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Global News
19 hours ago
- Climate
- Global News
Extreme heat can turn dangerous fast. Who is most vulnerable?
Doctors and health-care experts are warning Canadians to not only look after themselves but also check on others who could be vulnerable as large parts of central Canada face a sweltering heat wave. Global News chief meteorologist Anthony Farnell says a large heat ridge or dome will build over the Ohio Valley in the U.S. and expand into southeastern Canada by the end of the weekend. Temperatures are expected to reach the low to mid-30s C and the humidex could make that feel much higher, with humidex readings potentially into the mid-40s. When heat hits those levels, the body has to work harder to keep itself cool. 'The hypothalamus acts as the thermostat and sends signals to the heart to start beating faster, sends signals to our body to breathe a little faster and that helps the blood flow to the extremities so that we can dissipate heat through radiant heat loss,' said Dr. Samantha Green, a family physician at Unity Health Toronto with expertise in climate change and health. Story continues below advertisement 'It also sends signals so that we can cool down through evaporative cooling through sweating.' What does extreme heat do to your body? Prolonged exposure to heat can impact the human body in a variety of ways. One of the most common is heat exhaustion, which can lead to heat stroke. Heat exhaustion is characterized by headache, dizziness, extreme thirst, heavy sweating, muscle cramps and nausea and vomiting, according to Health Canada, and people are advised to immediately move to a cool place and drink water if experiencing these symptoms. If left untreated, that exhaustion can become heat stroke, which is defined by Johns Hopkins Medicine as the body being overwhelmed by excessive heat. Those suffering from heat stroke often have an internal temperature of 40 C or higher, warm, dry skin, confusion and nausea, and it can lead to worse conditions, including seizures, coma and even death. Story continues below advertisement While people will keep an eye on the temperature, studies show that people should also be aware of the 'wet bulb' temperature — when both humidity and air temperatures are high, it can be harder to shed heat and keep yourself cool. A 2010 study found that a wet-bulb temperature of 35 C that lasts longer than six hours could cause serious health impacts or even death. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology in 2022 found that at 100 per cent humidity, the threshold could be as low as 31 C, while at 38 C, just 60 per cent humidity could be too much for the body. 4:47 Summer can be a dangerous time for our furry friends If you are suffering from heat stroke or you notice someone with similar symptoms, move to a cool place to rest and call 911, as it is a life-threatening medical emergency. Story continues below advertisement 'If you don't feel well from the heat, seek medical attention or call 911. Don't be afraid to ask for help,' said Caroline Metz, managing director of climate resilience and health at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo. Vulnerable populations, such as youth and older adults or those with chronic conditions, may find it more difficult to beat the heat. Who's most at risk? Nemours Children's Health in the U.S. notes that children's bodies are still developing and may sweat at a lower rate than adults and start sweating at a higher temperature, putting them more at risk of heat-related illness. Older adults face higher risks as they may have trouble accessing cool spaces due to mobility or transportation challenges, and those living alone may be more vulnerable as a result, according to B.C. Interior Health. Story continues below advertisement Older adults, as well as other Canadians, may also have chronic underlying health conditions or be taking medication that could interfere with the body's ability to stay cool. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that those with these conditions may be less likely to respond to changes in temperature, and that those with heart disease, mental illness and obesity have a higher risk of heat-related illness. 4:08 Summer heat can be dangerous for seniors 'It's also why people with chronic health conditions are more at risk of developing heat exhaustion, heat stroke, where the body's natural cooling mechanisms break down and the core body temperature exceeds 40 degrees,' Green said. 'That's where we end up with massive inflammation and failure of organs in the body.' People taking chronic medications can also be affected. Green said beta blockers, for example, prevent the heart from beating faster in response to heat and keep the body from naturally being able to cool down. Story continues below advertisement It's not just health conditions or age that can pose vulnerabilities, however. 'Anybody who's working outside or people experiencing homelessness, they're more exposed to heat and that's a group or a population that's more at risk,' Metz said. How to protect yourself and others Metz notes that during heat waves, it's important for people to watch out for others and check in on neighbours because those living alone or socially isolated can also be vulnerable to heat. A B.C. coroner's report following the 2023 heat dome noted that 98 per cent of the 619 deaths identified as being related to heat occurred indoors, with 56 per cent of those who died living alone. 'Social cohesion or social connectedness has been shown to be a very important factor for resilience and for health during heat waves,' Metz said. Story continues below advertisement 'In fact, in some cultures where there are multi-generational families living together, it's just very natural for people to care about others … so they don't often experience the same kind of situation that we might have here in North America, where we have one generation living in a household. 'The ability to reach out, call someone, or stop by has been shown to greatly support health and well-being for people who are isolated.' She added that older adults and those living alone should reach out to other people to let them know they're on their own and are open to having someone check on them during periods of extreme weather. As a heat wave enters Ontario later this weekend, Metz said people should stay in the coolest part of their home if possible or go to a community cooling centre, wear lighter-coloured clothing if you have to go out, keep your doors and windows closed during the hottest parts of the day, and turn off items that may produce extra heat in your home. 'If you need to be out, you want to do that during the parts of the day that are the coolest,' she suggested, noting this means early mornings and late evenings.
