April

Not long ago I attended the annual medical staff dinner of our local hospital. It was open to all physicians on staff at our hospital, along with their partners. In years past these gatherings used to be quite large, but over the years the contingent of doctors willing to have hospital privileges has dwindled. 

As members of the Nutrition Committee, we often get ask­ed by colleagues, “What are the best weight-loss diets?” This is a difficult question to a complex problem. The diet industry is huge and, as evidenced by the obesity epidemic, largely unsuccessful. The constant battle with the scale has been shown to cause weight-cycling and preoccupation with weight, low self-esteem, eating disorders, and nutritional def­icits resulting in illnesses such as anemia and osteoporosis.

Lyme disease (LD) is a tick-borne illness caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. In British Columbia the Pacific black legged tick, Ixodes pacificus, is the primary vector for B. burgdorferi. LD is a systemic illness which, if untreated, may develop into chronic conditions involving the musculoskeletal, nervous and cardiovascular systems. 

A 60-year-old man with diabetes and high blood pressure comes to your office and asks if he should be taking a daily vitamin D supplement in addition to his other medications, and if so, how much? What should you advise this patient? Your recommendation will be based on the knowledge we have about vitamin D, as well as the lack of evidence we have for benefits beyond bone health.

Cancer has now surpassed cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death in Canada, and accounts for 29.6% of Canadian deaths.1 As the most common invasive female cancer in Canada, breast cancer represents a significant burden for women and society. Approximately 1 in 9 Canadian wo­men will develop breast cancer at some time in life, while 1 in 29 can be expected to die from the disease.