ‘bikini medicine’

Women talk gender bias during 2-day Canadian Women’s Heart Health Summit in Vancouver

Michelle Logeot, seen in an undated handout photo, says health professionals repeatedly misdiagnosed her but more education and awareness about women’s heart health could change that so others don’t have to endure what she did — a massive heart attack and cardiac arrest. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Michelle Logeot
Protesters march out of Oppenheimer Park along Powell Street in Vancouver on April 14, 2023 during an event marking the seventh anniversary of the toxic drug deaths in B.C. (Photo: Lauren Collins)

Toxic drug deaths response, care now top priority for First Nations Health Authority

When looking at abstinence as only option, it creates stigma, fear and shame: FNHA

Protesters march out of Oppenheimer Park along Powell Street in Vancouver on April 14, 2023 during an event marking the seventh anniversary of the toxic drug deaths in B.C. (Photo: Lauren Collins)
Diabetes drug Ozempic is shown at a pharmacy in Toronto on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. British Columbia is enacting a new regulation to ensure the province’s diabetes patients do not face a shortage of the drug widely known as Ozempic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Joe O’Connal

B.C. works to ensure its Ozempic supply for diabetes patients not U.S. weight loss

Province wants to work with federal government to ensure drug gets to Canadians first

Diabetes drug Ozempic is shown at a pharmacy in Toronto on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. British Columbia is enacting a new regulation to ensure the province’s diabetes patients do not face a shortage of the drug widely known as Ozempic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Joe O’Connal
Shelves typically stocked with baby formula sit mostly empty at a store in San Antonio, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. If infant formula has become akin to liquid gold for parents stressed about empty store shelves this year, Canada may be sitting on a potential treasure trove — if only it could process the raw elements. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Eric Gay

Why doesn’t Canada make its own baby formula when we have the raw ingredients?

Lack of processing capability means Canada not taking advantage of material supply

Shelves typically stocked with baby formula sit mostly empty at a store in San Antonio, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. If infant formula has become akin to liquid gold for parents stressed about empty store shelves this year, Canada may be sitting on a potential treasure trove — if only it could process the raw elements. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Eric Gay
Philip and Sonja Hathaway say they will camp in front of the B.C. legislature until they receive some news of when they will get their newborn daughter back. (Hollie Ferguson/News Staff)

Vancouver Island couple camps at B.C. legislature to protest apprehension of newborn

Philip and Sonja Hathaway say their rights and the rights of their new daughter have been violated

Philip and Sonja Hathaway say they will camp in front of the B.C. legislature until they receive some news of when they will get their newborn daughter back. (Hollie Ferguson/News Staff)
The persistent cases of mammals infected with bird flu has put Canadian wildlife and public health experts on alert, as a recent research paper warned of a “potentially devastating pandemic” if the virus mutates to efficiently spread between humans. Dr. Samira Mubareka, an infectious disease specialist and clinician scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Toronto, poses in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Sunnybrook Hospital

‘Potentially devastating’: Bird flu cases in mammals put scientists on alert

Fewer than a dozen confirmed human H5N1 cases globally since 2020

The persistent cases of mammals infected with bird flu has put Canadian wildlife and public health experts on alert, as a recent research paper warned of a “potentially devastating pandemic” if the virus mutates to efficiently spread between humans. Dr. Samira Mubareka, an infectious disease specialist and clinician scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Toronto, poses in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Sunnybrook Hospital
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau embraces Wayne Christian (Wenecwtsin), right, First Nations Health Authority Deputy Chair, as he jokes about knowing the prime minister’s late father, former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, while speaking during an announcement about First Nations health-care funding at the Squamish First Nation, in West Vancouver, B.C., on Friday, April 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. First Nations health gets $8.2 billion in federal funding to fix ‘disparities’

Prime Minister announces funding at the Squamish Nation in West Vancouver

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau embraces Wayne Christian (Wenecwtsin), right, First Nations Health Authority Deputy Chair, as he jokes about knowing the prime minister’s late father, former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, while speaking during an announcement about First Nations health-care funding at the Squamish First Nation, in West Vancouver, B.C., on Friday, April 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck