Here’s the surprising part. The most rigorous review of this whole field is far less impressed by that mouse than the ads were.

First, the Bad News for the Gadget Industry.

Andersen and colleagues screened 1,349 review titles and kept 17 systematic reviews on computer work and upper-body problems. Their conclusion was blunter than you’d expect.

They found moderate-to-high quality evidence linking intensive keyboard and mouse use to acute or short-lived pain complaints, though whether that link is causal remains unsettled. For specific diseases or chronic pain, they found no evidence at all.

And the line that should reshape your shopping list: they reported no effect from preventive interventions consisting only of workstation adjustments. Limited evidence supported combining ergonomics training with those adjustments.

Buying the chair is like buying running shoes. The shoes aren’t the running.

Takeaway: The review suggests gear alone doesn’t do much. Gear plus actually knowing how to use it is where the thin evidence points.

The Cheapest Fix Is a Stack of Textbooks.

A laptop is a compromise machine. Screen and keyboard are welded into one object, so wherever you put it, one of them is wrong. Screen at eye level means keyboard at chin height. A comfortable means screen in your lap.

Yadegaripour and colleagues tested the obvious solution on 20 young men doing typing and mouse tasks: raise the laptop on a riser, plug in a separate keyboard.

The adjusted setup reduced cervical flexion by about 4.5 degrees and thoracic flexion by roughly 3 degrees. Activity in two back-of-neck and spine muscles dropped by about 10% and 16%, respectively, and participants reported less discomfort.

Modest numbers, tiny sample, eight-minute sessions. But the fix costs whatever a used textbook weighs plus a cheap keyboard.

Takeaway: Separating the screen from the keys is the one hardware change with measurable posture and muscle effects behind it.

Breaks Are Not Procrastination With Better PR.

Albulescu and colleagues pooled 22 study samples covering 2,335 people to ask whether micro-breaks – stopping a task for ten minutes or less – actually help.

They do, modestly. The meta-analysis found small but statistically significant improvements in vigour and reductions in fatigue. Effect sizes were genuinely small; this is a nudge, not a transformation.

Performance was messier. The authors concluded that recovering from highly depleting tasks may require more than ten minutes, which is a polite scientific way of saying a two-minute stretch won’t rescue you from hour six of organic chemistry.

Takeaway: Short breaks have decent support for how you feel. Whether they rescue your output depends on how hard the work was to begin with.

The 20-20-20 Rule Is Currently Having an Argument.

You’ve heard it: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. It’s on every optometry poster in the country. The evidence is livelier than the poster suggests.

Talens-Estarelles and colleagues installed webcam-based software on the laptops of 29 symptomatic computer users to track breaks and blinking and prompt them. Over two weeks, participants took more breaks and reported improvements in digital eye strain and dry eye. One week after the reminders stopped, the gains hadn’t held.

Then Johnson and Rosenfield ran a tighter test: 30 people, a 40-minute demanding reading task on a tablet, with 20-second breaks every 5, 10, 20 or zero minutes. Symptoms climbed during every session, and the breaks made no significant difference to symptoms, reading speed or accuracy.

The two studies aren’t quite measuring the same thing – two weeks of real life versus 40 minutes in a lab – but together they suggest the specific numbers may be less important than having something that actually makes you stop.

Takeaway: The rule’s exact arithmetic isn’t well supported. The prompt to look away from the screen may be doing the real work.

So What Do You Actually Build?

Nothing on this list requires a credit card, which is roughly the point.

Get the screen up on books so you’re not looking down at it. Plug in a separate keyboard so your hands can sit where hands like to sit. Set some kind of reminder to stop, and honour it. Then stop optimizing and go do the reading.

The research isn’t telling you your desk is dangerous. It’s telling you that most of what’s marketed as a solution hasn’t earned that description, and that the boring free adjustments are the ones with numbers attached.

If something already hurts, that’s a different conversation, and not one a riser resolves.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional for personalized medical guidance.

The post The Study Station Nobody Sells You appeared first on Canada's Health Magazine.

Here’s the short version: the peel is the part you’d least want to throw away. Here’s the longer version, drawn only from peer-reviewed research.

Rust, But Make It Biological.

Every cell in your body burns fuel, and burning fuel throws off sparks. Scientists call those sparks reactive oxygen species — unstable molecules that react with other molecules and cause damage.

Your body has a cleanup crew for this. When the sparks outpace the crew, researchers call the imbalance oxidative stress. Hyson’s review notes that oxidative stress is understood to play a role in how most diseases develop, which is why food-based antioxidants get so much attention.

Antioxidants are, roughly, extra hands for the cleanup crew. Apples happen to carry a lot of them: Boyer and Liu identify quercetin, catechin, phloridzin, and chlorogenic acid as the main players, all of them strong antioxidants in laboratory testing.

Takeaway: An apple is a modest reinforcement for a system your body already runs. It’s a helpful input, not a fire extinguisher.

The Peel Is Doing the Heavy Lifting.

Think of the peel as the apple’s raincoat. It’s the part that faces the sun, the wind, and the insects, so it’s the part the tree armours most heavily.

The numbers back the metaphor. Analyzing fifteen old and new cultivars, Kschonsek and colleagues found quercetin glycosides concentrated in the peel at roughly 203 mg per 100 g, while the flesh’s phenolic acids came in at around 10 mg per 100 g.

When the team worked out which compounds drove antioxidant capacity, flavonols in the peel and vitamin C in the flesh were the leading contributors across every cultivar they tested. Worth flagging: that antioxidant capacity was measured in test tubes, not in people.

Takeaway: The research suggests peeling an apple removes its most polyphenol-dense layer. Wash it well and eat it whole.

Two Apples, Eight Weeks, Actual Humans.

Test-tube chemistry is one thing. Koutsos and colleagues ran the harder experiment: forty adults with mildly raised cholesterol ate two polyphenol-rich apples a day for eight weeks, then switched to a control drink matched for sugar.

During the apple weeks, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides were all lower than during the control weeks. A marker of blood-vessel “stickiness” also dropped, and the small vessels under the skin relaxed a little more readily.

The shifts were real but small — total cholesterol moved from about 6.11 to 5.89 mmol/L. Blood pressure and several other cardiovascular markers didn’t budge at all. The study observed a nudge, not a transformation.

Takeaway: The trial supports a modest cholesterol and blood-vessel benefit in people who already had mildly elevated cholesterol. Nobody in that study replaced anything with fruit.

Juice Is Not a Shortcut.

This is where it gets interesting for anyone who counts a glass of juice as a serving of fruit.

Ravn-Haren’s team put 23 healthy volunteers through five four-week stints: whole apples, apple pomace, cloudy juice, clear juice, or nothing. LDL cholesterol trended down with whole apples and pomace. With clear juice, it went up by nearly 7% compared with the whole-fruit periods.

The researchers concluded that the fibre component is necessary for the cholesterol-lowering effect, and that clear apple juice may not be a suitable stand-in for whole fruit in dietary recommendations. Clear juice is strained free of pectin and cell-wall material — you keep the sugar and lose the scaffolding.

Takeaway: The whole fruit and its juice behaved differently in this trial. If you like juice, drink it as juice, not as a substitute for the apple.

