Health – Views & Research – The Conversation

Health news

Four men running on a track using running blades

Paralympics showcase high-tech prosthetics, but for many people with limb loss, access to prostheses looks quite different

Alfiya Battalova, Royal Roads University; Brittany Pousett, University of British Columbia; Kassi Welch, University of British Columbia, and William C. Miller, University of British Columbia

At the UN, world leaders are negotiating the biggest health issue you’ve never heard of

Mathieu JP Poirier, York University, Canada

Why Canada needs a national disability strategy

Olaf Kraus de Camargo, McMaster University

Photo of statue of Terry Fox with the Parliament buildings in the background

Free menstrual products matter to support equity, but so do adequate facilities and sinks

Pauline Tennent, University of Manitoba; Adele Perry, University of Manitoba; Julia Smith, University of Manitoba, and Lindsay Larios, University of Manitoba

A row of cloth pads with reusable menstrual cups.

Sierra Leone is working to transform its food system, but it faces mounting challenges

Evan Fraser, University of Guelph

Open bags of grain sit on a wooden table

Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus: Are we losing sight of overall health? Here’s what the science says

Aude Bandini, Université de Montréal; Jean-Philippe Drouin-Chartier, Université Laval; Pierre-Marie David, Université de Montréal, and Rémi Rabasa-Lhoret, Université de Montréal

Fitness and nutrition

Four older adults in fitness clothes stretching outdoors

Nutrition and healthy aging: The role of protein quality in combatting muscle loss

James McKendry, University of British Columbia

Flexible fitness: How moms can blend movement and motherhood for mental well-being

Iris Lesser, University of The Fraser Valley

A woman in fitness clothes stretching on a mat with a baby on the floor

How the health of your gut microbiome can affect your skin

Narveen Jandu, University of Waterloo and Flore Van Leemput, Northern Ontario School of Medicine

Blurred woman in background reaching to touch a blue hologram of a human intestine

Tackling food insecurity needs more than charity — governments must also act

Myriam Durocher, Carleton University; Annika Walsh, University of British Columbia; Irena Knezevic, Carleton University, and Madison Hynes, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Why sport must be (re)imagined in ways that make it more accessible for all disabled athletes

Jennifer Mooradian, Brock University and Dawn Trussell, Brock University

COVID and infectious illness

Mpox patient, with affected hands and arms, receives treatment

Africa desperately needs mpox vaccines. But donations from rich countries won’t fix this or the next health emergency

Joel Lexchin, York University, Canada; Brigitte Tenni, The University of Melbourne; Deborah Gleeson, La Trobe University, and Ronald Labonte, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

Why has COVID been so much worse this summer? The health belief model has the answer

Jaigris Hodson, Royal Roads University

A man in athletic clothing lying on the ground beside a track

The WHO has declared Mpox a ‘public health emergency of international concern.’ Is it time to worry?

Kiffer George Card, Simon Fraser University

Pink, brick-shaped virus particles with rounded edges

Making visible the invisible: Supporting long COVID patients and the people caring for them

Kaylee Byers, Simon Fraser University; Julia Smith, Simon Fraser University; Kayli Jamieson, Simon Fraser University, and Rackeb Tesfaye, Simon Fraser University

Illustration of a human figure tied to a large COVID-19 virus behind him

An ounce of prevention: Now is the time to take action on H5N1 avian flu, because the stakes are enormous

Matthew S Miller, McMaster University

A chicken at the entrance of a chicken coop

Mental health

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder causes debilitating periods. Here’s what we know about how to treat it.

Sneha Chenji, University of Regina

A woman sitting with her head on her knees

Psychotropic drugs in the Olympic Games: Doping regulations and athletes’ mental health medications

Larissa Costa Duarte, Western University

The Olympic rings made of pills and a syringe

Debunking 5 myths about antidepressants

Natalina Salmaso, Carleton University

A man wearing glasses sitting on a sofa with a glass of water in one hand, looking at a pill in his other hand

Supervised inhalation is a necessary intervention in the drug poisoning crisis

Stephanie Milliken, McMaster University

Cancer

Cancer is affecting more young people than ever before: How health care can learn to meet their needs

Cheryl Heykoop, Royal Roads University

Ignoring reason and evidence: Why new breast cancer guidelines advising against screening women in their 40s are misguided

Anna N. Wilkinson, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa; Jean Seely, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa; Moira Rushton, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa, and Suleena Duhaime, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

A woman undergoing mammography with a health-care worker

Incurable but not hopeless: How hope shapes patients’ awareness of their advanced cancer prognosis

Jean Mathews, Queen's University, Ontario and Michael Brundage, Queen's University, Ontario

An older man in hospital bed and a woman with her arm around him

For cancer patients, maintaining muscle is vital to health and treatment, but staying strong is complicated

Meghan McCue, Laurentian University

A man with a physiotherapist, helping him lift a small dumbbell with one arm

Princess of Wales and King Charles: one in two people develop cancer during their lives – the diseases and treatments explained

Gavin Metcalf, Anglia Ruskin University

Chronic conditions

Your eyes could reveal the first signs of many diseases

Langis Michaud, Université de Montréal

As wildfires become more frequent and intense, how will persistent smoke exposure affect long-term health?

Stephanie Cleland, Simon Fraser University and Ryan W. Allen, Simon Fraser University

Health care

Canada’s treatment of internationally trained physicians exacerbates the health-care crisis

Elliot Goodell Ugalde, Queen's University, Ontario

Paramedics treating patients’ palliative needs at home benefits everyone

Jean-Eric Tarride, McMaster University

A woman paramedic listening to an older woman's heart with a stethoscope

Underfunded and unstudied: The need for Red River Métis health research funding

Alexandra Nychuk, McMaster University

The blue Métis flag flying next to a Canadian flag

Why increasing Canada’s health budget for preventive and social care makes sense fiscally and medically

Rylan Egan, Queen's University, Ontario and Madison Lavergne, Queen's University, Ontario

A woman holding a file folder talking to another woman seated on a clinic examination table

Children and families

A woman's hands seen putting lunch in a bag.

‘So much mental load’: Mothers speak about school lunches

Jennifer Black, University of British Columbia

The orchid and dandelion phenomenon in brain aging: Personalizing cognitive health approaches for older adults

Emma A. Rodrigues, Simon Fraser University

A potted white orchid against a black background and a dandelion growing from a crack in pavement

Young children with disabilities are excluded from national physical activity monitoring. That needs to change.

Sophie M Phillips, Western University; Leah Taylor, Western University, and Trish Tucker, Western University

A boy floating in a pool on yellow pool noodle

Changes to U.S. dog import regulations: What they are and why they matter for dogs and for people

Kiffer George Card, Simon Fraser University and Kaylee Byers, Simon Fraser University

The shoulder and arm of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent in the foreground, holding a form, and a woman with a dog in a car with the window rolled down

Your child has been prescribed opioids: 7 ways to use them more safely

Samina Ali, University of Alberta

A teen girl in a hospital bed with a parent and a health-care professional