Public Health supports access to COVID-19 and influenza immunization and testing across the province. To help ensure all Nova Scotians have access to these important services, we will be holding an additional COVID-19 and influenza testing clinic this week:
Henry G Bauld Centre
35 Wilfred Jackson Way, Dartmouth
Thursday, Feb. 1 from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
The clinic will provide on-site PCR testing for COVID-19 and influenza and/or give out COVID-19 rapid test kits. Drop-ins and booked appointments are welcome. If you’d like to book a testing appointment, visit www.nshealth.ca/coronavirustesting or call 1-833-797-7772.
Vaccines and testing are free and available to all who meet eligibility requirements.
Please bring your health card if you have one.
Immunization and testing clinics are healthcare environments. Masks are required and will be offered upon entry to the clinic.
Please dress accordingly as you may have to wait in line outside.
Clinics may be cancelled due to inclement weather.
COVID-19 rapid test kits will also be available at most immunization clinics.
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Do you have a COVID-19 symptom? Get tested right away!Early detection is key when it comes to being considered for COVID-19 medication. Please complete the Report and support form when you book a COVID-19 PCR test or have a positive COVID-19 rapid test.
There are now more ways to access care with YourHealthNS. Download the app or visit YourHealthNS.ca.
A new cyclotron located at the University of British Columbia promises to improve cancer care in B.C.
Cyclotrons are machines that produce materials, with which doctors detect and monitor cancers and other diseases, and Health Minister Adrian Dix Tuesday (Jan. 30) announced that construction of the machine is underway.
“Having access to medical imaging is critical to (making) a cancer diagnosis,” Dix said in Vancouver. “(This) new cyclotron and laboratory will increase capacity for PET/CT scanners. Increasing PET/CET enables our physicians to accurately diagnose cancers, determine appropriate treatment options, treatment planning and identify appropriate targeted therapies, ensuring all people in B.C. have access to the care they need.”
Four publicly funded PET/CT scanners currently operate in the province — two in Vancouver, as well as one in Victoria and one in Kelowna, with “more coming,” Dix said.
He said about 16,000 PET/CT scans happen annually in B.C. With the new cyclotron, B.C. will have the raw material to do up to 41,000 scans, a “massive, significant” increase, Dix added.
The cyclotron — whose commission is scheduled for 2026, following construction completion in 2025 —is part and parcel of investments totaling $50.5 million, with the provincial government’s share being $32 million.
Most of that money — $21 million — is going toward the new cyclotron and radio-pharmacy laboratory with the rest going to TRIUMF, Canada’s particle accelerator centre, for research. BC Cancer Foundation is ponying up another $3.5 million to support capital investment and $15 million for critical cancer research.
Dix said the laboratory will also advance research between BC Cancer and TRIUMF at the Institute for Advanced Medical Isotopes.
“This shared facility will help BC Cancer not only rapidly increase the ability to generate radioactive isotopes, but will also help researchers project future demand for them,” he said.
Cyclotrones use a combination of electrical and magnetic fields to accelerate sub-atomic particles to very high energy. Researchers then use the resulting particles in particle physics, nuclear physics and the production of medical isotopes.
Dr. Kim Nguyen Chi, BC Cancer’s executive vice-president and chief medical officer, said these isotopes are key for cancer diagnostics and advanced imaging.
“For patients, this means more precision care and better outcomes,” Chi said.
When asked whether the province has the necessary doctors to treat cancer when detected, Dix said “the short answer is yes.”
It takes many years to train doctors, nurses and other health professionals and previous governments have failed to do that in the past, he said.
That has changed under his government’s health human resources strategy, Dix added. “I think B.C. is one of the most attractive places in the world to practice health care.”
But Dix also acknowledged that more needs to be done in the face of rising demands from an growing and aging population.
”So absolutely, we need to dramatically increase and support medical professionals and health care workers and that’s precisely what we are doing with this announcement today,” he said.
A new cyclotron located at the University of British Columbia promises to improve cancer care in B.C.
Cyclotrons are machines that produce materials, with which doctors detect and monitor cancers and other diseases, and Health Minister Adrian Dix Tuesday (Jan. 30) announced that construction of the machine is underway.
“Having access to medical imaging is critical to (making) a cancer diagnosis,” Dix said in Vancouver. “(This) new cyclotron and laboratory will increase capacity for PET/CT scanners. Increasing PET/CET enables our physicians to accurately diagnose cancers, determine appropriate treatment options, treatment planning and identify appropriate targeted therapies, ensuring all people in B.C. have access to the care they need.”
Four publicly funded PET/CT scanners currently operate in the province — two in Vancouver, as well as one in Victoria and one in Kelowna, with “more coming,” Dix said.
He said about 16,000 PET/CT scans happen annually in B.C. With the new cyclotron, B.C. will have the raw material to do up to 41,000 scans, a “massive, significant” increase, Dix added.
The cyclotron — whose commission is scheduled for 2026, following construction completion in 2025 —is part and parcel of investments totaling $50.5 million, with the provincial government’s share being $32 million.
Most of that money — $21 million — is going toward the new cyclotron and radio-pharmacy laboratory with the rest going to TRIUMF, Canada’s particle accelerator centre, for research. BC Cancer Foundation is ponying up another $3.5 million to support capital investment and $15 million for critical cancer research.
