jjablkowski's blog

I recently finished reading a book by Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Song of the Cell. Actually, it is not quite true that I’ve finished reading it, I find myself going back and back to reread how cells in the body “enable profound forms of physiology: immunity, reproduction, sentience, cognition, repair, and rejuvenation,” and what happens when dysfunctional cells tip our bodies from cellular physiology to cellular pathology. But where do cells come from?

In 2021, the Canadian government brought in Bill C-7: An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (Medical Assistance in Dying), expanding the right to seek medical assistance in dying (MAID) to Canadians who aren’t near death immediately but who are intolerably suffering. People suffering solely from mental illnesses will have access to MAID as of March 2023. 

This will enable an exit from life for patients in the throes of as-yet incurable mental illness. Experts estimate that the number of requests for MAID from such severely ill persons will be small.

The BC Lung Foundation’s Bicycle Trek 2022, exploring the beautiful and fresh-air-filled Fraser Valley, was supposed to take place 10–11 September 2022. It was planned as a 200 km ride—part fundraiser, part weekend getaway to support the one in five BC citizens affected by lung disease, primarily in its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) format. Currently, there are few options beyond symptom control for this progressive condition. For a long time, COPD has been thought of as a self-inflicted disorder by chronic smokers.

Are we dying because of growing old, or is our lifespan limited by the damage accumulated in our body’s various systems as we age? That has been a topic of debate for some years at the World Health Organization, where the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is reviewed periodically.

In this episode of DocTalks: A Doctors of BC podcast, we speak with Dr Aseem Grover, rural family physician and site medical director of the Fraser Canyon Hospital in Hope, BC, about how doctors can proactively plan to safeguard their practice for an emergency event.