Health and Wellness Blog

Curious about Canada's food heritage? Join us for a free lecture at TRL...

Dorothy Duncan will take you on a Canadian culinary adventure. From the self-sufficient First Nations to Prairie Settlers to Convenience Foods, she explores the diversity of Canada's food history. Her book, Canadians at Table was a 2007 winner in the Cuisine Canada awards.

 

Where: Toronto Reference Library, Beeton Auditorium, Toronto

When: Tuesday, January 24th, 2012  1:30 to 3 pm

What:  Free lecture. All welcome! Wheelchair accessible

 

Check out also Dorothy's other books on this fascinating topic: 

 

                               

The Human Genome: the Dawn of Personalized Medicine

The Human Genome Project was started in October 1990 and completed in April 2003.  The goal of the project was to identify  all of the approximately 20,000 to 25,000 genes of a human being and to determine the sequence.  The genome is a complete set of DNA including its genes.

Why is it important? The benefits include:

• Drugs to target specific diseases
• Match the right drug (ones most likely to work) with the individual
• Predict your genetic risk for many diseases through genetic testing
• Gene therapy

 

For more information read A Guide to Your Genome from the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Would you spend $1,000.00 to have your genome sequenced?  On Tuesday two competing companies announced the development of a new machine that can sequence your genome in a day for $1,000.00.  Read The $1,000 Human Genome: Are We There Yet? from Scientific American.

Check out the Library's recent books about the Human Genome Project.  To see which branch has a copy of the book and to place a hold, click on the title or cover link; 

Drawing the Map of Life: Inside the Human Genome Project	Here is a Human Being: at the Dawn of Personal Genomics	The $1,000 Genome: the Revolution in DNA Sequencing and the New Era of Personalized Medicine

New Year's resolutions and how to keep them...

Five days into the new year and many of us are already struggling to keep our resolutions. For some tips on how to stick to your resolutions watch this YouTube clip or check out one of TPL's books listed below:   

 

     

By the way, these suggestions don't just apply to new year's resolutions. It's about goal setting and steps on reaching your goals. And no, you don't have to wait for the new year to set goals. Anytime is good. Just make sure your goals are realistic and attainable. So get going...what are you waiting for?

 

     

    

   
   

More Popular Medical Books to Read

It's the holiday season.  Maybe the weather is getting you down or it might be a cold or flu and you find yourself at home with time to read.  The following books are filled with adventure, mystery, suspense and even danger and answer questions you might have like:

• What are some of the more bizarre medical cases physicians see?
• How does the human mind work?
• What do the volunteers of Doctors Without Borders do?
• Who are the Elite Medical Detectives and what do they do?

 

 To see which branch has a copy of the book and to place a hold, click on the title or cover link;

 

The Tell-Tale Brain Using unusual and baffling cases, Ramachandran, a neuroscientist, explains how a normal human brain works.	The Yipping Tiger and Other Tales from the Neuropsychiatric Clinic Features ten case histories of common neuropsychiatric disorders including golfer's yip, Tourette syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anorexia nervosa and phantom limb.	What Disturbs Our Blood:a Son's Quest to Redeem the Past A riveting story of addiction and mental illness in a prominent Canadian family spanning three generations.

 

 

 

Hope in Hell: Inside the World of Doctors Without Borders Fascinating and harrowing tales of the medical professionals who deliver emergency care in war-torn countries and areas where natural disasters have occurred.  Read the News updates from the Canadian website.	Inside the Outbreaks: the Elite Medical Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service Follow the officers of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, a section of the Centers for Disease Control, as they investigate outbreaks of Ebola, smallpox, rabies, anthrax and other deadly diseases.  To see recent investigations, go to the Epidemic Intelligence Service website.	The Deadly Dinner Party & Other Medical Detective Stories Fifteen gripping stories including a typhoid outbreak in the Catskills, a building-related cluster of hypersensitivity pneumonia, and a case of Vitamin A toxicity.

Seasonal stress and what to do about it...

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..." but holidays can also be a major source of stress. Whether it's decorating the house, stuffing the holiday turkey, shopping for presents or hosting family and friends, these otherwise joyful activities place undue demands on us which in turn result in stress.

 

  

 

But don't despair...with a little foresight, you can minimize the stress that accompanies the holidays.  Mayo Clinic's tips on preventing holiday stress include:

• be aware of common holiday stress triggers so you can disarm them before they spoil the holidays
• when stressed, validate your feelings and reach out; it's ok to ask for help!
• be realistic -- holidays don't have to be perfect
• plan ahead, learn to say no and stick to a budget
• don't abandon healthy habits and make some time for yourself

                

While on the topic of holidays, check out our earlier blog on safety tips for the holidays.

 

       
                                      

For more information on coping with seasonal stress, here are some books you can check out from TPL. Just click on the book covers to place a hold.