Dix said the laboratory will also advance research between BC Cancer and TRIUMF at the Institute for Advanced Medical Isotopes.
“This shared facility will help BC Cancer not only rapidly increase the ability to generate radioactive isotopes, but will also help researchers project future demand for them,” he said.
Cyclotrones use a combination of electrical and magnetic fields to accelerate sub-atomic particles to very high energy. Researchers then use the resulting particles in particle physics, nuclear physics and the production of medical isotopes.
Dr. Kim Nguyen Chi, BC Cancer’s executive vice-president and chief medical officer, said these isotopes are key for cancer diagnostics and advanced imaging.
“For patients, this means more precision care and better outcomes,” Chi said.
When asked whether the province has the necessary doctors to treat cancer when detected, Dix said “the short answer is yes.”
It takes many years to train doctors, nurses and other health professionals and previous governments have failed to do that in the past, he said.
That has changed under his government’s health human resources strategy, Dix added. “I think B.C. is one of the most attractive places in the world to practice health care.”
But Dix also acknowledged that more needs to be done in the face of rising demands from an growing and aging population.
”So absolutely, we need to dramatically increase and support medical professionals and health care workers and that’s precisely what we are doing with this announcement today,” he said.
The COVID-19 pandemic was an especially harrowing time for pregnant people and new parents. The uncertainties about how the new coronavirus could affect a pregnant person and their developing fetus and being suddenly cut off from their support networks left many expecting parents feeling isolated and anxious.
“It was a very surreal time,” says Jenny Doyle, a Toronto mom who gave birth to her first child Elliott in November 2020.
When she became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in May 2021, Doyle was proactive in researching the new vaccines and how they might affect both her and her baby. She felt reassured by how safe the vaccine appeared to be in the clinical trials and early roll-out, and by the possibility that its protective effects could be passed on to her baby through breastmilk.
“At the time, vaccines for infants were still so far away. I remember hoping that some of the protection I’d received from my vaccine would pass through to Elliott.”
Now, new findings from a University of Toronto study are providing evidence to support the hopeful idea that Doyle — and countless other new parents — clung to as they waited for vaccines to be made available for their babies.
Led by members of U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine including Deborah O’Connor, who is the Earle W. McHenry Professor and chair of the department of nutritional sciences, Sharon Unger, medical director of the Roger Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank, and Susan Poutanen, microbiologist and infectious disease consultant at Sinai Health, the study looked for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in breastmilk from three different cohorts: individuals who contracted COVID-19 while pregnant or nursing, routine milk bank donors and individuals who received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine while pregnant or nursing.
The researchers detected antibodies in breastmilk from roughly half of the people in the COVID-19 positive cohort but less than 5 per cent of routine milk bank donors, who did not have any known exposures to COVID-19. In the vaccinated cohort, they found that antibodies levels were higher in people who had received the Moderna vaccine compared to those who had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Unexpectedly, people who had shorter intervals between their first and second doses had higher antibody levels than those who waited longer between their immunizations.
“That finding definitely surprised me,” says Samantha Ismail, the study’s first author who completed her master’s degree in O’Connor’s lab. “In [blood] serum, it’s the other way around where longer intervals between doses typically result in higher antibody levels, suggesting that something different is happening in this lactating population.”
Ismail and her colleagues took their study one step further by showing that some breastmilk samples could prevent SARS-CoV-2 from infecting cells in a lab setting. Within the COVID-19 positive cohort, milk that contained antibodies against the virus were more likely to be neutralizing, and immunization with the Moderna vaccine was associated with a stronger neutralizing capacity than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The researchers also found a small but significant number of breastmilk samples that prevented SARS-CoV-2 infection despite having undetectable levels of antibodies, suggesting that there could be other components in human milk that are active against SARS-CoV-2.
While these findings provide strong evidence to support the potential protective effects of human milk, Ismail cautions that their study alone is not enough to prove that breastmilk provides tangible protection against COVID-19.
“COVID-19 vaccination and infection result in antibodies in human milk that have neutralizing capacity, but we don’t know for sure how the neutralizing capacity seen in the lab translates to protection in infants,” says Ismail, who is now a second-year medical student at U of T.
She points out that previous studies have shown a clear protective effect of antibodies in human milk against other viruses like enterovirus and rotavirus. To date, such studies have not been done with COVID-19.
Even so, these findings are welcome and reassuring news to parents like Doyle, who breastfed her son longer than she had intended to ensure that he was still getting breastmilk when she received her second COVID-19 vaccine.
“Trying to figure out how to protect this tiny being in that scary and bleak time, I was grasping at every little piece of information and whatever little piece of hope we had.”
This work was a collaboration between the department of microbiology at Sinai Health System/University Health Network, the Roger Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank at Sinai Health System and the Toronto High Containment Facility, where the live SARS-CoV-2 neutralization studies were done. It includes contributions from several members of the Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium including O’Connor, Poutanen, Unger, Scott Gray-Owen, Jennie Johnstone, Allison McGeer and Samira Mubareka.
Research investment successfully delivers on several key milestones of the National Dementia Strategy
January 29, 2024 – Ottawa, Ontario – Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Close to half a million people in Canada aged 65 and older live with dementia. As our population ages, that number is expected to increase. Researching brain health and age-related cognitive impairment will help us develop strategies to prevent dementia, discover new treatments, improve patient outcomes, and raise the quality of life for people affected by dementia, including caregivers.