Your Apple Is Not My Apple.

Two apples in the same bin can carry meaningfully different polyphenol loads. Boyer and Liu report that composition varies greatly between varieties, with only small shifts as fruit ripens.

Hyson adds growing region, season, and storage to the list of influences. And here’s the reassuring part from Boyer and Liu: storage itself has little to no effect on apple phytochemicals, while processing can change them considerably.

So the apple that sat in your crisper for two weeks is broadly fine. The apple that got peeled, cooked into a clear syrup, and strained is a different food.

Takeaway: Chasing the “highest-antioxidant” cultivar is a poor use of your attention. Buying apples you’ll actually eat, peel included, is a better one.

The Rhyme Was Never a Prescription.

None of this research claims apples prevent or treat disease. What it observes is narrower and more useful: a common, cheap, in-season fruit carries compounds with measurable antioxidant activity, and eating it whole appears to do modest, good things to blood lipids in people whose numbers are drifting up.

That’s a reasonable thing to know in October, standing at a farm.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional for personalized medical guidance.

The post The Peel Deal: What the Research Actually Says About Apple Season appeared first on Canada's Health Magazine.

Dr. Anthony Di Cintio co-founded the Elderhood Care Team to bring medicine back to kitchen tables — to the true bedside. In a system that often treats seniors as a burden, Dr. Di Cintio, with his portable folding bench, strategically shorter than his patients’ level, listens.

This is a conversation about connection, dignity, and what it truly means to age.

Magazica: The first question is about your passion, your spark. You trained in family medicine at McGill and had many comfortable job options after graduating. Instead, you chose to bring back the old practice of medical house calls. Take us back to the moment you realized you had to step outside the clinic walls and go to patients’ homes. What sparked this?

Dr. Anthony Di Cintio: Thank you so much. From day one, I always connected with advanced end-of-life care, predominantly palliative care. I have been involved in many different settings — from long-term care homes and retirement homes to running my own clinic and working in the hospital.

It was surprising to see not only the broader gaps in community healthcare access, but also the massive barriers elders faced in receiving adequate care.

While working in a long-term care facility — caring for elders in their eighties and nineties with advanced or terminal dementia and other debilitating conditions — I thought: surely the best our system can offer isn’t waiting until someone becomes so frail and unsupported that they end up in a nursing home.

Everything that happens before they leave their homes and reach that point becomes a game of hot potato between home and the emergency room. Eventually, they become too frail to return home and may spend six months to a year waiting in an Alternate Level of Care (ALC) bed before being placed in a nursing home.

So, my closest colleague, Nurse Natalie Hickman, who was working with me in the nursing home at the time, and I decided to leave the corporate setting of medical care, step away from routine clinical services to start Elderhood Care in July 2023

Our vision and goal were to provide care and dignity—the kind they deserve, for my own loved ones, grandparents, and my future senior self.

Elderhood care in homes reduces the stress and burden, while being seen in the comfort of their homes.

We have currently served 3,000 patients who needed this level of care.

The main vision was to bring a service that elders can feel proud of, listened to and be heard.

We needed to change the way elders are treated — all too often dismissed as already fading, not worth the effort. Who cares about providing the care they deserve? Let’s just manage them out the door. It is a reality in healthcare.

Especially as a culture in general, we live in a society where our respect for elders has been diminished. Historically small villages in Italy, in India, and in many parts of the world, the concept of community care — from childcare to elder care — is the norm. In North America, the expectation and the norm are that as you get older, you are forced into institutions, assisted living, long-term care, followed by back-and-forth hospitalizations until you die.

There is no true sense of community. Elderhood could create something special. We have grown that team to provide very robust, efficient care for many elders— to ensure that their chances of hospitalization are minimized to the best of our ability, and that we can support and guide them all the way through.

Magazica: That gives us a very clear idea of the bigger picture that motivated you. Starting a mobile medical practice from scratch is incredibly difficult. You had to navigate licensing, logistics, building a new kind of team, and a new approach. What was the most challenging day or factor you faced when trying to get the Elderhood Care Team off the ground?

Dr. Anthony Di Cintio: Believe it or not, all the elements you mentioned, the administrative paperwork were the easiest. The hardest part, and the one I was unprepared for, came when we started the practice. We had incredible support and responses from the community, from retirement homes, from our hospital and from many allied care workers, including nurses who make house calls.

But I was surprised to see just how little support we found from our fellow community physicians.

Just shy of four months after our launch, we faced resistance from community physicians. I think, sadly, it was more due to the fear of them losing elder patients and the financial business loss — as opposed to recognizing the sheer value of what this service was providing. That made for a very unexpected, politically sensitive knot that had to be navigated so that this project could move forward and do what needed to be done for our community.

Magazica: That was a very challenging journey to go through, and you have done it beautifully and professionally. Otherwise, you could not have touched those 3,000 lives. Let’s go into the heart of the process. Inside a house call — many people think a doctor’s visit requires a sterile clinic with heavy equipment and lighting. You think differently. You might be sitting at kitchen tables or having a real, close-to-the-ground conversation. Can you walk us through what a typical visit looks like once you walk through an elder’s front door?

Dr. Anthony Di Cintio: Well said. My greatest tool — and it has been my number one tool since I finished my medical training — is my handheld bench. I have a portable handheld bench that comes with me to every patient I visit. It is more important than my stethoscope, my oximeter, thermometer, or any physical exam tool I can bring. Many of the elderly people we look after are housebound, couch-bound, or, often, bed-bound.

This morning, I met a 91-year-old woman with advanced lung disease who could barely walk a few feet. My bench let me sit at her level — I adjusted it slightly lower, so that even without realizing it, she felt she was above me, not the other way around. It’s a small adjustment but an important subconscious dynamic.

Now we can have a conversation that feels safe for them to navigate. Too many elders moving through our healthcare system feel unheard, made to feel like a burden, and rushed out the door. Left with a grocery list of unanswered medical questions, too many medications and the feeling that they no longer matter.

The patient’s home is a special place; it is not my territory anymore. It’s their territory. I always remind patients that I am a guest in their home.  I am not there to tell them what to do or oblige them to do anything. I listen and I give them my sound advice, as if I were treating my own grandmother. If they disagree, they tell me, and we find a more suitable plan that resonates with them. I am not here to be their boss or to tell them what to do, as long as it is safe.

There are certain legal obligations if things are unsafe, but outside of those rare circumstances, I always thank them for allowing me to be a guest in their home and provide care with the limited resources available to me. Many of my patients are eighty, ninety, or even a hundred years old, and they tell me,

“I haven’t experienced this since I was a little kid,” when house calls were the norm eighty or ninety years ago.

Magazica: That is absolutely insightful. Listening to your answers, the underlying concept that pops up in my mind is connection. People often assume that elderly care is just about managing multiple prescriptions or specialized diet plans. You have talked about how elders face challenges that go far beyond physical health, like social isolation. What is most misunderstood by the general public about what it actually takes to care for an aging person?

Dr. Anthony Di Cintio: Have you ever heard of the Blue Zones? These are key areas— like Sardinia, Italy, or Okinawa, Japan — that have the highest concentration of centenarians per capita. There is a wealth of study data across these different areas.

