Your Vitals

13/11/2021

Thrilled to be accepted to Indiegraf's BIPOC Media Growth Program along with these talented journalists!:
IndigiNews InsideWaterloo The Resolve Peterborough Currents
Cold Tea Collective The Hoser How Goes The Nation

The BIPOC Media Growth Program will provide up to $25,000 in grants and support from Indiegraf

05/08/2021

https://mailchi.mp/50946ccda2bd/black-women-talc-powder-cancer

Welcome to the first edition of Your Vitals, a weekly newsletter where we will bring you BIPOC Health News to help you and your family stay informed and healthy. I'm Elizabeth St. Philip, the founder. Thank you for subscribing! In today's edition:

25/07/2021

Advocates for Canadians suffering from sickle cell disease — a serious condition that can cause crippling pain and frequent hospitalization — are on an uphill battle to create a national registry, something they say could revolutionize the research and care for this oft-neglected disease.

13/07/2021

"Even moderate or low levels of alcohol consumption were estimated to have caused cases. .... drinking up to 10g of alcohol a day – equivalent to a half pint or small glass of wine – contributed somewhere between 35,400 and 145,800 cases globally in 2020."

Alcohol is estimated to have caused more than 740,000 cancer cases around the world last year, and experts say more needs to be done to highlight the link. There is strong evidence that alcohol consumption can cause various cancers including those of the breast, liver, colon, re**um, oropharynx, lar...

21/06/2021

Powerful and Important.
The Unforgotten -5 films about racism experienced by Inuit, Métis and First Nations peoples in the healthcare system
***These stories may be triggering***
Help is available:
The Hope for Wellness Help Line for Indigenous people across Canada who need crisis intervention - Call 1-855-242-3310 (toll-free) or chat online at hopeforwellness.ca 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Residential School Crisis Line -Call 1-866-925-4419, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Wellness Support Line offers counselling and access to mental health supports to physicians, medical learners and their immediate families. Visit cma.ca/supportline for 24/7 support.

https://theunforgotten.cma.ca/film/

The Unforgotten explores the health and well-being of Inuit, Métis and First Nations peoples across five stages of life.

19/06/2021

Today is World Sickle Cell Day. Time to get help for the tens of thousands of Black and other patients of colour who are labelled 'drug seeking addicts' and denied care.

First some background:
The disease affects nearly 100 million people around the world, include some 5000 in Canada - often people of African, Arabic, and Indian descent.

The condition causes misshapen oxygen-carrying red blood cells that block vessels and can cause excruciating pain. Patients often require very powerful painkillers.
But when BIPOC patients go to hospitals ERs, often they are not believed, thought to be "drug seeking" or even denied prompt care.
This can lead to dire outcomes: Stroke, Heart Failure, even Death.
This is the impact of racism in healthcare.

Here's what you can do:
Find out if you are a carrier. You may not have the disease but if you have children with another carrier you can pass the condition to your kids.
For more info, contact the Sickle Cell Awareness Group of Ontario
https://sicklecellanemia.ca/patients-caregivers, the Sickle Cell Association of Ontario, or the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada: https://www.sicklecelldisease.ca/eng/
They can also tell you about new sickle cell treatments -like stem cell transplants and gene therapy.

Sickle Cell Patients can also receive a wallet card from the Canadian Hemoglobinopathy Association that they can bring with them to hospital visits to show medical staff -so nurses & doctors can understand their care needs https://www.canhaem.org/

Learn more about the condition and also a movement by doctors to establish protocols in *all* hospital ERs so patients can get speedy access to treatment.
https://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/ecfa/docs/hb_sickle.pdf
And subscribe to Your Vitals to stay up to date on BIPOC Health News!

15/06/2021

8000 Canadians are HIV positive and don't know it. Indigenous and Black Canadians are at higher risk. I'm Ready to Know is offering 50,000 free HIV self-testing kits across Canada and inviting self-testers to anonymously share their results & connect to care. Their goal: End HIV in Canada
👇

I’m Ready. I’m ready to lay my fear to rest. I’m ready to defy stigma. I’m ready to seek advice. I’m ready to know my status. I’m ready to love and be loved. I’m Ready to Know offers low-barrier…

09/06/2021

Thousands of First Nations and Inuit women in Canada were subjected to forced sterilization. Quebec researchers want to hear from them. To document what happened. To prevent it from continuing.

Just another WordPress site

09/06/2021

Workshop for South Asian parents and caregivers of children with autism to challenge cultural views on disability -Thursday June 10th 7:30pm. More here 👇

03/06/2021

Triple-negative breast cancer is more common in
Black & Hispanic women; Younger people; People with a BRCA1 mutation. Learn more
https://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/triple-negative-breast-cancer-deadlier-for-black-women

"If you’ve been diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, surgery and chemotherapy — and possibly radiation therapy — are the standard of care. If your doctor does not recommend these three treatments... ask your doctor why."

Montreal researchers working on better treatments
https://muhc.ca/news-and-patient-stories/releases/new-study-paves-way-novel-treatment-triple-negative-breast-cancer

A team of researchers at the RI-MUHC found two cellular pathways involved in TNBC tumour development and a promising targeted combination therapy

02/06/2021

https://www.bramptonguardian.com/news-story/10406506-a-look-inside-why-peel-public-health-opened-covid-19-vaccine-clinic-for-black-african-caribbean-residents/

Roughly two-thirds of Black Canadians are hesitant to take a COVID-19 vaccine, citing a lack of trust in health care and government systems and current and past events of Anti-black racism, especially...

31/05/2021

The health benefits of Tai Chi.

Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese martial art that involves slow, graceful movements & deep breathing.
A new study suggests Tai Chi can reduce waist circumference just as well as exercise.
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong divided some 500 participants aged 50+ into three groups:
Group 1) performed Tai Chi
Group 2) did conventional exercise
Group 3) no exercise
They measured the participants waist circumference at the start of the study and again at 12 weeks, and 38 weeks.
Conclusion: Waist circumference went down in the Tai Chi and conventional exercise group.
HDL cholesterol -aka good cholesterol - improved too.
The study by Parco M. Siu was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-7014

Previous studies suggest Tai Chi reduces blood pressure https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5300833/ #:~:text=We%20applied%20Tai%20Chi%20exercise,metabolic%20syndrome%20in%20the%20elderly, improves symptoms of fibromyalgia https://www.bmj.com/content/360/bmj.k851 and even improves cognitive function https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/52/3/154

Even the Canadian PM does it https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=943076

Learn more at the International Taoist Tai Chi Society www.taoisttaichi.org
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