Global News
3 days ago
- Health
- Global News
Indigenous Wellness Centre opens at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital
As a patient, Jessica Demeria knows first hand how challenging the medical system can be for First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. 'We may be looked at in a certain way with our underlying Indigenous history informing the way that we are cared for,' Demeria said. 'A trauma-informed approach is absolutely one-on-one necessary.' While Demeria is a patient, she is also part of the team at Unity Health Toronto that is working to change that experience for Indigenous patients. Thanks to an $11-million investment from The Krawcyzky Family Foundation, a transformed space at St. Michael's Hospital in downtown Toronto is set to become a new Indigenous Wellness Centre. Roberta Pike is the director of Indigenous Wellness, Reconciliation and Partnerships at Unity Health Toronto. 'This gift has expanded our ability to have more patient-facing supports on the ground in the inpatient units and in the emergency department,' Pike said. Story continues below advertisement A significant milestone for Indigenous health: Kevin Goldthorp, president and CEO of St. Michael's and Providence Foundation, said to the hospital's knowledge this donation represents the largest gift in Canada specifically earmarked for Indigenous wellness. Goldthorp said it is a critical piece of the their ongoing commitment to reconciliation. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. Sign up for weekly health newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We are a hospital that cares about the Indigenous communities,' Goldthorp said, 'We're here for you, we care about how you're cared for, we care for your care outcomes.' This week, construction crews have been working around the clock for the ceremonial opening of the Indigenous Wellness Centre, scheduled for Wednesday, June 18, at St. Michael's Hospital. With Indigenous art, a specialized HVAC system to allow ceremonial smudging, and more space for families, Pike hopes people feel at home when they walk into the newly-renovated space. 'A lot of people have intergenerational trauma associated with places or environments, and hospitals seem to be one of those leading examples of spaces that might be triggering for people,' Pike said. This centre marks the first phase of the many projects this donation will support. There are also plans for another wellness centre at Providence Healthcare. According to the foundation, that site will include a medicine garden, sweat lodge, and sacred fire. The donation will also support an additional staffing position, support education and community engagement, and help expand patient access to elders and traditional care providers. Story continues below advertisement A national perspective on providing care: Dr. Alika Lafontaine served as the president of the Canadian Medical Association in 2022. He was the first Indigenous physician and the youngest doctor to lead the organization. Lafontaine said he believes centres like this improve health outcomes for Indigenous patients. 'You really have a huge opportunity to either mitigate past harm that's happened and create a more welcoming environment, or to prevent the possibility of people experiencing that new harm.' 'Having these spaces is actually a really, really big part of why people end up going to a location or choosing to stay' Lafontaine said. 'The health system hasn't always been the best place for people who are First Nation, Inuit or Métis to receive care. Creating Indigenous-specific spaces, I think, is one of the ways that we create greater warmth and greater inclusion for folks who've had bad experiences in the past.' Data from Statistics Canada shows between 2019 and 2022, about half of First Nations adults living off reserve reported having at least one chronic health condition compared with 40.6 per cent of non-Indigenous adults. 'The patients we see are coming to us, they're very complex,' Pike said. 'They have many layers of hurt, many layers (of) trauma, many layers (of) joy in their lives. And so we're trying to kind of work through all of those different aspects.' Story continues below advertisement Pike hopes the services offered at this new wellness centre will provide more options to meet the needs of the patients she sees and serve as an example for other hospitals. 'We see the people that we interact with in the hospital as an extension of our own families,' Pike said. 'The ways in which we would want to treat our own family members is exactly the same way in which want to serve the people who are here.'
