Regina seems overrun with Canada geese — but their population might actually be declining
Conner Baragar is an ecologist with the Saskatchewan Provincial Capital Commission. The organization tracks Regina's Canada goose population.
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CTV News
21 minutes ago
- CTV News
Workshop being held in Windsor to assist people with the legal name and gender marker change process in Ontario
A workshop is being held in Windsor on Saturday for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Dana Rosamund Teagle is leading the workshop. Rosamund Teagle is a web and software developer for , a free online tool that helps navigate the legal name and gender marker change process in Ontario. The site offers guidance on required documents, fees and steps — with a focus on trans inclusion and reducing administrative barriers. Rosamund Teagle said they've been running ID clinics for teaching trans people how to change their name and gender markers in the province since 2021. 'If I can be a person who's like, hey not only have I been through this myself, I've also helped this huge pile of people go through it as well, and I think that gives people short of the confidence they need to tackle that,' says Rosamund Teagle. Rosamund Teagle said they've noticed how meaningful the workshops and website are to people. 'I really believe also very firmly in trans people helping trans people with solving trans problems whenever possible,' says Rosamund Teagle. Rosamund Teagle says it's free to attend the workshop. 'I've heard from the people who have been to these workshops and benefited from my site, that it's meant a lot to them for it to be lead by someone who is also trans themselves,' says Rosamund Teagle. The workshop begins at 6:30 p.m. at Hackforge HQ at 300 Ouellette Ave. Trans, non-binary, gender-diverse individuals and their allies are invited to connect with Rosamund Teagle and learn about the site plus have conversations about accessibility, identity and the power of self-determination. The event will include presentations, a question and answer period and open dialogue. - By Dustin Coffman, AM800
CBC
30 minutes ago
- CBC
Anorexia is normally treated with therapy. Now a Canadian team is trying the gut
Social Sharing This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here. Anorexia is a life-threatening eating disorder that can manifest as an intense preoccupation on weight loss. It's classified as a mental illness and normally treated with talk therapy, known as family-based therapy, but that's only effective for about half of the mostly women and girls who have it. Those who don't improve may go to hospital and get locked into a relentless cycle of gaining weight and recovering from malnourishment, followed by weight loss and damage to organs, including changes to the brain from starvation. Now, Canadian researchers are testing a new approach, tapping into the growing understanding of the gut-brain connection. They're going to try treating teens with fecal transplants, to change the bacteria in their gut. "We know that once the symptoms set in and the brain changes, it's really hard to change the course, so if we can intervene early in the adolescent years, we have the best chance," said Dr. Jennifer Couturier, a child psychiatrist and associate professor of psychiatry at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont. In fecal microbial transplants, a small sample of stool from a healthy person is purified to concentrate the beneficial bacteria minus the waste. The microbiome is then put in a capsule, which the recipient takes for therapeutic purposes. Couturier and her team have Health Canada approval to run a randomized clinical trial in an initial group of 20 females aged 12 to 17 diagnosed with anorexia. They will either take oral capsules along with standard family-based treatment to stabilize nutrition and avoid the harmful effects of starvation or family-based treatment alone. McMaster's own stool bank Fecal transplants have been tested in a small handful of adults with anorexia, including one who restored her weight. In this trial, the McMaster researchers will use the university's own stool bank of donations. Dr. Nikhil Pai, a gastroenterologist at McMaster and a co-investigator on the trial, credited the university's contributions for funding the research and starting the pediatric stool bank. "This is not affiliated with any company," Pai said. "We developed this entirely in-house using carefully screened pediatric donors." Pai said the screening checks for infectious diseases, similar to how blood donations are assessed. Staff at the stool bank then prepare the capsules, which can't be mass produced. WATCH | Exploring the power of poop: There are a few reasons Pai and some other doctors are optimistic participants will benefit. One comes from animal studies. Researchers transplanted gut microbes from humans with anorexia to normal mice models, and found the mice reduced their food intake as if anorexic. Then, when gut microbes from healthy humans were given, the effect reversed. Secondly, young guts are subject to change. Pai said the gut microbiome is malleable in children and teens. "It actually is a very different landscape in adolescence, where if you can make a change, you not only may see some improvement in terms of outcomes for anorexia nervosa in the short term, but … the sustained response," Pai said. Butterflies in the stomach With every meal, trillions of gut bacteria turn breakfast, lunch and dinner into molecules called metabolites that affect the brain. Pai, who also works at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said large population-based studies show a few types of bacteria can have an outsized effect on the brain through the gut-brain axis, a connection between the two. "When we feel a bit nervous, sometimes we feel butterflies in our stomach," as a symptom of the nervousness, Pai said. "It's no surprise that we often have these intestinal symptoms that come along with the psychological anxieties." Researchers will follow participants in the clinical trial for eight weeks while they receive the capsules and then for four weeks after that. Pai and Couturier say one aspect they'll record is whether participants are willing to take the fecal transplant — or repulsed by it. Then they'll measure how the patient is doing — by tracking their weight, and mood — and how the microbiome changes based on saliva, urine and stool samples. Gut commands the brain? Scientists are learning more about how gut microbes influence brain function. Various studies have shown people with some psychological problems, including anorexia nervosa, having abnormal intestinal microbes, said Dr. Howard Steiger, former director of McGill's eating disorder program. "We always like to think of the brain as being the command centre for the body," Steiger said. "But you know, a lot of recent findings suggest the