Today, during Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, the Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Seniors, announced a new research investment of $8.7 million through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), in partnership with the Azrieli Foundation and its Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence, to support 13 research teams who are studying ways to reduce the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in aging.
Through this investment, seven teams are researching risk reduction and care for people with dementia; four teams are studying the short- and long-term health risks for caregivers of people with age-related dementia; one team is investigating the impact of infection and inflammation on brain health; and one team is focusing on Indigenous health research and how to provide culturally appropriate care for those impacted by dementia. These grants will also allow for the training and mentorship of the next generation of dementia researchers in Canada.
The Government of Canada and its partners will continue to invest in research to better understand the causes of dementia, how to prevent it, and how to treat the disease.
The Middlesex-London Health Unit is warning the public that Varicella-zoster virus, also known as chickenpox is on the rise in our community.
MLHU is recommending anyone who has not received their vaccine for chickenpox or have not had the virus talk to their health care provider about the vaccination.
Chickenpox is a virus most commonly affecting young children, but older children and adults who have not had the virus can be affected as well.
Symptoms of chickenpox can include mild fever, itchy rash, and red spots that turn into fluid-filled blisters.
As the virus is easily transmitted, the health unit suggest the chickenpox vaccine is the best way to prevent getting the virus.
Anyone who has had chickenpox is also at risk of shingles as the virus stays in your body for life.
Attention residents of London and Middlesex County! Varicella-zoster virus cases, commonly known as chickenpox, are on the rise in our community.
The #MLHU is recommending those who have not received the chickenpox vaccine nor had chickenpox in the past, to talk to a Health Care… pic.twitter.com/hkNp8tIuAE
Kim Wetmore is urging people to go to the hospital or get a test if you've got symptoms of strep A. She doesn't want people to have to go through the same pain she is going through now.
Her husband, Dan Wetmore, died of strep A on Jan. 19 at the age of 49. He had been sick for more than a week.
"By him putting it off and putting it off and putting it off, it ended his life," said Wetmore.
Canada is seeing a record number of cases of invasive Group A strep, a bacterial infection that kills roughly one in 10 people who contract it, according to data obtained by CBC News. There were more than 4,600 cases confirmed in Canada in 2023.
Invasive Group A streptococcal disease happens when the common strep A bacteria spreads beyond the places it typically infects, such as the throat or skin, where it can cause necrotizing fasciitis, known as flesh-eating disease.
This handout image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shows an electron microscope image of Group A Streptococcus (orange) during phagocytic interaction with a human neutrophil (blue). (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/The Associated Press)
Dr. Yves Léger, the province's acting chief medical officer of health, called it a "concerning trend" earlier in the month.
Getting sick
Kim said her husband started feeling sick on Jan. 8. It started with a sore throat. That weekend he decided not to work at Kurt's Sausages at the Marché Moncton Market. It wasn't something he typically missed.
"It was his time.… He wanted to be with his Kurt's family during that barbecue and be with all those people," said Wetmore. "It was his retreat, I guess you would say. He just loved it."
But he was just feeling tired, and if it was infectious, he didn't want to get anyone else sick. By the end of the week he was starting to feel better. He went into work on Monday, but then didn't feel well again, and took the rest of the week off. He was tired, his body ached, and he was vomiting.
A microscopic view of Streptococcus bacteria, which can cause a spectrum of disease, ranging from milder infections like strep throat to life-threatening illness. (Josef Reischig/WikiCommons)
"I said, 'I think you need to go to the hospital.' And he said, 'No, it's just the flu'" said Wetmore.
But it got worse. At 6 a.m. on Jan. 19, Dan called 911.
When Kim got to the hospital, she was told that her husband had strep A. Dan was taken to the intensive care unit. He died that afternoon.
A smile on his face
Since Dan died, Kim Wetmore has been overwhelmed with the support from her family and the community. She's had people she didn't know coming up to her.
"I knew what kind of person he was.… But I didn't really know the kind of impact he had on people," she said.
She said hundreds of people showed up at the wake on Tuesday, and the funeral service was standing room only.
She said one man stands out to her. He cried in front of her for the first couple of minutes. He said his son had died, and when he would talk to Dan at the market, Dan would comfort and encourage him.
"The one thing people were saying was he always had a smile on his face," said Wetmore.
Kim says Dan was very close to Zach. The two would work at Kurt's Sausages every Saturday. (Kim Wetmore)
Don't wait
After Kim was told her husband had strep A, she had to take a pill, was given a prescription and was told to isolate.
"It's just going to be constantly going through my head. Do I have something?" said Wetmore.
The day of the wake, Kim's brother tested positive for strep A. He hadn't been feeling well, so he went and got tested. He caught it on time, and was able to get on antibiotics.
But she said her brother likely wouldn't have bothered if it wasn't for what happened to Dan.
Earlier in January, Léger urged people to take measures to protect themselves and others against severe Group A streptococcal infections and other respiratory illnesses.
Dr. Yves Léger says the rise in cases of strep A is a concerning trend. (Shane Magee/CBC)
He said that can include staying home when sick, wearing a mask in public, washing your hands, and keeping up-to-date with vaccines.
Symptoms may include sore throat, fever, rash or a skin infection that is red, swollen, warm and tender to the touch, according to the province's website.
"Don't sit on it, like people cannot sit on it," said Wetmore. "They need to go. It's not something to play around with. It's not a joke."