CBC
15-02-2025
- Health
- CBC
Iodine in table salt: how a public health victory is becoming a victim of its own success
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. Whether it's kosher, Himalayan pink or sea salt, Canadians have a wide range of choices when it comes to salts. But what many of these don't have — or don't have much of — is iodine. The mineral is essential for the body to make thyroid hormones, but can be rare in many parts of the world. And researchers say it's time for Canadians to pay attention to how much iodine they're getting. Table salt is one major source of iodine in Canada. In 1949, the government made it a mandatory additive. While Canadians can also get their iodine in by eating seafood (seawater is an abundant source of iodine) and dairy (farmers often use iodine-based antiseptics on udders), much of the soil in Canada is iodine-deficient — which means the crops and fruits that grow from our soils often are, too. Not having enough iodine could lead to a variety of health conditions, like goitres — a large, usually benign swelling of the thyroid gland — which used to be quite common in parts of Canada. It's still commonly seen in inland countries in Asia and Africa that don't add iodine to the food. Another, more serious, irreversible condition commonly caused by iodine deficiency is congenital iodine deficiency syndrome, also known as cretinism. It happens when a fetus doesn't get enough iodine while in the womb, and can cause stunted physical and mental growth. It's become very rare in North America and the developed world. But Dr. Anna Banerji, a pediatrician at Unity Health Toronto, and chair of the North American Refugee Health Conference, says she recently saw a case of a 17-year-old who had moved to Canada from an iodine-poor country. "She was about this tall," said Banerji, gesturing around three feet, "had the classical face of cretinism and was intellectually delayed — severe, severe intellectual deficits." She says it's easy for Canadians to forget the importance of iodine because serious deficiencies like this are so rare, thanks to public health measures — like having iodine added to table salt. It's still in our salt, but Canadian dietary patterns have changed, she says, raising concerns of a comeback. "We eliminated iodine deficiency, cretinism, goitre, and all that in general in many parts of the world, and we don't see it anymore, it's off the radar," she said. "I think it's a [victim] of its own success," Banerji said. In Canada, she says, the problem could be coming back, as dietary habits have changed No iodine in most processed foods Iodine deficiency appears to be on the rise across North America, say researchers. A 2022 study out of McMaster University in Hamilton found 11.9 per cent of the Canadians they monitored had a moderate to severe deficiency. The authors, who looked at iodine levels collected from 800 participants in four clinical sites across Canada, say recent public health policies that call for people to reduce their sodium and dairy intake may also have inadvertently reduced iodine intake. Canadians are also eating less seafood than you might think — almost two kilograms fewer than Americans per capita in 2021, according to data from the United Nations. "We now have a resurgence, at least of mild to moderate deficiency," says Philip Britz-McKibbin, a chemistry professor at McMaster University and one of the authors of the study. Mild to moderate iodine deficiency might not cause visible symptoms — like a goitre — but it still has an impact on health, says Britz-McKibbin. "There's historical evidence of how iodine deficiency can have consequences in terms of cognition and development," he said. Those development delays are most crucial for young children, as well as expecting mothers, said Britz-McKibbin. Fancy salts might be helping bring back a decades-old health issue 16 hours ago Duration 2:05 Some analysis suggests an IQ increase of about 15 points in the general population, as reflected in standard military aptitude tests in parts of the U.S. that were most profoundly iodine-deficient, years after the element started being added to table salt, says Dr. Elizabeth Pearce, an endocrinologist at Boston Medical Center. That's quite a substantial difference, says Pearce. For comparison, one study estimates a mean loss of 14 IQ points after a minor traumatic brain injury in a car accident. "What we're ... concerned about, really, would be sort of a subtle decrease in IQ across the population." Pearce says while most North Americans ingest more salt than would be good for their heart, they're not getting the iodine they need. "Most of that salt is in these commercially processed foods and prepared foods, [and] that salt is typically not iodized," she said. In Canada, about 75 per cent of the food supply is packaged or processed. "So it's really only the salt that could be added, you know, at the table or added in the kitchen while cooking that is a potential source of iodine." Concern for women of reproductive age Iodine deficiency among pregnant women is particularly concerning, because of how important the mineral is during fetal development. But some expecting mothers in Canada aren't getting enough of it, say Quebec researchers. A new study, which looked at 500 pregnant women in that province, found the problem was particularly concerning in early pregnancy, when the median intake level of iodine fell below the recommended level in the first trimester: 136 micrograms per litre. The recommended range for pregnant women is between 150 to 249 micrograms per litre. Many prenatal vitamins contain iodine, and most of the women in the study took them. But two-thirds of them had started taking them before getting pregnant, while one-third of the women only started them after. That appears to have made a difference. Iodine intake levels became normal in the second and third trimesters, researchers found in the study. Pearce says in Canada, women of reproductive age should generally be paying special attention, even if they don't plan on having a baby anytime soon, because that's the population most likely not to be getting enough iodine. "Women of reproductive age is the population group that's least likely to add salt to their food at the table, so it may not be the best way today of reaching that population," she said. "We are seeing maybe a re-emergence of mild iodine deficiency across the board in women of reproductive age." It's already happened in the U.S., says Pearce, among pregnant women. "That group in the U.S., in the past 15 years has slid into what [the World Health Organization] would regard as mild iodine deficiency," she said. And it remains important to keep an eye on intake levels at a population level, she says. Vegans and vegetarians Other groups that need to watch their iodine: Those with certain dietary restrictions "Say, vegetarians, perhaps they might be more concerned to ensure they have adequate iodine in their diet, especially if they refrain from milk or seafood, which are natural sources of iodine," said Britz-McKibbin. It's also important to keep in mind factors that reduce the amount of iodine your body can process and use. Smoking cigarettes, for example, reduces iodine uptake, he said. Ultimately, this is a problem with an easy fix, say researchers. People just need to be reminded that the issue exists in the first place.
