Here is a list is current health issues integrated with links to related internet sites followed by more health-related web sites such as Health Canada, Canada's Sympatico Healthyway or the huge American Academy of Family Physicians.  Also see our web page of internet medical links "by category".

This information if not intended to replace the information from your physician.

***** Disclaimer - please read*****

Alphabetical Lists of Conditions:

Arthritis - new, safer, anti-inflammatory medications are now available.   They greatly reduce the risk bleeding in your stomach.  Soon, new ones will be far better and could revolutionise arthritis treatment.  Connect to the Arthritis Society of Canada and learn more about arthritis.  A new European study supports the use of the "natural" product Glucosamine Sulphate in an article from the February 8, 2000 Medical Post.

Asthma - click here for information from the web site of an asthma therapy leader.  See the Asthma Society of Canada web site.   New 12 hour bronchodilators and ozone-friendly metered-dose inhalers, and a new class of oral medications called leukotriene inhibitors (click here for an interactive movie) are some of the new developments.  Take an asthma interactive quiz by Merck Frosst Canada.

Automobile Safety - everybody knows that seat belts save lives and air bags have their benefits and hazards(click for more) as well.  But, did you know that anti-lock braking systems (ABS) can provide a 20% reduction in accidents? In a panic stop, the system allows you to apply the brakes at full force, prevents wheel lock-up, and allows steering control.  Do you know if your vehicle has them?  If so, then do you know how to use them? Try practising using them carefully on an empty snowy or gravel road or parking lot.  Remember the 3 "S" saying, Stomp hard on the pedal, Stay on the pedal (you should feel a pulsing sensation as the system works) and Steer around obstacles.   For more information see the web site of NHTSA -    National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the USA, the USA   IIHS - Insurance Institute for Highway Safety/Highway Loss Data Institute, or Discovery Channel of Canada Car Safety.

Cancer - can been beaten by early detection and prevention.  Regular exercise, a healthy diet and weight, not smoking, drinking sensibly, avoiding excessive sun exposure, regular skin self-exam, having regular pap tests and mammograms plus doing regular breast self exams (for women), prostate examination and the PSA blood test screen (for men over 50), and colon cancer screening can help.  Please talk with your doctor or better yet, have a full check-up.   See also the Canadian Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society web sites.

Chicken Pox - click here for everything you wanted to know.  It one of the last of the contagious childhood diseases that causes significant complications, even death (1 or 2 Canadian children die of Chicken Pox each year).  Your doctor can prescribe your child a medication called ZOVIRAX within 24 hours of the rash's appearance that can shorten and reduce the severity of this illness.  Better yet, a proven vaccine in Japan and the USA, VARIVAX, was released here in December 1998.  As of Octorber 1999, VARIVAX is recommended by the Pediatric Society of Canada as part of routine immunization of children over 1.  Unfortunately, only the province of Prince Edward Island privides the vaccine under medicare.

Diabetes - To avoid complications of diabetes, it is crucial to have well controlled glucose levels.  Please have your doctor test your levels of fasting glucose and glycosylated haemoglobin (averaged glucose) every 6 months or more if necessary, measure your own glucose with a glucometer.

Carbon Monoxide Detectors are affordable life-saving devices that all homes with fuel-burning appliances should have.  Examples of these include fireplaces, natural gas-powered appliances and furnaces, wood-burning stoves and etc.

Children's' Health - please see these web sites:  Canadian Paediatric Society, Canadian Parents Online, Parents Place, Smoking for Teens

Erectile Dysfunction - Click here for information about the disorder and the popular new drug Viagra.

Exercise - helps keep you healthy and prevents disease:

Eyestrain from Computers- this helpful web site can help you reduce eye strain.  It also links to information on a new computer program to help that was developed in Toronto.

Drug and Alcohol Treatment Info Line - "DART"

Canada's Health - connect to Health Canada for this.

Genital Herpes - although there is no cure for this disease, your doctor now has a number of therapies available.

Heart attack and stroke - Heart disease is the main cause of death for Canadians.  Connect to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario , the American Heart Association and Heart Disease information by Merck-Frosst to find out how you can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke

HIV and AIDS - for your information

Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) - Do you have hypertension or high blood pressure?   Approximately 22% (nearly a quarter) of Canadians do according to a 1997 report in the American Journal of Hypertension.  The astounding facts are that 42% of these hypertensives are unaware of their condition.   Furthermore, 19% are not treated, 23% are under-treated, and only 16% are well-treated.  How is your blood pressure? Your doctor has many new medications available for you alone or in combination.