The Current24:35Are full-body MRIs worth the money?
After a bout of prostate cancer, Don Garnier wanted to take a more proactive approach to his health. That's why he went out of his way to pay $2,500 for a full-body MRI scan at a private Vancouver clinic called Prenuvo.
"We live in a world now where getting medical care can be a bit of a challenge. So the more you are on top of your health, the better," he told The Current.
Garnier said the scan results took five days to come in and were unremarkable — which was good news. He said the nurse clinicians there went through the results with him in detail.
He feels it was worth the money for his peace of mind — and many people share that view.
Although full-body MRI scans — using Magnetic Resonance Imaging technology to scan your body for anything abnormal — are not new, they've recently soared in popularity due to celebrity endorsements from the likes of Kim Kardashian.
But as more private clinics start offering them, some doctors are telling patients to think twice before they slide into the machine.
"I think the general view of the medical establishment is that, you know, these things don't have a lot of evidence and we should be very cautious before we advise people to get something like this," Dr. Dhruv Khullar, a physician and a New Yorker writer, told The Current's Matt Galloway.
A nurse walks towards a patient in the emergency department of Humber River Hospital, in Toronto, on Jan. 25. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Peace of mind or anxiety-inducing?
Khullar says companies offering full-body MRIs "promise a sense that you're in charge of your health care" and a peace of mind.
But he claims the narrative is only partially true, and that the scans can be a hassle for patients too.
"People may experience anxiety," he said. "They may receive false positive test results. They may be diagnosed with conditions that might never end up hurting them."
Khullar understands these anxieties first-hand because he got a full-body MRI — and he said his own experience speaks to some of the challenges with them.
Everything in his results looked OK, he said. But, there was a one-centimetre lesion in his prostate, and it wasn't clear whether it was cancerous.
A full-body MRI machine operated by Prenuvo. According to Dr. Dhruv Khullar, it's important for screening tests to be targeted for certain people at certain ages "because the likelihood of finding something that you can actually intervene on and change the trajectory of someone's life in a positive way is relatively high." (Ben Gancsos)
"These are sometimes called incidentalomas," he said. "These are kind of asymptomatic abnormalities that are found incidentally and they generate more questions than answers."
Khullar needs a follow-up blood test, and he'll have to get a follow-up, dedicated prostate MRI to get a clearer answer.
"I'm still going to have to get a follow-up, dedicated prostate MRI to really figure out what's going on there," he added.
Khullar said his sense is that the lesion won't hurt him. But now that he knows about it, he feels like he's had to change his identity from someone who was healthy to someone who is a patient.
"Now, instead of assuming that I'm healthy … I know that there's something inside me and I need continued tests to kind of prove to myself and to my loved ones that I am, in fact, healthy," he said.
Turtles, birds and rabbits
According to Khullar, it's important for screening tests to be targeted for certain people at certain ages at certain points in life "because the likelihood of finding something that you can actually intervene on and change the trajectory of someone's life in a positive way is relatively high."
But looking for everything in the body, or trying to, can be a "a recipe for having a tremendous number of false positives and potentially overdiagnosis," he said.
You do the screening, you find the problem and you can intervene on it in a way that would be helpful-Dr. Dhruv Khullar, physician and New Yorker writer
Take cancers, which full-body MRIs can reveal. Khullar says cancers can be described as turtles, birds and rabbits in a barnyard, with screening and testing acting as the fence that keeps them from escaping.
The turtles, like some prostate and thyroid cancers, move so slowly that they're never going to make it out of the barn, "so the screening doesn't really help you," Khullar said. "In fact, you find it and you may end up with unnecessary biopsies or other tests."
An example of a scan provided by an full-body MRI. (Submiteed by Prenuvo)
The birds, on the other hand, are very aggressive cancers that may pick up at some stage, but there are no current interventions that will help patients, so the fence won't keep them from flying away.
Then there are the rabbits, which are some breast and colon cancers. According to Khullar, these are the cancers that can be fenced in with targeted screening.
"You do the screening, you find the problem and you can intervene on it in a way that would be helpful," he said.
"So thinking about tumours in terms of turtles, birds and rabbits illustrates why screening tests may not be helpful in every type of cancer and why we need to be judicious about their use."
Pressure on public health
Some doctors are also concerned about the additional pressure false positives or benign issues could put on Canada's health-care system.
Dr. Ania Kielar, president of Canadian Association of Radiologists, says radiology is the keyhole into chemotherapy and surgery. Without a diagnosis from radiology, people can't get the treatment they need.
Yet, Canada is currently experiencing a huge shortage of CT and MRI technologists — in the thousands, according to Kielar. That, as well as a shortage of modern equipment, is leading to long wait times for public health patients who need imaging, she said.
"On average in Canada, people are waiting up to 100 days for an MRI, whereas most of the guidelines say that a non-urgent MRI should be less than 28 days," she told Galloway. "So we're waiting three times longer than we should."
WATCH | Health-care staff shortages causing burnout and stress:
Health-care staff shortages causing burnout and stress
24 days ago
Duration 2:37
A union representing Ontario health-care workers has released survey data highlighting the stress, exhaustion and burnout experienced by hospital workers — with many considering a new career path. The union is calling for more provincial funding to ease the worsening staffing crisis.
According to Kielar, if the companies offering full-body MRIs do find something incidental, "the majority of times these people who are healthy people and are now patients, end up coming into our publicly funded health care system in Canada," she said.
