Health & Wellness
 

Tree planting only part of the solution Time for Premier to keep promise to protect Boreal Forest TORONTO, Aug. 13 /CNW/ - Today a leading conservation group urges the Ontario government to protect the natural Boreal Forest in addition to planting trees as part of its climate change plans. "If today's announcement stops at planting trees then it would remain a good photo op. If the government is serious about staving off the worst impacts of climate change, then it will stop the degradation of one of the world's largest carbon storehouses, our Boreal Forest," says Janet Sumner Executive Director, CPAWS Wildlands League, "Good climate change plans must include forest protection as a complementary strategy to emissions reductions." It is estimated that more than 200,000 hectares of Ontario's public forests are logged each year - an area more than three times the size of the entire City of Toronto. By removing the vast amounts of carbon stored in the trees, scientific estimates suggest that these logging and associated disturbance activities release the equivalent of 15 MT of CO2 each year.       "Intact forests shield us from the worst impacts of global warming. We can't afford to lose them and to only plant trees," Ms. Sumner adds. In some cases, it may take up to 100 years, for planted trees to absorb and store the same amount of carbon as found in a natural wild forest. Protecting the carbon stored in intact Boreal Forest must be an important part of any response to global warming. "Ontario could prevent 7 MT of CO2 from going into the atmosphere by protecting the last vestiges of woodland caribou habitat in the commercial Boreal Forest in the province right now," adds Ms. Sumner, "and Ontario should also be coming up with rules for development in the Boreal Forest located north of the 51st parallel as Mr. McGuinty promised to do four years ago."

Canadians Increasingly Concerned About Distracted Driving: Poll OTTAWA, Aug. 13 /CNW Telbec/ - A new poll by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) shows that Canadians are becoming increasingly concerned about distracted driving. In 2001, only 40 per cent of Canadians considered distracted driving a serious problem. Results from this new poll show this number has risen to almost 70 per cent. "Canadians used to be much more concerned about drivers using cell phones than they were about other distractions," says Ward Vanlaar, a research associate for TIRF. "While concern about cell phone use has remained steady over the years, concern about other distractions has dramatically increased." One reason for the increased concern may be a perceived increase in the amount of distracted driving. As compared to five years ago, 95.5 per cent of Canadians now believe there is more distracted driving on our roads. Also, recent publicity campaigns on distracted driving may have made them more sensitive to the issue. "Some drivers eat and drink behind the wheel, others read maps, some play with the car stereo, while others spend too much time admiring the landscape around them," says Vanlaar. "Distractions like these - both inside and outside the vehicle - divert your attention from driving and elevate your risk of being in a collision." Among the various distractions, the poll revealed that external ones - events and objects outside the vehicle - posed the biggest threat for drivers. While only 9.5 per cent of Canadians had to steer or brake to avoid a collision due to an internal distraction, some 20.2 per cent had to do so because of a distraction outside the vehicle. Similar results have been found in other research. The poll also found that distraction inside the vehicle posed a significantly higher risk for younger drivers. Canadians aged 16 to 24 were much more likely than their older peers to have steered or braked to avoid a collision due to an internal distraction. "Young drivers need to be especially careful with internal distractions," says Vanlaar. "Even when they are not distracted, younger drivers have an elevated collision risk - internal distractions can elevate this risk even higher." New drivers who use cell phones were also singled out in the survey. Eighty per cent of Canadians agreed that new drivers should be restricted from  using cell phones while driving. The poll revealed that the number of Canadians who use their cell phones while driving is increasing. Some 37 per cent of drivers admitted to using their cell phone behind the wheel during the last seven days. In 2001, this number was only 20.5 per cent. In this regard, male drivers and young drivers aged 16-34 are more likely to report using their cell phone while driving.

Western Pattern Diet Linked to Recurring Colon Cancer By Melinda Smith Washington 15 August 2007 http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-08-15-voa28.cfm Worldwide statistics show that colon cancer kills more than 600,000 people every year. Now, a new study confirms that diet can play a powerful role in treatment. VOA's Melinda Smith has details. Fifty-five year old John Coughlin looks like the picture of health. And he thought he was -- until a routine colonoscopy revealed he was in stage three of colon cancer. Stage three means that tumor cells have spread to other organs and lymph nodes near the colon. "I went through six weeks of concurrent radiation and chemotherapy. In December of that year I had major surgery to remove the lower part of my colon and that was followed by six months of weekly chemotherapy." At least 1,000 colon cancer patients like John Coughlin were part of a study that compared their diets. All were in stage three of the disease. Researchers followed their progress to see whether the cancer came back or whether the patient died. Their findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study's author, Dr. Jeffrey Meyerhardt of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts found that cutting back on red meat, for example, has a powerful effect. "It's not really increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables, but really trying to reduce the amount of red meat intake and fatty foods and sugary 'desserty' [sweet desserts] foods, that seems to be protective for colon cancer recurrences and survival." The high fat diet chosen by many people in developed countries -- and a growing number of those living in developing countries -- is called the Western Pattern Diet. In the study, those cancer patients who ate fattening foods had almost four times the risk of reoccurrence or death. Dr. Jeffrey Meyerhardt adds, "The biggest surprise is actually the impact that a western pattern diet seems to have." Patients who switched to greater quantities of fruits, vegetables, poultry and fish appeared to fare better. Dr. Meyerhardt issues a note of caution for those patients diagnosed with colon cancer. Improving your diet can help, he says, but getting good medical treatment is critical. "Patients with colon cancer still should have surgery and discuss with their physicians about their need for chemotherapy after surgery. This is really an additional step patients can consider -- who have colon cancer -- to improve their outcome." Eating more fish, chicken, and grains such as brown rice has been an easy decision for John Couglin. "To cut down from one steak a week to one steak a month is not a big deal."

Other Countries Surpass Canada In Technological Innovation In Health Care OTTAWA, Aug. 16 /CNW Telbec/ - Canada scores poorly in several areas of health innovation compared to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries with high performing health systems, according to a new Conference Board report, Exploring Technological Innovation in Health Systems. "Many decision-makers inside the health system view technology as a cost and focus less on the potential benefits of technological innovation in creating high-performing health systems," said Gabriela Prada, Principal Research Associate. "Canada also does not do well in turning health research into commercial products and technologies." The innovation environment in Canada compares unfavourably to leading countries in terms of: the number of university graduates with advanced research qualifications in the health and life sciences sectors; investment of health-related venture capital as a percentage of gross domestic product; and the speed and efficiency of its regulatory system. Canadian universities do not compare well with American and European universities in their ability to diffuse knowledge and commercialize research into marketable products and services. Canadian universities also produce fewer inventions, patents and licenses than U.S. or European counterparts. The study concludes that little collaboration occurs between universities and business enterprises. This poor performance may be due in part to the low level of health research and development performed and funded by the business sector. Another area requiring improvement is Canada's investment in information and communications technology. Average hospital expenditures on information technology are only 1.5 per cent of operating budget-well below the 4.4 per cent average for the OECD countries studied. Canada also scores low in the use of electronic medical records and the use of Internet and external health information systems to support primary care practices.