     

Medical Mysteries and Histories: True Tales of Forensic Medicine

 

 

Nothing but holiday specials on TV?  Missing your favourite forensic medical mystery shows?

 

 

The dark days of winter are approaching when sitting in a big, overstuffed armchair with a good true forensic medical mystery book while the snow falls seems somehow inviting. Here are some titles sure to make you shiver but not from the cold!

 

Blood on the Table: the Greatest Cases of New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Headline cases including a 1922 tale of Becker and Norkin who acuse each other of murdering Becker's wife, a surgeon who kills his rival's patients and the murder of a violinist backstage at the Lincoln Center.	Blood Work: a Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution A 17th century tale of French physician Jean-Baptiste Denis who was found guilty of murder after he tranfused lamb's blood into a human who died several days later.  But it was later discovered that the patient was poisoned likely by a cabal attempting to discredit Denis.	Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius In 1809 in Vienna the head of the just-deceased composer Haydn was grave robbed.  The skulls of many other famous people including Beethoven, Mozart, Goya and Swedenborg were also stolen, sold, studied or put on display.  It was a time when the dubious science of phrenology, identifying genius through the study of bumps and ridges on the human skull,  was developed.

 

 

Post Mortem: Solving History's Great Medical Mysteries Fascinating medical cases of 12 famous people including Alexander the Great, King Herod, Joan of Arc, Beethoven, Mozart, Akhenaten, and Christopher Columbus.  A panel of experts attempt to use modern medical knowledge to diagnose their illnesses based on the medical evidence of the time.	Tales from the Morgue: Forensic Answers to Nine Famous Cases Including the Scott Peterson & Chandra Levy Cases Pittsburgh pathologist Wecht lends his expertise on the John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and the airline crash in Gander, Newfoundland cases.	The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York Witness the birth of forensic toxicology  through the monumental careers of New York City's chief medical examiner Charles Norris and toxicologist Alexander Gettler in the 1920s as they solve chemical crimes.

World AIDS Day... 30 years on

This year marks the 30th year since the first HIV case was reported and since then an estimated 30 million people have died of AIDS-related illnesses. Another 33 million are carriers of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The shocking truth is that many don't know that they are infected with HIV.

While the AIDS Clock is ticking... there is some good news to report. According to the United Nations, the number of HIV infections worldwide has declined in the last decade. Paradoxically, Canada is bucking the trend with rates of infection on the rise.

This is very disheartening. As Christopher Bunting, the president of the Canadian Foundation of AIDS Research (CANFAR) pointed out: "...Canadians need to re-engage with this issue. This disease is still with us...it just moved to the back burner...."

Why this complacency?  Perhaps it's because HIV is no longer a death sentence due to medical advances. Antiretroviral medications, like the "Cocktail" keep patients alive for decades. As a matter of fact, life expectancy is only a few months shorter than for people without HIV. But what about the quality of life? What about the cost to the health care system and to society in general?

"Getting to Zero" is the theme selected by World AIDS Campaign (WAC) to commemorate this year's World AIDS Day. It echoes UNAIDS' vision of "Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths." Here in Canada, we should also make this our rallying cry and do our share to aim for getting to zero. 

For more information on HIV and AIDS and what you can do about it, here are some books you can check out from TPL. Just click on the book covers to place a hold.  

 

Further Reading:  

Health Canada. It's Your Health - HIV/AIDS

What is World AIDS Day? - CATIE 

More than skin deep... books on skin disorders

Hopefully some of you had a chance to attend last week's information session on Eczema. If not or if you would like information on another skin disorder or just general information on skin problems, here are some titles available at the Toronto Public Library for you to consult or to take out...

       



You may also check out these websites for more information on skin disorders...

• Canadian Dermatology Association
• Skin Conditions - MedlinePlus
• Skin Disorders - The Merck Manual
• Eczema and Atopic Dermatitis - The Family Doctor
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Therapeutic Benefits of Pets

Pets provide some very important therapeutic benefits including:

• Calming influence, help to relieve stress
• Boosting confidence and self-esteem especially in children
• Mental stimulation and entertainment -- animals increase communication, laughter and play
• Help develop nurturing skills and empathy with animals and humans
• Provide unconditional love

Animal-assisted (pet) therapy can be used in a variety of settings including the home, nursing homes, retirement residences, hospitals, schools, and prisons.

 

 

Looking for a therapy cat or dog to visit?  Go to Therapeutic Paws of Canada or the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Services.

Read more about Pet Therapy from Healthline or About Animal-Assisted Therapy from the American Humane Association.

Check out the Library's recent books about the benefits of pet therapy.  To see which branch has a copy of the book and to place a hold, click on the title or cover link;

 

Love at First Bark	You Had Me at Woof	Tails of Recovery

Animal-Assisted Therapy	Play Therapy with Kids and Canines	A Friend Like Henry

Free Health Lecture on Eczema at TRL