"And because we have such scarce resources, we don't have the capacity right now to take on a bolus of people who have non-clinically significant incidental findings, but kind of need them worked out because they've now been found."
In a statement to The Current, Prenuvo CEO Andrew Lacy pushed back on the claim that private clinics take away resources from public health care and contribute to a burned-out system.
"We believe that our health-care system is burnt out because treating cancer and disease late is horribly inefficient and leads to much worse patient outcomes," he said.
"We hope that the approach that Prenuvo is championing will one day be part of standard of care in a transformed health system based around preventative precision medicine."
Lacking data
Khullar doesn't deny that some patients, like Garnier, have positive experiences with full-body MRIs. The overarching question is how many people need to be scanned for a case such as Garnier's to be found.
It's a question that doesn't have an answer at the moment, according to Khullar. That may be why no professional medical society currently recommends full-body MRIs as as a preventative screening tool, nor are the scans covered by insurance.
"The reason for that is that there's no real evidence that they're going to help you," he said. "So insurers, government payers, they're not going to cover these things."
WATCH | Breaking down 4 big health stories to watch in 2024:
Breaking down 4 big health stories to watch in 2024
22 days ago
Duration 6:07
Canada’s health-care system will need to navigate some major obstacles in 2024, from critical staffing shortages to dangerous pathogens to soaring Ozempic demand. CBC’s Christine Birak and Lauren Pelley get you up to speed on four big stories to watch in the year ahead.
At the moment, CEO Lacy says Prenuvo is collecting data about the efficacy of full-body MRIs — "and, as this is 'long-term data,' it takes time."
However, the company currently is relying on "14 years of clinical practice performing these examinations" and making many early diagnoses to stand by their efficacy, he said.
Produced by Amanda Grant and Emma Posca. This story is the first instalment of The Current's new series Well Founded, which digs into the wellness industry and how to make sense of all the pitches on how to be a better you.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says according to the latest numbers, almost 477,000 people 65 and older have been diagnosed with dementia in this country.
A news release from the federal government says the rate of newly diagnosed cases has been decreasing over the past decade when age is taken into account, partly due to improvements in the adoption of healthy behaviours.
The Minister of Health, Mark Holland, has announced just over $17 million to raise awareness, promote healthy behaviours that reduce risk, improve access to dementia guidance, and enhance provincial and territorial online information sources.
The three national objectives in Canada’s dementia strategy are to prevent dementia, advance therapies and find a cure and improve the quality of life for those living with dementia and their caregivers.
When we use the term “gut health,” we’re largely talking about the health and diversity of the gut microbiome—all of the microorganisms that live in your gastrointestinal tract. This community of gut bugs doesn’t just affect your GI health, it makes a big impact on your overall wellness.
"Recent scientific research supports the idea that a balanced, healthy microbiome plays a role in nutrient digestion and absorption, hormone generation, neurotransmitter production, your metabolism and immune system and more, says Tami Best, M.S., a registered dietitian nutritionist with Top Nutrition Coaching who specializes in gut health.
One way to support a healthy gut is through nutrition, particularly by eating a diet rich in plant foods and probiotics. But what does this actually look like? To give you an idea, we’re going to start with dinner. We talked to gut-health experts about how to create a gut-healthy dinner, what they recommend, and how to eat it to support your microbiome. Keep reading.
You can find probiotics in foods such as kimchi, sauerkraut, tempeh, miso, kefir and some brands of cottage cheese. Yogurt is another great probiotic-rich food that can be incorporated into dinner, and it can be used as a base for a dressing or marinade or dolloped onto a bowl of soup, recommends Diana Mesa, RD, CDCES, founder and owner of En La Mesa Nutrition.
Prebiotic Fiber
Fiber is great for gut health—especially if it’s a specific type called prebiotic fiber, which acts as food for the healthy bacteria in your gut, allowing them to thrive.
“The bacteria in your gut ferment prebiotic fiber, releasing byproducts such as gases and short-chain fatty acids,” says Mesa. “Short-chain fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties, which are not only beneficial to gut health but to overall health, too,” she explains.
The prebiotic foods that Best recommends include whole grains, peas, legumes, artichokes, garlic, honey, asparagus, banana, dandelion greens and onions. Mesa says she loves incorporating potatoes, legumes or plantains in her dinners for prebiotic fiber.
Plant Foods
For a gut-friendly dinner, make sure you’re packing in the plants. A 2020 study in Nutrients found that people who followed a Mediterranean diet rich in plant foods had significantly more diverse gut microbiomes than those who ate a typical Western diet low in fiber and high in added sugars and animal products. Researchers believe antioxidants—found in abundance in plant foods—may have something to do with this.
A Low-Stress Environment
Gut health is about more than just the nutrients you eat. It’s also about how you eat. Mindful eating can promote nervous system regulation and help your body enter “rest and digest” mode for optimal digestion, per a 2019 study in Integrative Medicine.
Try eating dinner in a low-stress environment. That means setting aside enough time for the meal so that you don’t have to rush, and eating regularly throughout the day so you don’t show up to dinner extremely hungry. Doing so will allow you the opportunity to chew your food thoroughly. “Digestion begins in the mouth, and in the hustle and bustle of the day-to-day, you might find yourself eating pretty quickly,” says Mesa. Slowing down means chewing food thoroughly, which can improve your digestion and make eating a more pleasurable experience, she says.