gut also controls your brain." In people with anorexia, Steiger said, the thought is that their eating behaviour messes up the way gut microbes influence functions in the brain and body. Given that, transplanting purified fecal samples from healthy individuals could help those with anorexia, said the professor emeritus of psychiatry, who continues to treat people with eating disorders "It's not like total voodoo to think that [fecal transplant] would be a potential adjunct in treatment or maybe even a treatment in itself," Steiger said. Some clinicians now refer to anorexia as a "metabo-psychiatric problem," meaning it is associated with vulnerability both in the brain and the body. "I think that's important because it reduces shame," Steiger said. "People don't develop anorexia because of moral weakness. They carry a real, physical, heritable susceptibility." That means anorexia gets triggered by a combination of nature, or genetics, and nurture, such as life events. Making meal time comfortable Anita Federici, a clinical psychologist north of Toronto, treats adolescents with anorexia using family-based therapy. Federici said initially, the parents or caregivers are empowered to learn how to nourish their child by taking over all meal and snack preparation and supervising intake and weight checks. Then the child might start eating lunch at school unsupervised. In the last phase, the youth regains independence over eating and exercise. About half of younger people with anorexia nervosa who receive family-based treatment for it do really well, Federici said. Change pace of meals? But anorexia rarely "flies solo," Federici said, noting many people also have co-occurring suicidal thoughts or experience self injury, substance use, trauma or PTSD, as well as neurodiversity like autism. All can complicate the picture. Federici said the standard approach of medicalizing treatment for anorexia focuses on gaining weight. Treatment that doesn't take into account the metabolic underpinnings of anorexia can miss the mark, Federici says. "There was research not long ago that demonstrated that there were more serotonin receptors in your gut than there were in your brain," she said, referring to a neurotransmitter with roles including influencing mood. Taking the metabolic basis of anorexia into consideration could mean clinicians may need to change how they feed patients, both in terms of the types of food and the pacing of meals, Federici said. In people with anorexia, the body is dysregulated so they feel soothed when they eat less. While bystanders may think the patient isn't motivated to change, Federici said in reality they're quite motivated. "What I have observed over the years is that these people desperately want to get better. They desperately want a different life, but they need the treatments to be different."
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Late Michif language keeper honoured with new stamp
A woman from St. Louis, Sask., credited with sharing her knowledge of her Métis culture and Michif language with generations of students and community members over her life, is being featured on a new stamp. According to Canada Post, Sophie McDougall translated books and other materials into Michif for 20 years while serving as an elder with the Prince Albert Métis Women's Association. Michif is categorized as critically endangered by UNESCO. McDougall, who died in 2023 at the age of 94, also worked with organizations in Prince Albert to document and teach the regional dialect of Michif French. She appeared in the YouTube series Métis Women Stories in her late 80s — and later contributed to the creation of the Learn Michif French app. In 2023, McDougall received the Order of Gabriel Dumont Gold Medal in recognition of her lifetime of service to the Métis of Canada. "She was our storybook," said Angela Rancourt, a Métis educator and friend of McDougall's, in an interview with Canada Post Magazine. "She was a database of all our stories." Recalling the period before the development of the app, Rancourt said they needed to find a way for families to be connected to the language. "It was Sophie who said, 'Get it on the phone, get it on their phones!'" Rancourt said. Another friend of McDougall's, Métis researcher and educator Cindy Gaudet, said McDougall was "our kinship archives." "Everyone would go to Sophie if they needed to know something," Gaudet told Canada Post Magazine. "'Are these people related, how are we related, when did the church get moved, what was going on at that time, when was that event?'" According to Canada Post, McDougall was a descendant of the original settlers of the St. Louis area, approximately 105 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon. Canada Post said the stamp features an illustration of McDougall based on a photo provided by her family. Photos of the St. Louis Parish, and the original St. Louis highway and railway bridge in her hometown, appear in the background. On a commemorative envelope that is also available, the postmark features an illustration of an old schoolhouse bell, in recognition of McDougall's years as a teacher — and the postmark location is St. Louis. Canada Post said its Indigenous Leaders series, launched in 2022, highlights the contributions of Inuit, Métis and First Nations leaders who dedicated their lives to preserving their culture and improving the quality of life of Indigenous peoples in Canada. It said this stamp is one of three Indigenous Leaders stamps that will be issued in time for this year's National Indigenous Peoples Day, which is this Saturday. The set is the fourth in Canada Post's multi-year Indigenous Leaders series. Last Friday, the stamp honouring Julia Haogak Ogina was celebrated in Ulukhaktok, N.W.T. On Thursday, the stamp recognizing Bruce Starlight was celebrated in Tsuut'ina Nation, Alta. Bronwyn Graves, Canada Post's director of stamp services, said it was the Métis National Council that suggested McDougall be honoured. "If you take a look at all of the honourees in this year's stamp series, there's a real focus on language preservation," Graves said. Graves said Canada Post recognizes how important it is to Indigenous communities to preserve their language as a means of preserving their stories and their traditional teachings. Canada Post hears from Canadians all the time who say they research someone featured on commemorative stamps if they aren't familiar with them, she said. Graves said that when the Donald Sutherland stamp came out in 2023, most people knew who he was, but there were a few who didn't, adding that perhaps younger generations learned about the late actor through that stamp. "Likewise, maybe people who are from very different communities, or who don't know their Indigenous history quite as well, may learn a little bit of something through these stamps about not just Sophie's life and contributions, but also the Métis community as a whole," Graves said.
