White Coat, Black Artwith Dr. Brian Goldman

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DR. BRIAN'S BLOG

Aerobic exercise helps your brain too, says study

Aerobic exercise is good for your heart. A study shows how regular exercise rebuilds brain tissue and plausibly may help stave off dementia.

Writer's block, neurosis and empathy: A rare look at Dr. Oliver Sacks' early career

Lawrence Weschler's memoir 'And How are You, Dr. Sacks' recounts his 30-plus year friendship with the famed neurologist and author.

'I didn't think I could have a baby': Toronto clinic supports women with disabilities

Christine Lumilan, a mother with cerebral palsy, and Dr. Anne Berndl are breaking down barriers — medical and physical — to motherhood for disabled women. But they’re also challenging a culture which has been slow to accept the idea that disabled women can be mothers.

Read two chapters and call me in the morning: The White Coat, Black Art book club

We asked Dr. Brian Goldman and each of our guests to share their thoughts on a book that touched them personally and says something about health care in Canada. Here are their picks.

Prescribed reading: How a book club helps health-care workers 'understand why we do what we do'

Since 2017, emergency staff at the William Osler Health System have been meeting regularly at Brampton Civic Hospital's auditorium to discuss book selections. Hospital staff say the book club helps them reconnect with their purpose and their patients.
Dr. Brian's BLOG

Long-term breast cancer survivors face unexpected challenges

A new U.S. study finds that women with breast cancer are surviving long enough to die of causes not related to the cancer.

Canada's guidelines say most women in their 40s don't need a mammogram. This breast cancer survivor disagrees

Currently, the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC) doesn't recommend a mammogram for women aged 40 to 49 if they don't have any pre-existing factors that put them at risk of breast cancer. Some experts and breast cancer survivors worry that women are getting the wrong message.
Dr. Brian's BLOG

Stroke prevention begins in the ER says Canadian study

Blood thinners are a proven medication to prevent strokes in patients who have irregular heartbeats. Emergency physicians may be in the best position to make sure patients start taking their medicine.

From zero tolerance to open dialogue: How harm reduction is shifting the conversation on drug use

A recent study in B.C., found that many teens who encountered substance use responded more positively to harm reduction approaches than a blanket don't-do-drugs edict. Harm reduction focuses not on abstinence, but minimizing harm and potential danger.
Dr. Brian's BLOG

Non-opioid pain relievers misused too says study

The risk of addiction to opioid pain relievers is well known. Turns out the misuse of two non-opioid drugs used for pain is a growing problem too.

'It was terrifying': Teen who collapsed after vaping nicotine is now warning her peers

High schooler Erin Dexter collapsed and ended up in the hospital after a morning vape in November. Health Canada is tracking cases of vaping-related severe pulmonary disease, but not lower-level incidents like blackouts or seizures that may be the result of absorbing large amounts of nicotine.
Dr. Brian's BLOG

Prenatal exposure to opioids may alter brain development: study

The opioid crisis takes a new and disturbing turn. Prenatal exposure to opioids may affect a part of the brain that regulates emotions and memories in babies.

Certain she was 'bound to die in addiction,' she's now drug-free thanks to mother-child rehab program

The Portage Mother and Child Program lets mothers bring their young children with them to residential treatment, where they can get off drugs and learn to parent.
Dr. Brian's BLOG

Obesity-related cancers on the rise in younger Canadians: study

A new study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal finds an increase in rates of cancer in Canadians under 50. Obesity is just one of several possible mitigating factors.

From victims to advocates: People with developmental disabilities are changing the health-care system

Dr. Brian Goldman explores how medicine has treated people with developmental disabilities, and what's being done to remedy the cruelty of the past.
Q&A

Why Dr. Brian Goldman bought cigarettes for his underage son who has FASD

On Friday, Dr. Brian Goldman found himself making a difficult decision: buying his first pack of cigarettes — for his 17-year-old son. He tells Metro Morning host Matt Galloway why he sees it as a means of harm reduction.

'I thought my mind would never be mine again': Author explores mental illness in new memoir

In 1998, Irish writer Arnold Thomas Fanning was diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder. He thought it would be "the end of [his] life" as he knew it. His new memoir, Mind on Fire, explores the 10 years he spent struggling with mental illness.
DR. BRIAN'S BLOG

Teens who visit ERs with self-harm injuries likely to repeat, new study suggests

New research has found that teens who visited the ER after self-harm were five times more likely to return than their peers who came to the hospital for other reasons, suggesting better interventions are needed to identify teens at risk of harming themselves again.

Inuit babies 'don't have a lobby': Doctor petitions to expand use of antibody against respiratory virus

A petition based on research by Dr. Anna Banerji is calling for Nunavut to expand the use of an antibody to all Inuit babies to protect them against a contagious respiratory virus. But the territory’s health department says it needs “conclusive evidence” to change its policy.
Dr. Brian's BLOG

How harassment of women surgical residents harms well-being of patients

An explosive new U.S. survey finds women surgical residents suffer more mistreatment than men. It may be linked to higher rates of burnout and depression.

How one man is speaking up for ALS patients, even without his voice

Jay DesMazes may have lost the ability to talk yet he's still able to speak up for himself when it comes to how he’s treated in our health-care system.
Dr. Brian's BLOG

Episiotomy helpful in forceps births says Canadian study

A new Canadian study challenges conventional wisdom about a common procedure performed on women in labour.

A cuddle from mum instead of morphine: How rooming in helps opioid-dependent newborns combat withdrawal

A growing body of evidence shows a rooming-in approach, which allows mothers and babies to stay together in a private room and bond through skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding, can be as effective as drugs in combating infants' withdrawal symptoms.

Food as medicine: How this Newfoundland community got 'hooked' on plant-based eating

A growing number of people have moved away from eating meat after attending workshops in the Burin Peninsula run by two local doctors who champion a plant-based diet.
Blog

A closer look at men who get breast cancer

You may not know this but a small percentage of men get breast cancer. A new study sheds light on intriguing findings on how men and women are treated differently for it.