The Best Dinner to Support Gut Health
For a healthy gut microbiome, we recommend our Roasted Salmon with Smoky Chickpeas & Greens. It has almost one-quarter of the Daily Value of fiber (6 grams) in each serving, and it’s packed with plant foods that provide prebiotics and antioxidants. Plus, salmon is a high-quality source of protein that’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids to reduce inflammation.
If you want to add a grain, we recommend going with a whole grain like quinoa, wild rice or barley for added prebiotics. However, if you’re just starting to increase your fiber intake, you may want to start with a grain like white rice, which has less fiber. This recipe is already an excellent source of fiber, and adding too much fiber too quickly can cause GI issues like bloating.
Here are three reasons why we love this dinner for gut health:
Rich in Prebiotic Fiber
This dinner includes one of Mesa’s favorite prebiotic sources—legumes! The chickpeas are tossed with oil, paprika and salt and then roasted for a crispy accompaniment to the salmon and kale. If you have leftover chickpeas after making this recipe, you’re in luck. They work great as a snack on their own or as a salad topping for lunch the next day.
Besides the chickpeas, this recipe incorporates kale, another great source of prebiotic fiber. The recipe instructs you to cook the kale on the stovetop for a warm meal, but you could always serve it cold if you want something more refreshing.
Contains Probiotics
This recipe includes a creamy green dressing to top the salmon and greens. One source of the dressing’s creaminess is buttermilk, an ingredient that sometimes (but not always) contains probiotics. (Check the label for live and active cultures.)
If you’re not sure if your buttermilk contains probiotics, it’s also easy to add probiotics by using plain yogurt instead of buttermilk or mayonnaise in the recipe. Or, you can swap the dressing and make this Creamy Yogurt-Dill Sauce instead.
Anti-Inflammatory Ingredients
This recipe incorporates a few anti-inflammatory ingredients that Best recommends, including green leafy veggies, fatty fish and extra-virgin olive oil. “Anti-inflammatory foods help keep intestinal cells healthy,” says Best.
Plus, the chickpeas are seasoned with paprika, a spice that may have anti-inflammatory benefits due to its capsaicin content. Capsaicin is responsible for the spicy flavor of foods like paprika and chile peppers. A 2022 study in Biomolecules found that capsaicin may help reduce inflammation and stimulate mucin production in the colon, which supports the growth of healthy gut bacteria.
The Bottom Line
For a healthy gut, it’s important to eat prebiotics, probiotics and anti-inflammatory foods like fatty fish and leafy greens. The best dinner that fits the bill is our Roasted Salmon with Smoky Chickpeas & Greens. To support healthy digestion, experts recommend eating it slowly in a stress-free environment, too. Besides, with a dinner this good, you’ll want to savor and enjoy it.
Canadians are finding it difficult to get treatment for strep A because of long wait times at busy hospitals and clinics.
Group A streptococcus is a bacteria that can cause severe infections like pneumonia, a flesh-eating disease, rheumatic fever or toxic shock syndrome if not treated.
Canada's health-care system has been under pressure for years, something that has resulted in overflowing emergency rooms and patients being treated in hallways.
CTVNews.ca asked Canadians about their experiences with strep A. Some Canadians said they were turned away from hospitals, or left to deal with painful symptoms without antibiotics. The emailed responses have not been independently verified.
'You're in heart failure'
Kevin Johnston told CTVNews.ca he was initially turned away from the hospital while infected with strep A.
"My symptoms were progressively getting worse, to the point where I felt I was hallucinating when I was sleeping," Johnston said in an email. "My joints were stiff, I explained it as if I had lactic acid build up in my system. I had a rash unbeknownst to me."
Johnston's brother helped him to the nearest hospital in London, Ont. where he could "barely walk."
Kevin Johnston (centre) and his spouse Shawna and brother Brandon.
The doctor told Johnston that his body is fighting a virus and that it "will go away." Johnston said his brother pushed back.
"Unfortunately, I remember the doctor being annoyed by my brother's concern and said I was fine," Johnston said. "Releasing me from care with an amoxicillin prescription."
The next day, Johnston said, the rash spread across the "majority" of his body, his throat was sore and his eyes were bloodshot. Back at the hospital the emergency physician was "puzzled" with the symptoms.
"After several blood tests, MRI and chest X-rays, I was told that I had puss pockets in the back of my throat," he said. "It wasn’t until I was admitted to the cardiac ward when they told me I have rheumatic fever. The doctor said, 'You're in heart failure! Your heart is functioning at 30 per cent.'"
Johnston was hospitalized for seven days, receiving antibiotics hourly and the ICU team introduced themselves to him, he said, in case they needed to intervene.
The hospital staff were able to treat Johnston and he was able to walk out on his own. The "road to recovery" didn't end there, he said, with penicillin shots prescribed to him monthly for the next 10 years.
'Felt like acid down my throat'
Johnston is not the only Canadian finding it difficult to navigate the overburdened health-care system with strep A.
Elena Bernier, from Gatineau, Que., said she waited almost a week to receive a diagnosis of strep throat and medication.
The mother, of two young children, told CTVNews.ca in an email that she was in "extreme pain" and was paying out of pocket for remedies at her pharmacy.