2000 Canadian Hypertension Society Goals:

General	<140/<90* (*<135/<85 on home meter)
Diabetes (without proteinuria)	<130/<80
Proteinuria >1g/day	<125/<75

Influenza to find out more about the "Flu", click on to these 2 sites: USA CDC info and Flupill.com.  Your doctor should have "Flu Shots" available by early each October. (Shots should be received by the end of November, but it is beneficial later in the season).  Ontario now offers Flu shots for everybody.  Those who should receive the vaccine are young children, anyone over 65 years old or those with Diabetes, Chronic heart or lung diseases etc.  An effective newer medication "Tamiflu" can shorten the illness.

Menopause - Current hormone replacement therapy can reduce menopausal women's risks of heart disease and osteoporosis as well as alleviating most other non life-threatening symptoms.   Newer hormone medications are derived from natural plant sources.  Click here to read information from the Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of Canada.
        Menopause hormone replacement has recently become more simple with the introduction of the combination patch Estalis and birth control pill package-like combination tablet FemHRT.
        A non-hormone drug called "Evista" by Eli Lilly has been released that mimics some of estrogen's effects.  It has been approved for use in osteoporosis (prevention and treatment).  It has potential benefits from heart disease and the prevention of breast cancer.

Migraine Headaches - Your doctor has a number of new and often effective medications for this debilitating illness.  Three newer medications ("Maxalt, Amerge" and "Zomig") similar to the revolutionary drug "Imitrex" are now available.

Obesity - a healthy diet and regular exercise still are the cornerstones of obesity management.  To calculate your body mass index, go to Dr. Koop's Ideal Weight Calculator.  As mentioned before, see the Body Break web site for exercise tips and the Dieticians of Canada web site for diet tips. Xenical (orlistat) has been released in Canada for conjununctive treatment of severe obesity along with a calorie reduced diet and exercise.  Its action occurs within the intestine to impair the absorption of fat molecules.  Another new weight loss medication was released in the USA called "Meridia" which may become available in Canada soon.

Organ Donation - give the gift of life so that others may live.  Thousands are waiting for your donation.  Read more from the Canadian Association of Transplantation, or Organ Donation Ontario, or Medic Alert (one way to become a donor).  Read about the shortages in organ donation at the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Osteoporosis- click here for a must see site for all women and many men.  Did you know that nearly as many women die from osteoporotic broken hips as those that die from breast cancer?  Did you know that 1 in 3 woman and 1 in 8 men over 65 have this condition?  Prevention includes regular weight-bearing exercise, adequate life-long calcium intake (milk products provide the best source of dietary calcium), and for women hormone replacement, hormone prophyllaxis or "Fosamax" prophyllaxis after menopause begins.  Actonel joins Didrocal and Fosamax in the same class of medications to treat Osteoporosis (see below).  Miacalcin, (salmon calcitonin hormone) nasal spray is now available to treat osteoporosis.  Evista, used for menopause,  is now also approved to treat osteoporosis.

Pneumonia Prevention - The most common bacterial pneumonia infections can be prevented by the Pneumococcal Vaccine.   This is covered by OHIP if you are over 65 years old or have chronic disease of the heart, lung, diabetes etc.

Pregnancy and Neural Tube Defects - For women to dramatically reduce the risk of neural tube defects (for example spina bifida in which babies are born paralysed from the waist down), the vitamin folic acid is recommended starting 1 month before even getting pregnant!  Be sure to discuss this with your doctor.  For more information please see:  Healthy Beginnings from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, Pregnancy - Healthy Eating (from the March of Dimes), Pregnancy - Childbirth.org, Pregnancy - Nausea and Vomiting, and Motherisk (from the Hospital for Sick Children of Toronto).

SARS - (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) Please visit our SARS information page for more information.

Sexual Assault - victims and other interested people can visit the Sexual Assault Care Centre of The Scarborough Hospital in Toronto for useful information.

Smoking - click here for information on this terrible addiction and how to quit.  Please be aware that nicotine patches, HABITROL, NICODERM, and NICOTROL, have been released as "over-the-counter" products July/98.  A recent oral drug to help with quitting, ZYBAN, is also available from your doctor.

Women's Health - a wealth of information from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynechologists of Canada.   Also see the new site by the Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. 

Ulcers - click here for more information.  Did you know that most ulcers are due to a bacterial infection called "H. Pylori" and can be treated in one week?