Exposure to certain triggers can cause patients with asthma to suffer exacerbations and become hospitalized with an asthma attack. These stays in hospital can be long and in severe cases can result in visits to the intensive care unit. Triggers of exacerbations include allergens (animal dander, pollen, mold), weather changes, chest infections, influenza, and cigarette smoke…
Asthma is a chronic disease affecting 235 million people worldwide and affecting 8.5% of all Canadians. The common symptoms include chest tightness, wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath that can be sudden. Currently asthma is the most common childhood chronic disease, affecting 13% of Canadian children and accounting for 50% of all emergency department visits…
We are beginning to understand more about how autism begins and the mounting evidence suggests that it is a combination of genetic factors and environmental exposures during pregnancy. There has also been mounting evidence that a family history of immune disorders is associated with autism (autism spectrum disorder ASD). Specifically, mothers with auto-immune disorders have an…
Your lungs continue to develop well after you are born usually until the age of 3 but maybe even into your late teens. This means that any exposure to harmful compounds (cigarette smoke, pollution, toxic fumes) could likely have profound impacts on the way your lungs grow. Alterations in the way your lungs grow could…
Every year when the kids go back to school after the summer break, asthmatic children experience a worsening of their symptoms that often results in hospitalization. This worsening of symptoms, or asthma exacerbations, cost the health care system $50 billion a year and cause millions of lost work and school days. In children, the seasonal…
Same sex couples have been making ground in the battle to legalize or decriminalize same sex marriage throughout the world. Currently there are 17 countries worldwide that allow marriage to all couples regardless of sexual orientation. In Canada, there are over 21,000 same sex married couples. In the US and Mexico, only parts of the…
Dyslexia, also known as specific learning disorder with reading impairment, is a learning disorder that is characterized by a difficulty reading due to an inability to identify speech sounds and how they relate to words. Dyslexia affects between 3-20% of the population depending on the definition used. Popular culture teaches that a person with dyslexia…
Let’s jump straight to the point. There has been no credible study to date that shows a link between vaccinations and the development of autism. Did everyone read that? No evidence what so ever. Need proof? Here are four, properly designed studies to give you the proof you need: 498 children with autism. Result: NO…
Sensitization to food allergens often occurs early in the preschool years. While not all kids who develop food sensitivities end up with full-blown allergies, it is often considered the precursor to the development of allergies and asthma. These conditions are typically grouped together under the term atopic disease because of their tendency to be caused by…
There has been much interest in the role of phthalates in the development of many different diseases including reproductive and developmental problems, but what are they? Phthalates are a class of chemical that is used in manufacturing processes to make products (usually plastics) softer or more pliable and can be found in numerous every day…