"I don’t want to get too graphic but I remember giving birth … Currently, swallowing feels like when my firstborn was crowning but in my throat," Bernier said.
Swallowing anything — including water, saliva and food — feels like her throat is being stretched beyond its limits, she told CTVNews.ca.
Elena Bernier (pictured) with her husband and two children waited almost a week for medication for strep. (Contributed)
"My husband made pasta with marinara sauce and it felt like I was pouring acid down my throat," she said.
Bernier tried extra-strength Advil and Tylenol to reduce the pain. Out of desperation, she bought throat sprays to fight the infection and numb her throat.
By day five of not being able to eat and being in pain, Bernier called her doctor.
"She said she was sorry that the system hadn’t alerted her of my results but that they had come in on Tuesday," Bernier said.
That same day, Bernier said she was prescribed penicillin and was feeling better overnight.
Battling busy clinics
New symptoms may present themselves over time, and early signs of infection might be easy to shrug off, according to Melanie Kruger. Her son caught the bacteria in early January.
"Then it was trying to get him out to a clinic because it was on a Saturday afternoon," Kruger told CTVNews.ca in an interview.
By that time many clinics in Guelph, Ont. were full or closed, Kruger said. The family went to another clinic about 35 minutes away in Kitchener where a nurse tested him for strep throat.
After having amoxicillin for 10 days, Kruger's son started feeling sick again.
"I looked at his throat and it was red," she said. "And I thought, 'My gosh, does he still have it?'"
A follow-up trip to the clinic proved that Kruger's son still had strep.
The doctor said it's possible her son didn't respond to the medication because he was given it prior for an ear infection in October — something that would have been caught if Kruger initially went to the clinic; however, it was closed, she said.
Melanie Kruger's husband and daughter in the waiting room of a clinic. (Contributed)
Instead of setting her son down the path of recovery, Kruger had to endure another week of him having a hard time eating and feeling ill.
"He's on the mend now but he's just been kind of off the last few days … You can just tell he's more agitated, definitely tired … I mean, he's had it now since Jan. 6,” Kruger said.
Initially, Kruger thought her son could benefit from hospital care, considering strep A’s growing prevalence in Canada. But wait times at her local emergency department deterred her from trying.
She added the alternative – waiting for a child to recover at home – brings its own set of anxieties.
"You give them Advil or Tylenol,” she said, "(And wonder), is this just going to mask a symptom of what could be something more serious?"
Canadians are finding it difficult to get treatment for strep A because of long wait times at busy hospitals and clinics.
Group A streptococcus is a bacteria that can cause severe infections like pneumonia, a flesh-eating disease, rheumatic fever or toxic shock syndrome if not treated.
Canada's health-care system has been under pressure for years, something that has resulted in overflowing emergency rooms and patients being treated in hallways.
CTVNews.ca asked Canadians about their experiences with strep A. Some Canadians said they were turned away from hospitals, or left to deal with painful symptoms without antibiotics. The emailed responses have not been independently verified.
'You're in heart failure'
Kevin Johnston told CTVNews.ca he was initially turned away from the hospital while infected with strep A.
"My symptoms were progressively getting worse, to the point where I felt I was hallucinating when I was sleeping," Johnston said in an email. "My joints were stiff, I explained it as if I had lactic acid build up in my system. I had a rash unbeknownst to me."
Johnston's brother helped him to the nearest hospital in London, Ont. where he could "barely walk."
The doctor told Johnston that his body is fighting a virus and that it "will go away." Johnston said his brother pushed back.
"Unfortunately, I remember the doctor being annoyed by my brother's concern and said I was fine," Johnston said. "Releasing me from care with an amoxicillin prescription."
The next day, Johnston said, the rash spread across the "majority" of his body, his throat was sore and his eyes were bloodshot. Back at the hospital the emergency physician was "puzzled" with the symptoms.
"After several blood tests, MRI and chest X-rays, I was told that I had puss pockets in the back of my throat," he said. "It wasn’t until I was admitted to the cardiac ward when they told me I have rheumatic fever. The doctor said, 'You're in heart failure! Your heart is functioning at 30 per cent.'"
Johnston was hospitalized for seven days, receiving antibiotics hourly and the ICU team introduced themselves to him, he said, in case they needed to intervene.
The hospital staff were able to treat Johnston and he was able to walk out on his own. The "road to recovery" didn't end there, he said, with penicillin shots prescribed to him monthly for the next 10 years.
'Felt like acid down my throat'
Johnston is not the only Canadian finding it difficult to navigate the overburdened health-care system with strep A.
Elena Bernier, from Gatineau, Que., said she waited almost a week to receive a diagnosis of strep throat and medication.
The mother, of two young children, told CTVNews.ca in an email that she was in "extreme pain" and was paying out of pocket for remedies at her pharmacy.
"I don’t want to get too graphic but I remember giving birth … Currently, swallowing feels like when my firstborn was crowning but in my throat," Bernier said.
Swallowing anything — including water, saliva and food — feels like her throat is being stretched beyond its limits, she told CTVNews.ca.
Elena Bernier (pictured) with her husband and two children waited almost a week for medication for strep. (Contributed)
"My husband made pasta with marinara sauce and it felt like I was pouring acid down my throat," she said.
Bernier tried extra-strength Advil and Tylenol to reduce the pain. Out of desperation, she bought throat sprays to fight the infection and numb her throat.
By day five of not being able to eat and being in pain, Bernier called her doctor.
