Robinroberts
- NewsRobin Roberts
Everything you need to know about heat stroke and heat exhaustion
Margaret Butler was enjoying a backyard barbecue last summer, barely aware the heat of the day had risen to sweltering temperatures. Thankfully her husband did know what was happening: Butler was exhibiting the classic signs of heat exhaustion. Butler recovered because she had a moderate encounter with one of the three stages of what health professionals call “heat injury.” If her symptoms had gone untreated, that happy backyard barbecue could have turned tragic.
- NewsRobin Roberts
The July Effect: Is it really more dangerous to go to the emergency room in the summer?
Dr. Robert Robson, emergency physician, healthcare mediator, assistant professor at the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Medicine, and principal at the Healthcare System Safety and Accountability Advisors (HSSA), loves to tell that story during his mediation sessions. Robson refers to the 2004 Baker-Norton study that revealed approximately 185,000 Canadians a year suffer serious injury under hospital care, and between 9,000 and 23,000 die. In the ensuing 12 years since that study, Robson su
- NewsRobin Roberts
Why is Lyme disease so hard to diagnose?
One told her she was depressed, another that she had chronic fatigue syndrome. Frustrated, she did her own research, and began to suspect she had Lyme disease, caused by a bite from a blacklegged tick carrying the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. In 1999, author Amy Tan chronicled her years-long battle with bizarre symptoms that, after a battery of tests, one session with a shrink and consultations with 10 specialists, ultimately revealed Lyme disease.
- NewsYahoo Canada Style
How sepsis killed Muhammad Ali
In April, it killed stage and screen star Patty Duke. This indiscriminate assassin is sepsis, and most people have little understanding of what it is and how easily it could affect them. It sounds harmless enough, but it can be deadly if it progresses to septic shock, defined by a dangerous drop in blood pressure. In 2009, Brazilian model Mariana Bridi da Costa developed sepsis that stemmed from an untreated urinary tract infection.
- NewsRobin Roberts
What it’s really like to live with Crohn’s disease
When Ta’lana Watt Madu runs an errand, she plans her route carefully. Not based on traffic or short cuts, but on access to bathrooms. Like 250,000 other Canadians — among the highest rate in the world — Madu has inflammatory bowel disease, specifically Crohn’s disease, which interferes with her body’s ability to properly digest the food coming in and the resulting waste going out. The need to go can come on suddenly, urgently and frequently, hence her finely tuned radar for the closest bathroom.
- NewsRobin Roberts
Upset stomach? Here’s how to pick the right remedy
Most importantly, we must always inquire about any red flags, meaning symptoms that warrant a physician referral asap, such as chest pain resembling heart attack, whether the pain intensity is moderate to severe, whether there is choking or trouble swallowing, stomach bleeding or vomiting blood, and unintentional weight loss. Minor and temporary tummy troubles, however, usually respond well to over-the-counter (OTC) medications such as the following. Relief: Dimenhydrinate, a class of medicati