Outside of eating a healthy diet and being physically active, the biggest factor that enables healthy aging is sociability. In a place like Italy, you have the piazzas — the town squares. In almost every Italian city, these are areas where you can people-watch. Even if you are alone, you sit down, have a coffee or a glass of water, and watch people of all ages walk by. Being among people has a positive psychological effect.

In Canada, our lifestyle — though we are a socialist country — is built on individualism and hyper-consumption, resulting in a lack of walkability. Simply put, we depend on our cars to get around. As we grow older, especially after losing a driver’s license or becoming physically frail, home can start to feel like a prison. If you cannot manage a single stair without the risk of falling, you are effectively trapped.

Social isolation kicks in, the consequences of dementia, anxiety, depression, and other comorbidities like heart disease, lung disease, and kidney disease rise exponentially. Instead of spending your advanced years enjoying life, you spend them feeling like a prisoner.

This is a massive challenge we must recognize.

In modern day, childcare in our society is predominantly by parents alone, and the concept of a village raising a child no longer exists. The concept of a village taking care of the elderly is also nonexistent. This isolates our elders and places a tremendous burden on usually one adult child who takes on the demanding and overbearing responsibilities. The elder, too often feels like a burden to the one family member trying to care for them. It is a taboo subject that we do not talk about in our society that affects almost everyone directly or indirectly. And if not now, it 100% will in everyone’s lifetime.

Magazica: You pointed out exactly what is happening. Our cultural baseline is individualism and hyper-consumerism. We can assume that in your work, you do not just treat illness or physical symptoms. You try to understand who these seniors once were and who they are now. What is a moment with a patient — without disclosing any name or location — that made you realize how powerful it is to see them as a whole person rather than just a medical chart?

Dr. Anthony Di Cintio: That is an incredible question. To answer it, let’s take a step back and address something very important. Those of us who are not old experience elders as “us versus them.” We distance ourselves, subconsciously. It is a self-protection mechanism, because we are terrified of getting old.

When I teach medical students at the University of Ottawa, I remind them of this statistic: one in five people will need a cardiologist in their lifetime; one in three will need an oncologist; but one in one will need someone who understands geriatric elderhood care. All of us are going to get old. If you do not recognize that truth, caring for the elders in our community is impossible.

When you look at an advanced, frail 92-year-old, you can see the physical markings of high blood pressure, kidney disease, and heart disease. We fail to see the person who had children, grandchildren, lived a life of joys, struggles, and mistakes. Yet so many of us choose to switch our brains off and think, “They are about to exit anyway, so who cares?”

One of my favorite stories happened not too long ago. I met an 88-year-old gentleman living in low-income housing. I always try to understand the person beyond their medical charts. This man had physical ailments, but ultimately, he just needed to talk. I learned that he was a professional tennis coach. He was so obsessed with tennis that in his early fifties, his wife left with their children and moved to the western part of the country. He had been exiled from his family.

A few years later, in a dark place, he wanted to end his life. He shared this, in confidence, with his physician, who reported it to the police. When he went home, police officers escorted him like a criminal to the hospital, where he was seen by a psychiatrist and discharged 24 hours later. When I met him, he could not let go of the fact that the label of “suicidal ideation” remained in his medical chart for decades. Every time he entered the healthcare system, that label carried over.

I took the time during our visit to focus entirely on that experience, which weighed so heavily on him. I spoke about the normalcy of crisis. I shared that even among medical students and physicians, many consider suicide during their careers, and that he went through a terrible crisis but healed and pursued his passion for tennis. His eyes met mine. He started crying, and said,

“I’ve never had anyone take the time to remove that label off my head.”

He passed a few months later—I will never forget how he hugged me at the end of our meeting. Removing that psychological weight of three decades was incredibly powerful for him. That only happens when you see the person beyond the frail body — as a human being. The only difference between him and me is time.

Magazica: Listening to you, it feels like the concept of human care is missing from our highly advanced medical system. A staggering 65 per cent of people locally have no primary care doctor. This leaves many vulnerable seniors with nowhere to turn for basic care. Can you talk about the scale of this shortage and how it is affecting our community?

Dr. Anthony Di Cintio: That shortage goes far beyond our community; it’s an across-Canada issue. We could talk about why this very preventable issue was completely ignored and snowballed. Even with governmental changes, those on the front line will not see the benefits for probably fifteen years. Meanwhile, the baby boomers are entering advanced age — what some call the “silver hair pandemic” and we don’t have the care services in place.

If we wait on the government for change, it will take too long. We need something bold. Our team realized that the gap was so large in primary care accessibility that we expanded our scope. We launched a parallel service called the McConnell Family Health Center.

Over the past twelve months, we have recruited five confirmed staff members, with two more pending and others in progress, bringing us closer to our goal of eight positions. We plan to take on another four to eight positions over the next twenty-four months. That did not come from any government support. It came from an idea to invest personal savings and debt to make it a reality. This will enable ten to fifteen thousand more people to have access to sustainable, long-term primary care. We have gone from a two-person operation in July 2023 to approaching twenty people by the end of this year.

Magazica: That is fantastic. It takes deep compassion and empathy to make this possible. Many of us have aging parents or grandparents we want to support, but we might not know how to assess their safety or well-being at home. What are two or three simple things we should be mindful of when we visit our elderly relatives this weekend, to help make sure they are safe, comfortable, and healthy? Can you share a brief checklist through which we can show our compassion?

Dr. Anthony Di Cintio: Let’s explore that question. Imagine your elder loved one driving a car. Would you feel safe as a passenger? If the answer is no, then when you ask whether they are safe living independently at home, the answer is likely no.

But what do you do about it?

Let’s focus on simple actions. Online ordering can deliver groceries and household products directly to your door. Adult children should take advantage of these delivery services to minimize the chore of outings.

If you question their safety with a stove or oven — most elders should not be using them — look into affordable meal delivery programs, which average five to seven dollars a meal. Transition their cooking to a microwave or toaster oven. Eliminate the use of heavy pots, frying pans, and boiling water, which increase the risk of burns and fires. You can also hire affordable services for basic laundry and cleaning.

Look at mobility. You can easily tell if someone needs a walker by asking them to stand up and sit back down from a chair. It reveals how strong their core, glutes, and thighs are, and immediately shows their fall risk. When telling an elder they need a walker, the most common reaction is resistance. They feel like they are being treated like a toddler.

The issue is that younger family members are often too assertive and commanding, rather than collaborative. We need to ask ourselves: how would I feel at ninety-five being told I need a walker, a chairlift, a toilet seat lift, or grab bars in the shower? Shower tiles are the most common place to fall and break a hip. I probably wouldn’t feel good.

So, outside of these practical tips, find the humility to recognize that safety changes do not have to happen overnight. Work toward them collaboratively over weeks and months. Frame safety equipment not as a loss of independence, but as a tool to preserve their autonomy and keep them out of a nursing home.

Magazica: That framing is empowering, because presenting lifestyle changes that way truly resonates. For our last talking point — it is clear that your patients are very open with you. They share their problems, their challenges, and their lives. After touching 3,000 elderly lives, what is the single message you want to share with us, and what practical step can we take to advocate for better care of the elders in our neighborhoods?

