Opioid marketing to Canadian doctors hyped benefits, downplayed harms

Mar 10, 2020 11:54 am UTC| Health

Between January 2016 and June 2019 there were over 13,900 deaths from opioid overdoses in Canada, 4,500 of which occurred in 2018. Based on information to date, 2019 is likely to have a similar mortality rate. Most deaths...

How big will the coronavirus epidemic be?

Mar 10, 2020 11:02 am UTC| Health

The Harvard historian Jill Lepore recounted recently in The New Yorker magazine that when democracies sink into crisis, the question where are we going? leaps to everyones mind, as if we were waiting for a weather forecast...

What's the difference between pandemic, epidemic and outbreak?

Mar 10, 2020 05:49 am UTC| Health

The coronavirus is on everyones minds. As an epidemiologist, I find it interesting to hear people using technical terms like quarantine or super spreader or reproductive number that my colleagues and I use in our work...

Should you listen to music when you work?

Mar 10, 2020 05:47 am UTC| Health

Do you like to listen to music when you work? Pose this question at a party, and youll probably get some polarizing responses. Some will say they love it, claiming that it improves their performance; others will say...

Coronavirus: it's time to debunk claims that vitamin C could cure it

Mar 10, 2020 05:41 am UTC| Health

Vitamin C is a common remedy that some people believe will cure the common cold and flu. Although it helps us maintain good immune function, theres little evidence that it can prevent or substantially reduce either of...

Italy's 'darkest hour': how coronavirus became a very political problem

Mar 10, 2020 05:40 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics Health

The Italian governments decision to expand its lockdown from two small areas of the north to encompass the entire region of Lombardy and 14 provinces in neighbouring regions (which has meant shutting down both Milan and...

Social isolation linked to higher levels of inflammation – new study

Mar 06, 2020 09:20 am UTC| Health

Being lonely or socially isolated can negatively affect your wellbeing. There is even research showing that it increase the risk of illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, dementia and depression. Some researchers...