Are there opioids in your medicine cabinet? Probably. One in five of Canadians has been prescribed long-term opioids; 25% of those prescriptions are for doses that fall into the danger zone for addiction. When we think of people living with opioid addiction, it’s the mirror on the medicine cabinet that reminds us we are all vulnerable.

Why do some people infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 get severe disease while others have no symptoms? Why do some experience long-term effects and others recover quickly? These are some of the questions that a new study, launching this week at St. Paul’s Hospital, aims to answer. 

While declining cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations are welcome news for health-care workers, acute-care teams at St. Paul’s Hospital’s won’t soon forget how dire the situation had become during the pandemic – particularly this spring as the third wave of infections bore down.

Colon or rectal cancer before age 50 is expected to double by the year 2030.  The findings could mean that with today’s 50-plus age threshold for screening, colorectal cancer in a younger person may be detected only once the disease has reached an advanced stage. 

What do you do when you receive a diagnosis, or if you think you might be facing a new health challenge, especially if it’s sensitive and highly personal? Most people turn to the internet first, often too embarrassed to seek professional medical advice, but what they find there can be overwhelming, conflicting, and, in some cases, completely incorrect.

Five PHC teams have been awarded funding in the 2021 Knowledge Translation Challenge

People living with HIV are less likely to mount an adequate immune response, which may put them at higher risk for both serious COVID-19 illness and reduced response to COVID-19 vaccination.

Physician burnout was already on the rise before the pandemic, says Dr. Khan, noting the COVID-19 pandemic tripled the odds that physicians said they felt burnout.

Shoppers Drug Mart is helping to improve addiction treatment and care for all Canadians by supporting pharmacist training and education led by the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU).

At the St. Paul’s Sinus Centre, a team of researchers is investigating whether an inexpensive and widely available over-the-counter medication could be used to stop COVID-19 in its tracks.

“The biopsy was very challenging and uncomfortable…it sounds like a gun going off,” said Simon. “I have talked to other guys who have said you definitely don’t want to have a biopsy if you can avoid it.”

“We did not observe an increase in suicides during this period. If anything, we saw a slight decrease,” said Dr. Barbic, an emergency physician at St. Paul’s Hospital and a clinical assistant professor at the UBC Department of Emergency Medicine. 

For Dr. Mary De Vera, a diagnosis with colorectal cancer at 36 was the start of a whole new program of research.

With National Nursing Week here,  Agnes Black has one request: let’s scale back the ‘nurses are heroes’ talk. 

Celebrated annually on April 22, Earth Day raises awareness about environmental conservation and encourages people to be more environmentally conscious. To mark the day, we’re shining a spotlight on a St. Paul’s Hospital recycling champion.  

The Vancouver Airport Authority and WestJet have released study findings today showing that rapid antigen testing is an effective, acceptable and cost-efficient method for screening travellers and contributes to safer and healthier air travel.

Cheyenne Johnson has been appointed Executive Director of the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU), housed within Providence Health Care.

Ms. Johnson was selected following a recruitment process led by Providence Health Care Research Institute (PHCRI), after previously acting as interim executive director of BCCSU.

Research has found that a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine produces a much weaker antibody response in long-term care residents than it does in younger healthy adults.

 Reema Garcha successfully donated a kidney to her sister Binn Johal, but their experience is not always the case within the South Asian community. 

The transition from academic life to the working world highlighted the importance of certain skills that aren’t generally taught in school, Kimia Shahangian, a Scientific Marketing Specialist at STEMCELL Technologies, says.