Dr. Anthony Di Cintio: I would like to share two. First, the great majority of us are going to grow old. The probability of experiencing this is roughly nine in ten. If you cannot find humility for the elder in front of you, or for your own future self, you will not enjoy your aging experience. If you dismiss the older people in your life, don’t be surprised when one day you experience that same distance or isolation in your own old age. The old person in front of you had the same joys, goals, and dreams as you. The only difference is time.

My second message is a story of an eighty-eight-year-old man on his deathbed. He wished to die at home. During our house call, he had an old cassette player with a handwritten tape of his wedding song from the early 1950s. With all the strength he had left, he stood up, asked his wife for ‘one last dance’ and slow-danced with his her for four and a half minutes. He sat back down, gave her a long kiss, told her he loved her, and died soon after.

There is so much beauty and wisdom in our elders. Unfortunately, our hyper-consumer society has lost sight of this.

Spend time with your grandmother, your grandfather, or your aging parents. Talk through their experiences and take advantage of their wisdom while they are still here.

In my career, I have signed over 900 death certificates in six years. I have held the hands of many people at the end of life. I have never had a person, rich or poor, tell me on their deathbed that they wished they had made more money, paid less taxes, or had more material goods. They almost always say: “I wish I loved. I hope I was loved. I wish I had forgiven. I hope I was forgiven.”

We are in a rinse-and-repeat cycle of working, spending, and running, only to find ourselves on our deathbeds wondering what we did with our lives. We need to put down our phones, stop doomscrolling, and look outside. Get off the screens and enjoy life.

In our practice, our staff put up photos of their families on our office walls to remind us why we do what we do. You can’t care for strangers’ day in and day out if you don’t have love in your life. When I teach medical students, I tell them to focus on how they would want their own loved ones to be cared for. In the words of Dr. Patch Adams, whom I spent three weeks with a decade ago: “If you treat the disease, you win, or you lose. If you treat the person, I guarantee you, you will always win.”

Magazica: Thank you so much, Doctor, for your time and for those incredible parting words.

Dr. Anthony Di Cintio: I appreciate you both. I look forward to reading the piece. Have a beautiful day, everyone.

Keywords: medical house calls; elderly care; social isolation; primary care shortage; home safety checklist

The post Elderly Care with Empathy: Dr. Anthony Di Cintio on Bringing Back Medical House Calls appeared first on Canada's Health Magazine.

The numbers explain the urgency. An estimated 3,000 women in Canada will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2026, and an estimated 1,950 will die from it. That means for every three Canadian women diagnosed this year, roughly two will not survive — a mortality ratio far worse than most other cancers affecting women. Ovarian cancer remains the most lethal gynecological cancer in the country, and outcomes for patients have barely moved in fifty years.

Why Ovarian Cancer Is So Hard to Catch Early.

Part of the problem is biological. There is no reliable screening test for ovarian cancer — no equivalent of a mammogram or a Pap test. Blood tests and ultrasounds have been studied extensively as potential screening tools, but none have been shown to improve overall survival when used on the general population. That leaves symptom recognition as the primary line of defense, and ovarian cancer’s early symptoms are notoriously easy to dismiss.

Bloating, pelvic or abdominal pain, and changes in bowel or bladder habits are among the most common signs. On their own, each of these could be explained by something as ordinary as diet, stress, or aging. The disease tends to be diagnosed late, often only after fluid begins building up in the abdomen associated with more advanced stage disease. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada notes that this fluid buildup, known as ascites, can bring on bloating, distension, and shortness of breath, but by the time it appears, the cancer has frequently progressed significantly.

That is precisely the message Ovarian Cancer Canada tries to drive home every September: persistent, frequent, or worsening symptoms — ones that are unusual for you — deserve a conversation with a doctor, not a wait-and-see approach. The organization’s Patient Partner in Research program has featured survivors like Donna Peppin, who has said that until a reliable test exists, women’s own knowledge of their bodies remains their best defence.

A Canadian Story, With Canadian Gaps.

Ovarian cancer’s toll on Canadian women isn’t evenly distributed or fully understood. Five-year net survival in Canada sits at roughly 44 percent, meaning fewer than half of women diagnosed will live five years past their diagnosis. Survival is significantly better for women diagnosed before age 45 than for those diagnosed later in life, and outcomes have improved only modestly over the past several decades compared to gains made against other cancers.

There are also real gaps in Canadian data. Statistics Canada acknowledges that detailed survival information broken down by cancer stage and type isn’t consistently available at the national level, meaning researchers often have to rely on data from other countries, such as the United States, to understand how outcomes vary by how advanced the cancer is at diagnosis. That data gap is itself part of the advocacy conversation this September: better tracking could mean better-targeted care.

The pressure for change reached the political stage this summer. At the Canadian premiers’ summit in Charlottetown in July 2026, ovarian cancer patients and oncologists called on provincial leaders to improve access to treatment and diagnostic tools. Physicians pointed to drugs already available to patients in the United States that remain inaccessible in Canada and argued that a coordinated national push — more research funding, broader access to clinical trials, and stronger interdisciplinary care — is overdue.

What Awareness Month Actually Asks of Canadians.

Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month isn’t only about wearing teal, though the colour has become a recognizable symbol of the cause across the country. It’s an annual prompt for Canadians to learn the risk factors — family history of ovarian or breast cancer, BRCA gene mutations, increasing age, and never having been pregnant are among the most significant — and to understand that most cases still occur in women without an obvious inherited risk.

It’s also a call to action for the health system itself. Advocacy groups and clinicians are using September to press for more research dollars aimed at earlier detection, since finding effective screening remains one of the most significant unmet needs in Canadian oncology. Events like the Ovarian Cancer Walk of Hope, held annually in cities across the country, channel public participation directly into funding for that research.

For individual Canadians, the takeaway is simple even if the science isn’t: know your body, take persistent symptoms seriously, and don’t assume vague abdominal complaints are nothing. For a disease with no screening test and a five-year survival rate under 50 percent, awareness isn’t just a slogan — for many women, it may be the earliest warning system available.

The post September Is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month: Why Canadians Need to Pay Attention appeared first on Canada's Health Magazine.

What Is Blue Light and Why Does It Matter?

Blue light is part of the visible light spectrum with wavelengths between 380 and 500 nanometers. While we get a significant amount of naturally occurring blue light from the sun—which helps regulate our circadian rhythm and boosts alertness during the day, the concern lies in artificial sources. LED screens on computers, smartphones, tablets, and televisions emit concentrated blue light that can disrupt our natural sleep-wake cycle.

Dr. Mahnia Madan, a Vancouver-based optometrist, explains: “At night, when the sun sets, the blue light in the environment goes down and tells our bodies that it’s time to rest. And in the morning when we wake up with blue light in the environment, it triggers our body to be alert”. The problem arises when evening screen exposure mimics daylight, suppressing melatonin production—the hormone that signals our bodies it’s time to sleep.

The Sleep Connection: What Canadian Research Shows.

The scientific evidence linking blue light glasses to improved sleep is promising but not definitive. A study conducted by researchers at Université de Montréal found preliminary evidence that blue-light filtering glasses can significantly improve sleep disturbances. The study highlighted the impact of blue light on sleep and emphasized the importance of preventive measures.

