Everywhere you turn of late, it seems you’re confronted with a bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer. We asked Professor James Scott whether these formulations work—and if so, how? Professor James Scott is an associate professor in the Division of Occupational & Environmental Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. He is cross-appointed to the [...]
Professor Anthony Miller provides further comment
November is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. We are re-posting (and have updated) this interview with Professor Anthony Miller, originally posted in 2009. The prostate is a walnut-sized gland of the male reproductive system that makes part of the liquid called seminal fluid that mixes with sperm from the testicles to make semen. Cancer of the [...]
Older people remember irrelevant info
A new University of Toronto study suggests that visual attention – the brain’s ability to selectively filter unattended or unwanted information from reaching awareness – weakens with age, leaving elder people incapable of sifting out useless information. continued
Increase in car accidents observed
Donald Redelmeier, a professor in the Department of Medicine at U of T, has found that 25 more people die in car crashes on U.S. presidential election days than on an average day — an increase of 19 per cent. He said Ontario can expect to see the same during its upcoming municipal elections, but [...]
Studies debunk preconceived medical notions
Professor Donald Redelmeier of U of T’s Faculty of Medicine applies scientific rigor to topics that in lesser hands might be dismissed as quirky and iconoclastic. In doing so, his work has shattered myths and revealed some deep truths about the predictors of longevity, the organization of health care and the workings of the medical mind. continued
Hormones appear to set the stage for breast cancer
Canadian researchers, led by U of T professor Rama Khokha, have discovered a link between ovarian hormones and breast stem-cell growth, a finding that appears to set the stage for the development of breast cancer. continued
Extra support reduces ER visits
People dying of cancer are frequent visitors to emergency departments, but many of the trips may be avoidable, suggests a study co-authored by Lisa Barbera, professor of radiation oncology at U of T. continued
New study from SickKids published
A new study on pediatric H1N1 influenza admissions has found that asthma is a significant risk factor for severe disease in children with pandemic H1N1 compared with the seasonal flu. The study, led by researchers from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Ontario, is published online November 18 in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association [...]
U of T professor, microbiologist, infectious disease consultant in the Department of Microbiology at Mount Sinai Hospital Allison McGeer and professor emeritus Michael Bliss along with other experts discuss the H1N1 rollout and panic surrounding it. This episode of The Agenda originally aired on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 8:00 PM.
Epidemiologists, jokes Prabhat Jha, are “number crunchers like accountants, minus the personality.”
