Health and Wellness officials say fentanyl use hasn’t escalated in Nova Scotia yet, but the province needs to work quickly to “get ahead of the problem.” Minister Leo Glavine and chief medical officer Dr. Robert Strang, who both attended the national conference on opioid use in Ottawa last weekend, told reporters at a press conference Wednesday that […]
Health
Posted inNews + Opinion
Fliss Cramman’s shackles removed
[Image-1] The mood was somber and supportive, but the tone indignant, as poet El Jones led a rally for the rights of Fliss Cramman, who was shackled to her hospital bed while recovering from surgery. Jones posted a call to arms on Facebook earlier this week in order to rally people to the Dartmouth General […]
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North End Community Health Centre gets a new home on Gottingen Street
[Image-1] Months ago the North End Community Health Centre was asking the province for more funding to fix its collapsing roof. Instead, the north end medical centre will be getting a whole new location courtesy of a 10-year lease from the Liberal government. The announcement was made Monday afternoon at a press conference held with […]
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Sober sociables isn’t an easy game to play
[Image-1] On a cold Friday night, Nathaniel Crocker sits on an unkempt dorm bed, occasionally changing the song being played on the laptop. As is the unsaid tradition for students all around Halifax, Friday is a night of festivities marked primarily by drinking in dorm rooms. For the 21-year-old Crocker, weekends look a little different. […]
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Autism services waitlists eliminated, but only for some Nova Scotians
Dear Premier McNeil, In your recent budget you announced increased spending for behavioural intervention services for children with Autism, such as the EIBI program. You mentioned that waitlists which existed for families when your government first came to power, didn’t exist anymore. Did you mean they’d been eliminated for those specific families? If so, […]
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Our Resilient Bodies has the shit on poop
[Image-1] “We can all pretend that pooping isn’t a thing we all do, but everyone knows that’s a lie,” says Nicole Marcoux. “They literally wrote a book called Everybody Poops, for children. It’s still applicable to adults.” Marcoux is facilitating Inside//out: explorations between emotions, guts and poop—a workshop happening this Thursday, May 19 for Our […]
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Keeping spirits up during a 38-day hospital visit
[Image-1] After a tumultuous 38-day hospital stay, Matt Robichaud is back at home with his dog, Sandy, and a gnarly scar. Robichaud, 26, was admitted to the QEII Health Sciences Centre in early March for chronic pancreatitis after a three day bout of bad stomach pains. He was at the Victoria General site for most […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: A healthy biosphere means healthier humans
[Image-1] Imagine if scientists came up with an inexpensive, easily administered way to decrease the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and obesity by 25 to 35 percent. It would create a sensation and, if patented, would be worth billions. But there’s already a free and simple way to achieve this: exercise. The human […]
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Might be a good time to quit: The price of smokes just went up
[Image-1] If you still want to pack the darts, save your change. The price of cigarettes in Nova Scotia just went up. Effective Wednesday, April 20, the cost of a single smoke is up by two cents, or about 50 cents extra a pack. The cost of a carton of 200 cigarettes will increase by […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: City life is stressing you out, but there’s a simple cure
For the most part, our brains didn’t evolve in cities. But in a few decades, almost 70 percent of the world’s people will live in urban environments. Despite the prosperity we associate with cities, urbanization presents a major health challenge. Cities, with their accelerated pace of life, can be stressful. The results are seen in […]
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The resiliency of Direction 180
[Image-3] “Morning,” I say to the group of men huddled outside Direction 180 as I walk by. After years in this small city, many of their faces are familiar to me—I note that today is the first time that I’ll ask them how they’re doing. A short man with scruffy grey hair, who is 71 […]
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New data registry aims to improve health care in First Nations
[Image-1] Mi’kmaw people aged 20-39 are five times more likely to get diabetes than other Nova Scotians, according to a newly-created health care data-sharing registry for Indigenous communities. The First Nations Client Linkage Registry is a joint project of First Nations chiefs, the provincial government and Health Canada. The new registry was announced Thursday at […]