An argument for more health care funding that’s getting old
January 19, 2012Vancouver Sun columnist Pete McMartin argues that the notion that the elderly are a massive burden on B.C.’s health care budget and represent the greatest threat to its financial solvency is not true but these notions “form the basis of the provincial government’s argument against the federal government’s new per capita funding formula for health […] Read More >
1 in 10 Canadians cannot afford prescription drugs
January 18, 2012One in ten Canadians cannot afford their prescription drugs, finds an analysis by researchers from UBC and the University of Toronto. Researchers analyzed data from 5,732 people and found that 9.6 per cent of Canadians who received a prescription reported not filling, failing to refill, or skipping doses for cost reasons. The phenomenon is particularly […] Read More >
5 ways to avoid the ‘winter blues’
January 17, 2012Laid low in fall and winter by short days and diminished sunlight, people with seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, can suffer debilitating depression and related physical symptoms such as increased fatigue and a craving for high-carbohydrate foods. An estimated two to six per cent of Canadians will experience SAD at some point in their lifetime, […] Read More >
Anti-psychotic drugs given to half of elderly at care centres
January 16, 2012Just over 50 per cent of elderly patients in British Columbia residential-care facilities were prescribed anti-psychotic drugs over a two-month period last year, according to a report commissioned by the provincial government. And the most commonly used anti-psychotic drugs were “atypical” medications – drugs developed over the past few decades that have been linked to […] Read More >
Fighting cancer in the lab and at the bedside
January 14, 2012The Jerusalem Post profiles Prof. Karen Gelmon, a senior medical oncologist at the department of medicine at UBC and clinical head of the investigational drug unit in her field at the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA). After completing an undergraduate degree in philosophy, getting a medical degree and becoming a specialist in internal medicine, in […] Read More >
eHealth Knowledge Studio opens at UBC Hospital
January 10, 2012The Faculty of Medicine’s eHealth Strategy Office has opened a new “high-tech hub” to bring health research and education to the people of British Columbia. The Knowledge Studio, located in UBC Hospital, includes a video production suite that can broadcast events live through the Internet, as well as space for collaborative work, videoconferencing, and multimedia […] Read More >
Hunger fighter among Order recipients
January 9, 2012A UBC professor who invented a surgical technology that is used globally and an alumnus who helped to establish one of Canada’s first food banks have been named to the Order of Canada. David Northcott, an alumnus who received his Bachelors of Science degree from UBC in 1976, is being honoured for his commitment to […] Read More >
Letters to the Editor
January 9, 2012In a letter to the editor, Kimberlyn McGrail, an assistant professor at the School of Population And Public Health at UBC, responds to a Toronto Sun editorial that implies that boomers will bankrupt our health system. “It’s a common refrain, but it isn’t based on the evidence,” writes McGrail. “Our aging population exerts only a […] Read More >
UBC research links two common drug types to night-time leg cramps
January 8, 2012A UBC clinical assistant professor has made the first statistical link between two major types of drugs and nocturnal leg cramps – involuntary muscle contractions, often coming during sleep, that afflict 37 per cent to 50 per cent of older people. Scott Garrison, in the Department of Family Practice, has shown that a person who […] Read More >
