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Health

Facing Your Health

As you read this – please start to be aware of your breathing. Are you breathing fast? Shallow breaths? As you bring awareness to your breathing, begin to focus and feel your body. Let’s really dive deep. Let’s do a body scan. Close your eyes and tap into your breathing and how you feel. Start with your toes and move up all the way to the top of your head. Try to release and relax your body as you move up from your toes. Imagine if you are being “beamed up” like in Star Trek. Your body is made of millions of particles. Feel your body and its deepest parts. Is everything okay? You know better than anyone how you are feeling and your health. Take an honest assessment. Are there any problem areas that need to be addressed? Anything sore? Does anything feel stiff or stuck? Digestion? Heartbeat? What

Denise Swan May 28, 2023

Cover Story

The Casino of Life – Pursuits & Pleasures

Pursuits and Pleasures – The Casino of Life What are you knowingly doing that is risking your health? We are all doing something. Whether crossing the street or taking drugs, there are risks to everything in life. Are we playing the right games? For instance, downhill skiing can be considered reasonably risky to your health, but if one prepares and accepts the risks, one can find great joy and pleasure from hitting the slopes. The same holds true for smoking cigarettes. The nicotine high attained from smoking can be a wonderful and pleasurable feeling for many, but it has risks. Thinking about what risks we are willing to take or not take is a great practice to help us define the boundaries and guidelines we want for our lives. We come to the game of life like visiting a casino, betting on pleasures versus risks hoping to win in a

Max Brennan May 1, 2023

Featured

Walking your way to better health

There is no question, it’s been a tough couple of years. COVID-19 brought a lot of uncertainty, impacted our physical health and mental well-being and eroded our social connections. In the meantime, Canadians became more sedentary. It’s time we hit the reboot button. According to Greg Wells, Ph.D., a performance physiologist and a senior associate at SickKids Hospital in Toronto, “If you look at humans from an evolutionary perspective, we are designed to walk. And when we walk long distances, we get healthier. Our muscles and bones get stronger. Our spines function better, blood flows to our brain and bodies, and the benefits are profound. We also know that the risk of 13 different types of cancer decreases when you walk for as little as 15 minutes a day.” If you’ve ever doubted the power of taking a walk, consider how you feel when you get outdoors in nature. Walking

Marylene Vestergom September 1, 2022

Featured

How to Fall in Love With Exercise Again

How does exercise improve mental health? Even if You Hated Exercise All Your Life: Try This 7 Step Fun Strategy Based on Neuroscience.

Dr. Christine Sauer May 3, 2022

Health

What you need to know about prediabetes

What is prediabetes? Prediabetes means you are on your way to get full-blown type 2 diabetes — unless you do something about it now. Prediabetes is a window of opportunity — a chance to PREVENT or delay type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes is the time to seek help. How is prediabetes diagnosed? It is diagnosed by a blood sugar test. Usually an A1C test or a fasting blood sugar. An A1C measures your average blood sugar over the past three months. A1C of 6 to 6.4% = prediabetes, or Fasting blood sugar of 6.1 to 6.9 mmol/L = prediabetes. Once the A1C reaches 6.5% or the fasting blood sugar reaches 7.0 mmol/L, you have type 2 diabetes. Most people do not have noticeable symptoms of prediabetes, and everyone over the age of 45 should be tested at least once a year. How common is prediabetes in seniors? Very common! The rates

Karen Graham January 10, 2022

Health

Yukon moves to protect seniors from shingles virus

CanAge, Canada’s National Seniors’ Advocacy Organization, is applauding a recent announcement made by the Government of Yukon that the best-in-class shingles vaccine (Shingrix) is now available to all adults aged 65-79 in pharmacies. The previous age cutoff for the vaccine was 70 and options for where to get the required 2 doses were limited and unclear, leaving many older people in the territory vulnerable to shingles—a debilitating and painful virus that can lead to permanent nerve damage and loss of vision. The announcement follows a critical review of the territory’s adult immunization efforts by CanAge earlier this year, which placed Yukon among the worst performers across Canada in vaccinating seniors. “By expanding coverage and access to the recommended shingles vaccine (Shingrix), the Government of Yukon has taken a major step toward keeping seniors in the territory safe from what can be a truly excruciating viral infection with life-long effects,” says

Alex Hurst December 8, 2021

Health

The 101 on your immune system

Your immune system defends you from constant threats. Look after it so it can look after you. Part One: How your immune system works THE ABC’S OF IMMUNITY We don’t realize it as we go about our day, but our immune system is engaged in a constant life-or-death drama, fighting threats too small to see and winning most of them most of the time. In this era of the COVID-19 pandemic, it helps to get a big-picture view of the immune system. Without it, we would all be sick, dying, or dead. In the article How the Immune System Works, in Medical News Today (2018), Tim Newman explains that “without an immune system, our bodies would be open to attack from bacteria, viruses, parasites, and more. It keeps us healthy as we drift through a sea of pathogens. This vast network of cells and tissues is constantly on the lookout

David Holt December 1, 2021

Health

A mattress for the ages

As we age, the type of mattress we need often changes and they are critical to good sleep hygiene. And not all mattresses are made equal. Good sleep health is important for our overall health and wellness. That includes pre-midnight sleep (sorry night owls), a good stretch of time where we get REM sleep for our brains, and to give our physical bodies proper rest and recovery time. Edmonton, Alberta based Canadian mattress manufacturer GoodMorning.com believes this so much that they offered us a free mattress to try. If we were impressed, we’d write about it. If we weren’t, just like their 120 night guarantee, we could send it back. We ended up loving it. My partner and I are in our late 50’s. We’re very active. From Nordic Pole Walking to hiking and running, I’m regular with my daily yoga routine and pilates a couple of times a week.

Alex Hurst September 10, 2021

Health

The Risks of the Keto Diet

A diet thought to be perfect for weight loss, keto may be more dangerous than you think. Everywhere you turn these days, it seems someone is talking about the “keto” or ketogenic diet. There’s even supplements to help the body go into ketosis. And while the keto diet may seem like a new breakthrough, it’s actually been around for about 100 years. It’s been used by doctors to help those with morbid obesity to lose weight fast when their lives are at risk. Some athletes have also taken advantage of it. So what is the keto diet? The keto diet is very low-carb and high in fat. Essentially, instead of burning carbs, like from potatoes, bread and pasta, it makes you burn your body’s fat. Doesn’t sound too bad does it? In the short term, it may not be. But there are a number of dangers. The keto diet is

Alex Hurst April 9, 2021