Tag: Health

  • Associate Minister Brandy Payne statement on W-18 detected in Alberta overdose victim

    Associate Minister Brandy Payne statement on W-18 detected in Alberta overdose victim

    Today, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed that a man who died as a result of a drug overdose in March had heroin, W-18, and 3-methyl fentanyl in his system when he died. “Hearing that another person has died in Alberta after taking highly toxic illicit drugs is deeply troubling. This is especially…

  • Statement from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner about an opioid-related death

    Statement from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner about an opioid-related death

    Dr. Graham Jones, Chief Toxicologist of Alberta’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, issued the following statement in response to the death of an individual due to a drug overdose: “The death of a male in early March 2016 in Calgary has been publicly attributed to W-18, a synthetic opioid that is many times more…

  • AHS Weekly Wellness News: Quitting Tobacco with AlbertaQuits.ca

    AHS Weekly Wellness News: Quitting Tobacco with AlbertaQuits.ca

    People use tobacco for different reasons, and there is no shortage of good reasons to quit. Longevity, quality of life, the sheer cost of cigarettes or chewing tobacco, the impact smoking has on your friends and loved ones: these are all major factors that may motivate you to quit. For all these motivations though, quitting…

  • Diagnostic Lab Service Report Raises Further Questions: Wildrose

    Diagnostic Lab Service Report Raises Further Questions: Wildrose

    EDMONTON, AB (May 18, 2016): Following the release of the Health Quality Council of Alberta’s report on diagnostic lab services in Alberta, there remain too many questions about whether or not the NDP government is using the best available evidence to provide a lab service delivery model for Edmonton and northern Alberta, the Wildrose Official Opposition…

  • Is the Zika Panic Over?

    Is the Zika Panic Over?

    Towards the end of last year, and over the first months of 2016, there were alarming reports of the explosive spread of Zika virus infection in South America. As many as 1.5m Brazilians were thought to have contracted the virus. More, worrying still, there were reports of thousands of cases of congenital microcephaly – infants born…

  • Why U.S. Doctors are Calling for Canadian-Style Medicare

    Why U.S. Doctors are Calling for Canadian-Style Medicare

    And why a B.C. court case challenging our single-payer health system threatens to ramp up Canadian costs and decrease accessibility of care By Karen Palmer, Adviser, EvidenceNetwork.ca BURNABY, B.C. / Troy Media/ – In a dramatic show of support for deep health-care reform in the U.S, more than 2,200 physician leaders are calling for sweeping change. Their…

  • Live to See your Graduation – Drive Responsibly

    Live to See your Graduation – Drive Responsibly

    The province urges young drivers to focus on the road, and only the road, when driving. Between 2010 and 2014, 226 young drivers and motorcyclists (aged 14 to 24) were killed and 12,883 were injured in collisions. Although young drivers represented only 14 per cent of the province’s licensed drivers in 2014, they accounted for more than 20 per…

  • Airdrie RCMP urge residents to properly dispose of unused prescription drugs on May 21 

    Airdrie RCMP urge residents to properly dispose of unused prescription drugs on May 21 

    Airdrie, Alberta – The Airdrie RCMP and London Drugs are reminding Airdrie residents to properly dispose of unused and expired prescription drugs on May 21 as part of National Prescription Drug Drop-Off Day.   National Prescription Drop-off Day promotes the safe storage and disposal of prescription drugs and raises awareness about the potential for possible abuse…

  • National Prescription Drug Drop-off Day

    National Prescription Drug Drop-off Day

    Drop off your expired or unused medication at Pharmasave in Black Diamond this Saturday! On Saturday, May 21, 2016, Canadians are reminded of the importance of cleaning out their medicine cabinets and safely disposing of unused and expired medications by returning them to their local pharmacy. Each year, the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA)…

  • Healthy Tips from Pharmasave: Poison Ivy

    Healthy Tips from Pharmasave: Poison Ivy

      Contact dermatitis is another kind of allergy, one that appears as a skin rash after you have touched some sort of allergen. One of the most common triggers of contact dermatitis in the great outdoors is poison ivy. The resin of the plant contains an oily substance called urushiol that’s easily released and spread when…

  • Blue to the Sky, Orange to the Thigh

    Blue to the Sky, Orange to the Thigh

    What is a severe allergic reaction? A severe allergic reaction, also known as anaphylaxis, occurs in some people when they are exposed to a usually harmless substance, called an allergy trigger. The body overreacts to allergy triggers and releases chemicals to protect itself. In severe cases, this reaction produces life-threatening symptoms. Common triggers that can…

  • AHS Weekly Wellness News: Sunglasses – more than just a fashion statement

    AHS Weekly Wellness News: Sunglasses – more than just a fashion statement

    Sunglasses are a “must have” for big-sky prairie summers and there is more to think about when selecting them than style and cost. Sunglasses can protect your eyes from the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) light and can dramatically reduce the risk of damage to your eyes. In the same way your skin can be…

  • A Mom’s Shoes are Hard to Fill

    A Mom’s Shoes are Hard to Fill

    A future in healthcare is a family affair Story by: Sharman Hnatiuk Rei Calisin knew he wanted to become a respiratory therapist (RT) when he job shadowed his mother, an RT on the Stollery Children’s Hospital Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), for a day in high school. Now Rei, 25, works side by side with…

  • Urgent Investment in Indigenous Health Care Needed

    A shared federal-provincial initiative could bring new focus to a desperate problem By Brian Postl, EvidenceNetwork.ca and Pierre-Gerlier Forest, University of Calgary WINNIPEG, Man. and CALGARY, Alta. / Troy Media/ – Being an indigenous person in Canada is too often a dangerous reality. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The tragic reality is that the health…

  • Amendments to Health Professions Act would make Physician Assistants and Medical Diagnostic Sonographers Regulated Professions in Alberta

    Amendments to Health Professions Act would make Physician Assistants and Medical Diagnostic Sonographers Regulated Professions in Alberta

    Adding physician assistants and medical diagnostic sonographers to the Health Professions Act is the first step in making them regulated professions in Alberta. “Albertans should have confidence that health providers and health facilities in our province maintain high professional standards and provide the best possible care. The proposed changes will help ensure Albertans receive quality…