May

Dr Brian Cairns, professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UBC, studies chronic pain above the neck—migraines and temporomandibular disorders, which cause soreness in the jaw—and is tracking intriguing leads in his search for pain relief. These jaw disorders affect about 10% of people at some point in their life and the pain can be so intense that it becomes difficult to speak or eat. Recently Dr Cairns stumbled across a clue to what might be causing this discomfort.

Congratulations to Fraser Northwest Division board member, hospitalist, and advance care planning champion Dr Joelle Bradley for winning the inaugural Dangerous Ideas Soapbox at the Canadian Family Medicine Forum in November 2013.

Findings in a recent article published in Preventive Medicine reveal that young men who have experienced depression early in life may be especially vulnerable to becoming sedentary later in life, and particularly to spending large amounts of time in front of a screen each day.

Dr Brian MacVicar and colleagues have uncovered how inflammation and lack of oxygen conspire to cause brain damage in conditions such as stroke and Alzheimer disease. The discovery, published in Neuron, brings researchers closer to finding potential targets to treat neurodegenerative disorders.