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Four years ago, the Coalition Avenir Québec promised everyone a family doctor. To reach that goal, the government went on the offensive, becoming embroiled in an often-acrimonious debate with doctors aimed at forcing them to take on more patients. Less than a week into the CAQ’s re-election campaign, the party ditched that 2018 election promise, admitting

The study covered in this summary was published on medRxiv.org as a preprint and has not yet been peer reviewed. Key Takeaway Why This Matters Study Design Participants were older adults from two ongoing community-based cohort studies of aging and dementia: the Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP) (n = 1179), and the Religious Orders

Note that some links may require subscriptions. According to the CDC, cases of norovirus almost tripled during the 2021 to 2022 surveillance period as compared with 2020-2021. As of Thursday, 4.4 million Americans had received Omicron-targeted COVID boosters. (AP) TV personalities Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper shared personal experiences of coping with grief. (CNN) Private-equity

he 2022-2023 flu season in the U.S. is expected to be worse than in previous years, with an anticipated increase in the number of cases. Experts recommend several ways to avoid getting sick with influenza. One of the key ways to prevent illness is to get a flu vaccination. These shots are recommended by the Centers

Sport climbing can help improve posture in patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD), including older patients, new research suggests. In a randomized controlled study, those who participated in scaling a wall using ropes and fixed anchors were less stooped at 12 weeks than a control group that participated in some form of unsupervised physical activity. Dr

The federal government has decided to drop the vaccination requirement for people entering Canada, end random COVID-19 testing at airports and make the use of the ArriveCan app optional by the end of this month, a senior government source told CBC News. Earlier this week, sources told CBC that Ottawa was leaning toward ending the measures

Randomized comparisons of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary bypass surgery (CABG) for left-main coronary disease, including those that have sparked very public debate, naturally enrolled patients suitable for either procedure. But that takes a toll on their relevance to clinical practice, where patients are not so narrowly defined. It also highlights the role of

Note that some links may require subscriptions. Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital is anticipating a strike by union workers ranging from essential support services to patient care services. (WBAL-TV) NIH advisers recommend tighter oversight of experiments on deadly viruses. (Washington Post) Trying to time your updated COVID-19 booster shot? Wait no later than October, some say.

When spending time scrolling through TikTok, it’s inevitable to come across fun product reviews by creators. Through these reviews, we’ve discovered a ton of useful products we never knew we needed. To help make your lives easier and more convenient, The Bitbag Team has come up with a list of products that we are proud

A recent study in The Lancet Global Health takes a pessimistic view of our ability to eradicate measles by 2100, although rubella forecasts look a bit more promising. So far, measles has been eliminated in 81 countries and rubella in 93. But factors such as antivaccination sentiment and misinformation linking vaccination to autism have led to

The new president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) said Wednesday he fears the country’s fragile health-care system will deteriorate further without an injection of cash — and a plan to increase the number of doctors and other health care professionals. Dr. Alika Lafontaine, an anesthesiologist in Grande Prairie, Alta., and the group’s first Indigenous president, told CBC

Fewer than half of children aged 2-16 years with sickle cell anemia are receiving recommended annual screening for stroke, a common complication of the disease, according to a new Vital Signs report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of these children also are not receiving the recommended medication, hydroxyurea, which can reduce

Maternal depressive symptoms were associated with an increase in the number of unhealthy adolescent behaviors, a 15-year longitudinal study showed. While unhealthy behaviors were found to be common among adolescents in general, with two out of three engaging in at least one, higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms during a child’s middle childhood and adolescence

ADHD patients may experience a drug shortage of Adderall as some pharmacies across the U.S. are having difficulties securing the prescription drug due to supply chain issues. Adderall is a commonly used medication for treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). CVS Health and Walgreens have had to tell patients that Adderall was out of stock with wait

New Haven, Connecticut — Sing “Happy Birthday”? Recite the ABCs? Count 20 seconds? What’s the best way to ensure the effectiveness of hand washing? Maintaining good hand hygiene practices remains key to preventing the spread of pathogens in the healthcare setting and beyond. However, hand hygiene habits have long proven resistant to change among healthcare

The federal government has introduced legislation to enact its recently announced cost-of-living plan by offering some Canadians help with dental care for children and one-time boosts to the housing benefit and the GST tax credit. The government said that, when combined, the three measures amount to $4.5 billion in financial support targeted at low- and middle-income Canadians —

A hefty decline in new COVID-19 cases among children resulted in the lowest weekly total since late April, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. The 60,300 new COVID cases reported during the week of Sept. 9-15 were down by almost 28%, compared with the previous week’s

Note that some links may require subscriptions. A day after President Biden said the “pandemic is over,” his chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci, MD, said: “we are not where we need to be if we are going to quote ‘live with the virus,’ because we know we are not going to eradicate it.” (Politico) The

Life expectancy in the U.S. decreased to 77.0 in 2020 from 78.8 years in 2019. In 2021, it fell even lower to 76. Though some diseases are more prevalent as Americans get older, it is important to be mindful of one’s health at any age. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nine of

Just over 51% of older hypertensive adults regularly check their own blood pressure, compared with 48% of those with blood pressure–related health conditions (BPHCs), based on a 2021 survey of individuals aged 50-80 years. “Guidelines recommend that patients use self-measured blood pressure monitoring (SBPM) outside the clinic to diagnose and manage hypertension,” but just 61%

White Coat Black Art26:30The Trouble with Home Care (Part 1) Kirsten and David MacDonald’s lives were both changed forever last year when Kirsten was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and David became her full-time caregiver. “A year and a half ago, Kirsten could run 5K, no problem. And so in the course of a

A history of head trauma may predict a more rapid decline in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), new research suggests. In a longitudinal online study, among patients with PD who had a history of head injury, motor impairment developed 25% faster and cognitive impairment developed 45% faster than among those without such a history. In