diagnosis | Silver Magazine

Health

Dementia research and what we’re learning

Dementia, such as Alzheimers, is of top concern for Canadians as they age and for their parents, especially those in their 50’s and dealing with aging parents. A recent study by Baycrest a teaching hospital in Toronto, found Canadians are unsure about available resources for them and their parents and find it difficult to get the right information. The study also found that less than one in five people are confident about their knowledge in preventing dementia. One in four Canadians over 45 don’t know when to start taking steps to prevent dementia and only 16% of study respondents indicated having any type of plan ion place to deal with it. “Almost 80 per cent of our long-term care residents are living with dementia. Through Baycrest’s ground-breaking research and innovations, compassionate care and renowned educational programs, we are striving to take critical steps forward in paving the way towards a

Simone Waters October 18, 2021

Health

Overcoming the stigma of lung cancer

When someone says they have lung cancer, we may not say it out loud, but we may first think that they must be or have been a smoker. It’s a human trait that we make assumptions about certain things. To Canadians, lung cancer is often, wrongly, tagged with being “smokers cancer.” It’s a stigma that the Canadian Lung Health Foundation and Lung Cancer Canada are seeking to do something about and that’s not a bad idea. Nearly 30,000 Canadians are diagnosed with lung cancer each year and while around 85% of cases are due to smoking, and 15% quit long before their diagnosis. Sometimes lung cancer can be the result of other factors such as asbestos (especially for those over 70 who may have worked with or around asbestos during the 60’s and 70’s) as well as just a natural occurrence or other factors. “We are shifting the conversation from

Alex Hurst October 1, 2020