One of the most compelling Canadian studies examined permanent night-shift workers at a Canada Post distribution centre in Quebec City. Researchers found that workers who wore blue-blocking glasses before and during their commute home slept, on average, 32 to 34 minutes longer per day and showed improved sleep efficiency. Morning sunlight exposure was maintaining their circadian clocks on a daytime rhythm, and blocking blue light helped correct this disruption.

However, Dr. Melissa Yuen, a Toronto optometrist, offers a note of caution: “There still isn’t any great deal of scientific evidence that [blue light glasses] protect us from computer vision syndrome or any harmful kind of light from the computer”.

Do They Work for Everyone?

While blue light glasses may benefit certain groups, particularly those with significant evening screen exposure or shift workers, their effectiveness for the general population remains uncertain. The 2023 Health Canada stance on blue light glasses suggests they can help with symptoms but should not be viewed as a cure-all.

The Canadian sleep clinic Sleep Therapeutics notes that overexposure to blue light before bedtime can not only lead to trouble falling asleep but may decrease overall sleep quality by suppressing melatonin production. Yet experts like Madan recommend simpler solutions: “A blue light filter in itself isn’t going to make a big difference. It’s more important that patients wear the correct prescription so that they’re able to see clearly on the computer”.

Beyond the Glasses: Better Sleep Practices.

Canadian optometrists universally recommend the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes of screen time, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This exercise relaxes eye muscles and reduces digital eye strain, which remains a primary concern regardless of blue light filtering. Health Canada also suggests taking regular breaks from screens, blinking often to hydrate the eyes, and optimizing computer ergonomics.

Sleep on It.

So, are blue light glasses a bedtime hero or just a stylish screen-time sidekick? Maybe a bit of both. They may help some people—especially shift workers or anyone scrolling deep into the evening—but they work best alongside the classic sleep-friendly habits: dim the screens, take breaks, and give your eyes a rest before bed. In other words, the glasses might help, but your best sleep strategy still starts with powering down before you nod off.

The post Blue Light Glasses: Fact or Fiction for Better Sleep? appeared first on Canada's Health Magazine.

The Case for Seasonal Eating

Eating locally and seasonally is more than a culinary trend; it is a practice rooted in nutrition, sustainability, and community support. According to Fraser Health, summer in British Columbia offers a wide variety of delicious produce that is perfect for meals and snacks, from antioxidant-rich berries to versatile tomatoes and nutrient-dense leafy greens. When vegetables and fruits are at their peak freshness, they are ‘in season’—and that is when they offer the best flavour and nutritional value.

Fraser Health dietitian Donna Whitham emphasizes that eating seasonally can make a significant impact on health while also supporting local farmers and the local community. This sentiment is echoed by registered dietitians who advocate for fresh, local, and seasonal eating as a key strategy for both nutrition and budget management. Choosing seasonal produce like peaches, watermelon, and berries in the summer is not only more flavourful but also more cost-effective than buying out-of-season imports.

What’s in Season Across Canada

Canada’s diverse climate means that summer produce varies by region, but the bounty is universally impressive. In British Columbia, summer offers an abundance of berries (blueberries and strawberries), cherries, tomatoes, zucchini, leafy greens, Swiss chard, carrots, and beets. The Okanagan Valley, a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, is particularly celebrated for its fruit: cherries ripen in July, peaches follow in August, and by September, apple trees are heavy with fruit.

Farmers’ markets across the country showcase these seasonal treasures. The Comox Valley Farmers’ Market on Vancouver Island runs Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesdays, offering a glimpse into the breadth of local offerings. In the Okanagan, destinations like Davison Orchards, Don-O-Ray Farm Market, Gatzke’s Farm Market, and Paynter’s Fruit Market provide farm-to-table experiences that range from U-pick orchards to artisan markets with over a thousand locally made BC products.

Greater Montreal boasts a remarkable network of public markets. The South Shore features markets in La Prairie, Old Saint-Lambert, Mont-Saint-Hilaire, and Chambly, each bringing together local producers offering seasonal fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, and baked goods. The North Shore’s Saint-Jérôme public market operates year-round, providing fresh produce from April through November.

Closer to home, in Ottawa, we are surrounded by local farmers and their markets—something my wife and I take part in every week. Our visits often become a small ritual: choosing vegetables from nearby growers, picking up berries or fresh herbs when they are in season, and letting what looks best at the stalls shape our meals for the week. It is one of the simplest ways we stay connected to the local food community and to the rhythm of the season.

Turning Market Finds into Meals

The true magic of farmers’ market shopping lies in the kitchen, where fresh ingredients can be transformed into simple, celebratory meals. One of the most beloved seasonal dishes is Nova Scotia Hodge Podge, a silky vegetable stew that showcases early summer vegetables at their finest. This humble chowder combines new potatoes, new carrots, fresh beans, and peas in a buttery cream broth. The key to its success lies in using truly fresh ingredients: “Summer market vegetables have a sweet tenderness that grocery store vegetables can never match”.

For those who want to preserve summer’s flavours, Chef Phil Scarfone’s farmers’ market tomato passata recipe is a perfect solution. This simple sauce, made with ripe tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, and basil, can be jarred and enjoyed in the depths of winter. Scarfone emphasizes that local farmers allow their tomatoes to ripen on the vine, “which is great for flavour and is an integral part of making a beautiful passata”.

Acclaimed chef Craig Flinn, an early advocate of the fresh and local approach, built his Halifax restaurant menu around seasonal ingredients. His cookbook Fresh & Local offers recipes that range from spring fiddlehead soup to summer cedar-planked sea trout with hodge podge, and fall roasted squash soup. Similarly, chef Lynn Crawford’s award-winning cookbook Farm to Chef takes readers on a seasonal journey with over 140 recipes featuring farm-fresh produce.

Preserving Summer’s Bounty

Canadians have a long tradition of preserving summer’s abundance to enjoy throughout the year. Fraser Health recommends canning or freezing fruits and vegetables to maintain their flavour and nutrition. Frozen and canned vegetables and fruits are often picked at peak ripeness and preserved immediately, offering similar nutritional value to fresh produce.

For those new to preserving, experts recommend starting with simple methods like freezing berries or making tomato sauce. Home canning requires attention to safety guidelines, but it rewards the effort with jars of summer flavour that brighten the darkest winter days. As one chef notes, the goal is to “cook down [tomatoes] into jars you’ll crack open in February when you desperately need a hit of summer”.

Building a Market Feast

Creating a farmers’ market feast is less about following rigid recipes and more about letting the ingredients guide you. Here are some tips for maximizing your summer market haul:

1. Go Early and Talk to Farmers: Farmers are passionate about their produce and can offer tips on selection, storage, and preparation. Build relationships with your local growers—they are the heart of the community.
2. Embrace Imperfection: Ugly produce is often just as flavourful as perfect specimens, and buying it reduces food waste. Plus, it’s often more affordable.
3. Plan Simple Meals: Let the quality of the ingredients shine. A salad of heirloom tomatoes with fresh basil and good olive oil needs little else. Grilled vegetables with a squeeze of lemon are a summer classic.
4. Preserve the Excess: When tomatoes, peaches, or berries are at their peak and plentiful, buy extra for canning, freezing, or making jam. You will thank yourself in January.
5. Try Regional Specialties: Seek out local traditions like Nova Scotia Hodge Podge, which “always feels special” precisely because it is tied to the season and the place.