"She said she was sorry that the system hadn’t alerted her of my results but that they had come in on Tuesday," Bernier said.
That same day, Bernier said she was prescribed penicillin and was feeling better overnight.
Battling busy clinics
New symptoms may present themselves over time, and early signs of infection might be easy to shrug off, according to Melanie Kruger. Her son caught the bacteria in early January.
"Then it was trying to get him out to a clinic because it was on a Saturday afternoon," Kruger told CTVNews.ca in an interview.
By that time many clinics in Guelph, Ont. were full or closed, Kruger said. The family went to another clinic about 35 minutes away in Kitchener where a nurse tested him for strep throat.
After having amoxicillin for 10 days, Kruger's son started feeling sick again.
"I looked at his throat and it was red," she said. "And I thought, 'My gosh, does he still have it?'"
A follow-up trip to the clinic proved that Kruger's son still had strep.
The doctor said it's possible her son didn't respond to the medication because he was given it prior for an ear infection in October — something that would have been caught if Kruger initially went to the clinic; however, it was closed, she said.
Melanie Kruger's husband and daughter in the waiting room of a clinic. (Contributed)
Instead of setting her son down the path of recovery, Kruger had to endure another week of him having a hard time eating and feeling ill.
"He's on the mend now but he's just been kind of off the last few days … You can just tell he's more agitated, definitely tired … I mean, he's had it now since Jan. 6,” Kruger said.
Initially, Kruger thought her son could benefit from hospital care, considering strep A’s growing prevalence in Canada. But wait times at her local emergency department deterred her from trying.
She added the alternative – waiting for a child to recover at home – brings its own set of anxieties.
"You give them Advil or Tylenol,” she said, "(And wonder), is this just going to mask a symptom of what could be something more serious?"
The Windsor-Essex County Heath Unit is warning residents who visited a local medical clinic one day this month about possible exposure to the measles.
In a statement, the health unit is warning people who visited A&R Medical Centre at 1800 Tecumseh Road West on Jan. 15, 2023 between 1 and 3:30 p.m. that they may have been exposed to measles.
People who were also at the westbound West Lorne ONroute on Highway 401 on Jan. 11 from 8:30 to 10:40 p.m., as well as passengers on Lufthansa flight LH1661 from Romania to Munich and Air Canada flight LH6790 from Munich to Toronto, both on Jan. 11, 2024, may have also been exposed.
The health unit asks people who may have been exposed to monitor for systems that could appear between seven and 21 days after exposure.
"Symptoms can include a fever, runny nose, cough, drowsiness, irritability, and red eyes. A red rash appears on the face three to seven days after the start of the above symptoms," health officials said, noting the facial rash can progress down the body.
People should contact their health-care providers if they develop symptoms
Measles can be spread through the air for up to two hours after an infected person coughs, talks or sneezes, or through coming into contact with secretions from the infected person's mouth or nose.
People who have not had measles, or the measles vaccine, can be at risk, as can infants less than 12 months old, people who are pregnant and immune-compromised people.
Work-related injuries to muscles, nerves, and tendons can be life-altering, affecting one in 10 adults in Canada. These injuries, known as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) or repetitive strain injuries (RSIs), often originate in the workplace. By collaborating with workplace representatives and experts in ergonomics, Workers Health & Safety Centre (WHSC) has developed targeted training programs to help prevent MSDs and implement ergonomic solutions. These training programs are being offered for $20 during the month of February in support of RSI Awareness Day. The day occurs annually on the last day of February. It was established to help raise awareness and promote regulatory and workplace actions designed to prevent RSIs/MSDs and their and their negative effects workers, their families and the economy.
Did you know that most MSDs begin in the workplace?
Inadequately planned workspaces and poorly designed tasks can significantly contribute to the development of debilitating and life-altering musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
Musculoskeletal impairments include over 150 diseases and conditions that affect workers’ muscles, bones, joints, and nearby tissues every day, causing temporary or lifelong limitations. MSDs are the leading type of work-related lost-time claim reported to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) in Ontario. They also cost workplaces hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Associated risk factors include force, repetition, awkward and static postures, extreme temperatures, contact stress, as well as vibration from equipment and machinery. Managing MSD hazards within a workplace is not just a best practice but also a legal obligation. Employers are mandated to implement every reasonable precautionary measure to safeguard the well-being of their workforce. Most work-related MSDs can be proactively prevented, and devising an action plan for solutions that includes training is an easy measure.
Being proactive about workplace ergonomics brings various benefits, such as:
Improved worker health, workplace morale and labour relations
Decreased MSDs, WSIB costs and lost time.
Training a straightforward, cost-effective solution
WHSC has developed and implemented two training programs that are specially priced at $20 for the month of February. Offered virtually or in-person and always instructor led – Ergonomics & MSDs is intended as an introductory course for the prevention of MSDs in various workplaces, while Ergonomics: Basic Principles offers more in-depth training.
These two programs are designed to provide workers, joint health and safety committees, supervisors and worker health and safety representatives in smaller workplaces with the knowledge and skills to recognize, assess and control, if not eliminate, factors that contribute to MSDs as well as identify other hazards that impact work.
Registration for virtual and in-person classroom training closes two weeks before each training date, so act quickly to secure your seat and access lower pricing.
Don’t miss out on our new year special promotion of other essential training programs also available for a limited time.
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