Conclusion

Farmers’ markets are more than places to buy food—they are community gathering spaces that celebrate the rhythm of the seasons and the bounty of the land. Whether you are in British Columbia, Quebec, or the Maritimes, summer markets offer an opportunity to connect with local growers, discover new ingredients, and create meals that are fresh, flavourful, and deeply satisfying. By embracing seasonal eating, you not only nourish your body but also support a more sustainable food system and the local economy. This summer, make the farmers’ market your kitchen’s source of inspiration—and feast on the season’s best.

The post Farmers’ Market Feasts: Maximizing Local Summer Produce appeared first on Canada's Health Magazine.

Have you ever gotten home with a strange rash or a painful ear? If so, then you have had the unfortunate experience of meeting the two most common unwanted visitors of summer, which are Swimmer’s Itch and Swimmer’s Ear. Although these sound as though they should be related, they are completely different biological scenarios.

Swimmer’s Itch: The Case of the Lost Parasite.

Cercarial dermatitis, commonly referred to as swimmer’s itch, is basically a parasitic infection by mistake. The larval flatworms, which live in aquatic snails and are looking for birds and small mammals to colonize, come out of the water.

The problem occurs when you are swimming in the path of those larvae since they mistakenly enter your body. The fact that people are not the right hosts makes these larvae die immediately, but your immune system doesn’t know that yet.

Imagine your immune system as an overprotective security guard. Despite the fact that the “invasion” is finished, the guard still keeps raising alarms and closing doors, causing your red, itchy, raised pimples.

According to scientific research, such outbreaks are quite dangerous all over Canada, as cases have been observed in almost all Canadian provinces. For example, there was a five-year study conducted in Alberta where thousands of cases were registered in July and August – the hottest months of the year.

Takeaway: Swimmer’s itch is just an allergic reaction to water parasites; therefore, it is not an infection.

Swimmer’s Ear: The Watery Canal Blockade.

Whereas the “itch” remains on your skin, Swimmer’s Ear (also referred to as otitis externa) occurs near your outer ear canal. Swimmer’s Ear is caused by bacteria and not parasites; however, these organisms flourish when there is excessive moisture inside your ear.

Generally, our ears are equipped with a defence mechanism against infections, which involves the production of earwax. This substance, which is hydrophobic and has an acidic nature, forms a barrier preventing bacteria and fungi from entering our ears.

The process of contracting Swimmer’s Ear happens when we stay inside the water for too long, or when we clean our ears using cotton swabs, and hence traumatize the skin barrier or earwax and allow the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria to invade the area.

Within 48 hours, symptoms begin to show, such as pain in the ear, a feeling of fullness, and discharge from the ear, which is usually yellowish. The main symptom of having Swimmer’s Ear is when it hurts a lot whenever you pull your outer ear or the flap of the ear canal.

Takeaway: Swimmer’s Ear is a bacterial infection of the ear canal often caused by trapped moisture or minor trauma to the skin.

Defensive Maneuvers for the Modern Swimmer.

However, prevention may be easier than treatment when it comes to these diseases. With Swimmer’s Itch, it is especially hard to stop the process, as a single infected snail may produce thousands of larvae in the water.

Even if there are some who believe that towel-drying is a key solution, in fact, the best thing one can do is to know the area. Should a person have the misfortune to swim in the area where there is already an outbreak or high concentrations of birds and snails, he will surely get a good case of Swimmer’s Itch from the shallow and weedy places of the lake.

Regarding ears, the best solution is “keeping them dry” with well-fitted earplugs or swim caps.

After the swimming session, a person should slightly tilt their head in order to allow all water to drain. One can even use a hair dryer set on the coolest setting.

Takeaway: Protecting your summer fun means keeping your ears dry and staying alert to local water conditions and warnings.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional for personalized medical guidance.

The post Splash Safely: Why Your Skin and Ears Might Throw a Summer Tantrum appeared first on Canada's Health Magazine.

Magazica: Dear readers and viewers, today we have Tracy Schmitt, known as Unstoppable Tracy, who has built a life on breaking barriers. She turns challenges into fuel for resilience, leadership, and global impact.

From Olympic trials to boardroom coaching, her journey proves that limitations are only stories we tell ourselves. She’s a best‑selling author, international speaker, globally winning boat racer, scuba diver, and an executive coach who inspires audiences in more than 40 countries.

With humour, grit, and practical strategies, Tracy shows how ordinary days can become extraordinary. This episode is a powerful reminder that perseverance isn’t just about surviving – it’s about thriving and leading with unstoppable energy. Tracy, welcome to Magazica.

Unstoppable Tracy: Oh, thank you so much! Marvellous Magazica! I just love the name and the big M and being with you and all your listeners today. What a wonderful, magical morning.

Magazica: Thank you very much for that. Let’s start at the beginning of your journey. Can you take us back to a defining moment in your life when you realized that resilience would become your superpower?

Unstoppable Tracy: You know, we all get big no’s, and one of my biggest no’s – super early in life, such a blessing, because life is rigged in our favour – was the first day of school.

I was face‑to‑face with my principal, with my mom beside me. The principal took one look at me. What your readers and listeners may not know is that I’m missing my hands and my legs above the knee. The principal looked at my mom and said, “I’m sorry. Tracy can’t go to this school.”

My little five‑year‑old heart just dropped. My stomach dropped. And you, and all your listeners, are probably ready to take on the principal – like, what do you mean? So you would understand if my mom went full mama bear. But she didn’t.

My mom had the kindest eyes. I’ve long since lost my mom, so when I talk about her, I get emotional. She had the kindest eyes. She looked at that principal, didn’t get mad, and simply said, “How come?” Open arms, super sweet.

Because she wasn’t defensive, he explained, “Well, because Tracy doesn’t have her hands, she probably can’t tie her shoelaces. And she doesn’t have her legs, she probably can’t go to the bathroom by herself.” In the 70s, children with disabilities went to segregated schools.

My mom said, “Oh, I understand.” And I looked at her like, what? Then she made a counteroffer: “But since we’re here today, can we just try?”

The principal said, “Okay, one week.” My mom shook his hand and thanked him very much. She didn’t react to the “only one week.” We walked around to the side of the school where the kindergarten kids were being led in, and she collapsed to her knees.

I thought she fell. She grabbed my arms with a ten‑finger super grip – five fingers on each forearm – holding me eye to eye, super serious. I had no idea why she was so serious. I had no idea that if I didn’t get outside at recess, I wouldn’t get to stay at the school.

She held my arms, looked me in the eye, and said, “Tracy. It’s really important that you… and everybody’s included. Nobody left behind.”

I was five years old. I had no idea. I just wanted to play. So I broke free of her super grip and ran into the schoolyard – and bumped into the principal.

The principal was standing there with his eyes all welled up. He had heard my mom on her knees saying, “Nobody left behind.”

So I like to say, in the spirit of the holiday season, his heart grew three sizes that day – like the Grinch. And of course, he didn’t want me to leave. Fast forward to recess time: he runs outside… and I’m not there.

Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes – I never made it outside.

So he’s trying to figure out what he’s going to say to my mom. He marches inside and asks my teacher, “What happened? Couldn’t Tracy tie her shoelaces?”

My teacher is confused. She says, “Tracy was the first one to tie her shoelaces.”

He asks, “Well, how come she wasn’t outside?” She says, “Oh, her little friend couldn’t tie her shoelaces.”

So – what did my mom say? Nobody left behind.

Magazica: Nobody left behind.

Unstoppable Tracy: So I tied my little friend’s shoelaces. It turns out none of the 30 kids tied their shoelaces. By the time I tied 30 shoelaces, the recess bell had gone off.

What I learned that day is that it doesn’t matter – everybody is a valuable contributor. I didn’t know I was going to be the shoelace leader. But now you know: how come the only student – male, female, they, them, Black, white, visible disability like me with no hands and no legs, or no disability, or invisible disability – how come the only student with no hands was the only student required to be able to tie their shoelaces?

And it actually makes sense. One teacher, 30 kids – this student has no hands, no legs, how is she going to manage? And some of your readers and listeners might think, “How am I going to write that book?” or “That’s the standard operating procedure – you’re not allowed to work from home.” Well, we figured it out. You figure it out. So “no” just means “know.” You just don’t know yet.

And that principal – he wasn’t mean. He was a lovely, kind man. He never said no again. From then on, he said, “I don’t know. I don’t know how we’re going to get her over the snowbank off the school bus,” or “I don’t know how she’s going to join swimming in grade three,” but he didn’t say no. He just said, “I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out.”

So that was the first unstoppable memory. My superpower comes from my magical mom.

Magazica: Fantastic. What a beautiful piece of your experience to open our conversation. So, let’s drive from challenges to strengths. Many people see obstacles as setbacks. How did you learn to see them as stepping stones instead?

Unstoppable Tracy: Sometimes we think we need a perfect plan, and really, we just need the courage to start. When I started sailing without my hands and without my legs, every time the boat heeled or we hit a wave, I fell out of the boat. That scared the sailing instructors for sure – and your face says it all.

I knew how to swim, I was wearing a life jacket, and I knew the parts of the boat and the points of sail. But that first summer, I failed. It turns out you’ve got to be able to stay in the boat to get your Level 1.

So you just keep climbing back in. I climbed back in over and over until I figured out how to balance in the boat.

And by looking out – you know, when we’re in our cubicle, we’re in our head; when we’re at home, we’re in our computer; and in a boat, we’re looking at the lines and inside the boat – I learned to get my head out of the boat. I learned to look at the water, read the water: Where’s the wind? Where’s that wave coming from? So I could brace myself or sail according to the wind.

And that was balance. I also learned forward balance. They were advanced study skills. So I got my Bronze 4, and then I got my 3, 2, 1 – when all my little friends got their Level 2.

So if you feel like you’re falling out of your boat, you’re just doing your advanced study… backwards.

Big successes – there’s no such thing. Everything is just one little stepping stone at a time. It’s not a tidal wave or a magic wand.

And we don’t take it alone. I wasn’t in that boat alone. I wasn’t in kindergarten alone. We rise up together.

Magazica: With that same spirit, let’s talk about your Paralympic trialist experience. Training at that level – Paralympic training – is incredibly demanding. What did that level of training teach you about discipline, mindset, and the human spirit? The Paralympic trialist experience – training at that level is incredibly demanding. What did that training teach you about discipline, mindset, and the human spirit?

Unstoppable Tracy: You know… now your listeners know: yes, I’m a World Cup sailor and climber, I earned an MBA, and I grew up to be an executive coach at Air Canada, Shoppers Drug Mart, Uber, and organizations around the world. But as a person with a disability, as a child, there were programs filled with sympathy and kindness – “We’ll take you on,” “We’ll give you a joyride in the boat,” “You can come watch us ski,” or “We’ll put you in a sled and drag you around so you can experience it.”

But Paralympic – Olympic, Paralympic – sailing is different.

When I had that lightbulb moment that I wanted to be a Paralympic trialist, I looked around for who was extraordinary. If you’re a girl, train with boys. If you’re a boy, train with teams older than you. All of us should train with people performing at a higher level. Be around those who are succeeding at the level you want to reach.

So I looked for a Gold Olympian. At the time, the only one in Canada was a man named Magnus Liljedahl in Miami, Florida, and I was in Toronto.

Everyone said it was impossible. You need $10,000 for a boat, 10,000 hours in a boat, 10,000 hours with a Gold Olympian – never mind becoming a Paralympic trialist. It was a no‑way situation.

So I recommend: when people say it’s impossible, you hear them – and then you ask, “Impossible unless what?”

They replied, “Magnus Liljedahl.” And then added, “But there’s no way.”

So I said, “Thanks so much,” and I took everything I owned – my bed, my wall unit, my dresser – everything. I put it on the internet and tried to sell it for funds. Then I drove down in my car.

My family and friends were lovingly worried. They said it was unrealistic. Their way of helping was refusing to help me load the car because they didn’t want to support what they thought was a bad decision. When I left, nobody even helped me carry a teapot to my car. If it didn’t fit, I didn’t bring it. And I drove five days to Magnus Ligidal.

And I’ll let you in on a secret: Magnus is a lot like Shrek. And I wish I were the Fiona of the story – but in fact, I’m the donkey.

I arrived… and guess who wasn’t there? Magnus.

So I took my car and hid it between two multi‑million‑dollar yachts. Because who you surround yourself with matters – maybe I’d become a millionaire by proximity. I hid in the boatyard. I wasn’t allowed to be there, but I tucked my car between the gigantic yachts and woke up at 5:30 in the morning.

Guess who finally showed up? Magnus – at 5:30 a.m. What does a high‑performance athlete do at 5:30? Something related to their craft. He was washing and waxing boats.

I jumped out of the car and ran over: “Magnus! Magnus! It’s Tracy from Toronto! I’m sorry I phoned you and tweeted you and Facebooked you and emailed you, but I’m Tracy from Toronto!” All this high energy.

Magnus just looked at me – deadpan, quiet, washing his boat. He didn’t say anything. Just stared like, “Who is this woman?”

And I realized Magnus had a slightly different energy than I did. I had forgotten my kindergarten lesson.

My mom didn’t say to the principal, “Oh, she can tie her shoelaces.” She listened. She heard that he was worried about being stuck with me.

With Magnus, I was all me, me, me.

So I picked up a sponge. And I started washing the boat. I reset my conversation with him.

I ended up washing and waxing boats – like Karate Kid – for three months. Secretly hiding in my car in Magnus’s boatyard, unbeknownst to him. Every day. 5:30 a.m. Ninety days in a row.

Three months before, Magnus finally said, “Come on. Let’s go sailing.”

So what’s the discipline, the mindset, the human spirit? It started before I even started. To be able to get – pardon the pun from a girl with no foot – a foot in the game.

Magazica: And all those three months, you were in that boatyard? In the dock?

Unstoppable Tracy: Yes. Someone invited me to sleep on their boat one night. Someone else said, “I have a residence in town when I’m here – you can stay on my balcony.” She didn’t invite me into her home – she invited me onto her balcony. So I slept on her balcony. Over those three months, there were moments when I had a balcony, or someone’s boat… but it wasn’t the Hilton by any means.

Magazica: And still – three months. People break down after two or three days, let alone three weeks.

Unstoppable Tracy: Yes.

Magazica: Three months is extraordinary.

Unstoppable Tracy: There’s power in progress. You don’t wait for “someday.” You take the next step forward. As soon as I decided I was going, I drove down there. And I invite you and your listeners and readers: write one page, make one call, take one action toward your dream.

Because once you start, the momentum builds. Those three months were packed with little momentous moments. Just like in The Karate Kid – I was learning; I just didn’t know I was learning.

Magazica: That’s very powerful. I don’t know about others, but I needed this at this moment. Thank you very much.

Let’s continue. We just learned about your MBA and your business education. You coach executives – you mentioned Uber, Shoppers Drug Mart, and many others. You give anecdotes and inspiration to executives, sharing your huge, kind spirit. It brings out the best in people. So, what’s one common barrier leaders usually face, and how do you help them break through it?

Unstoppable Tracy: A common barrier is that we all have a barrier – a roadblock, a challenge. For leaders, it’s often something like imposter syndrome.

Many people are promoted into leadership roles because they did their job well. At Air Canada, someone knows how to load baggage on an airplane – now they’re a supervisor. Or someone is an incredible customer‑service‑focused flight attendant – now they’re the head of training, bringing in new people who don’t know how to do the job. They have to relinquish the skill they mastered and take on a new task.

That’s happening everywhere. You could be a leader for 30 years and know your job extremely well, but change is inevitable. New technology arrives. Suddenly, you’re managing staff from home because of COVID. Or you’re a 30‑year director and your CEO changes – CEOs don’t stay for 30 years; they often rotate every four.

So there’s always something new. And you’re asking a 12‑month contract question – how do you break barriers? But an immediate thing everyone can do, and something I do with leaders, is what I call appreciative inquiry.

It’s like water. You’ve got hydrogen and oxygen – amazing molecules. Bring them together, and you get the magic of hydration. So you have “appreciate” – value, positive thinking, and “inquiry” – gather data, gather facts, get information. When you put appreciative inquiry together, you get the magic of discovery.

For example, the kinds of questions you ask determine the kinds of answers you find. If you ask, “What’s the problem here?” you’re going to find the problem. I’m not saying ignore the problem. In Canada, we have moose – some say, “What’s the elephant in the room?” I say, “What’s the moose in the room?” You can put a moose under a boardroom table and throw a tablecloth over it – you can still smell the moose. You still have to drag it out of the room. I’m not saying ignore the problem.

It’s just about the question you ask. Instead of “What’s the problem?” you could ask, “What worked last time you had a problem?”

You get more specific. You’ve heard my kindergarten story, my Magnus story – what worked? So ask yourself: What’s something you’re facing right now that’s a challenge? But don’t start there. Start appreciatively.

What’s something you’re super proud of? What’s something you did where you woke up and thought, “Oh my gosh, that was tough – and I did it”? Maybe you ran a marathon. Maybe you helped your child deal with a bully. Maybe you crushed a huge financial barrier in your company.

How did you do it? Who was there? What was exciting about it? Focus on that breakthrough story.

And then ask: What’s something you’re facing right now? We often start with the problem. Let’s start with the time we overcame a problem.

It’s usually resilience. It’s usually who you surround yourself with. It’s usually persistence. Then you bring that into what you’re facing now – with the confidence that you’ve already done it. You’ve already overcome a barrier.

And it doesn’t matter what age. Mine was at five years old in kindergarten. But I brought that into my business life.

Magazica: And then an inquiry about the solution part.

Unstoppable Tracy: Yes. What’s something you crushed?

Magazica: Because we already did it once.

Unstoppable Tracy: Yes.

Magazica: Maybe several times.

Unstoppable Tracy: Yes!

Magazica: So build on that.

Unstoppable Tracy: Exactly. And then you get through the imposter voice – “I don’t know how,” “I’ve never done it,” “I’ve never presented to a group before,” “I’ve never raised a teenager before,” “I’ve never written a book before.” But you have. You’ve crushed barriers before.

Magazica: No, that’s so powerful. Truly powerful. Let’s talk a bit about resilience in the workplace. For everyday people listening, what’s one simple practice they can use to build resilience at work – or at home? One small practice they can build on?

Unstoppable Tracy: In your mind, right off the bat, obstacles are not stop signs. You reframe the barrier. For example, yesterday I went to Tim Hortons. I pulled up to the first window, driving a brand‑new car – swanky.

During COVID, I got sepsis, and for the first time in my life, I felt like a four‑way amputee. I never felt like I was missing my hands and legs before. But when I got sepsis, I didn’t own a wheelchair, I didn’t live in an accessible apartment, and I didn’t have people around. My legs end above the knee, I have no left arm, I have one finger in an unusual place, and I live by myself. And then I lost my legs to sepsis.

But I don’t say, “I have to get an accessible apartment, I have to get a wheelchair, I have to get a different vehicle.” I say, “I get to drive a new car.”

So first: reframe. You get to, not have to. You get to do your laundry, not have to do your laundry. Reframe it as “I get to.”

I pulled up to Tim Hortons. I have an MBA, I’m a World Cup sailor, and I climb mountains. And I said at the window, hopefully sounding educated and capable enough, “Can I please have an extra‑large, steeped tea?”

I drove to the second window. And yesterday – 2025, almost 2026 – she said, “Oh… no.”

Your face right now is curious and confused. I was, too. Even now, I feel a little nauseous remembering it. Here I am, the only four‑way amputee who has ever climbed the Himalayas of Nepal – male, female, they, them – and these two words from a Tim Hortons lady crushed me.

I got a lump in my throat. My stomach felt nauseous. And that was yesterday. Words can hurt.

Magazica: Yeah.

Unstoppable Tracy: And that wasn’t her. That was me. I let myself interpret it that way. She’s just a kind person. And I could hear my mom whisper in my ear: “She just doesn’t know.”

Magazica: Doesn’t know.

Unstoppable Tracy: It’s like that “no” from kindergarten turning into “know.” She just doesn’t know.

So I reset. I thought, okay – she just doesn’t know. And I said, “It’s okay, I’ve got this. I can hold the cup.” I love my tea so much, I’m drinking out of a two‑cup measuring jug instead of a mug because I want more tea. It’s funny. But I can hold a cup. And she handed me my cup.

I said thank you, and I drove away. And from her face, I know she was amazed I could hold a cup.

She doesn’t know that I fly airplanes, that I jump out of airplanes, that I ride horses, that I’m a World Cup sailor competing against able‑bodied men – 80 of them in March 2025. Only a few women were there, and everyone else had their hands and legs.

And she was amazed I could hold a cup. But we get to reset. Even me.

So you get to ask yourself: What is this moment teaching me? With the Tim Hortons lady – what is this moment teaching me? How can I use this to become stronger? And what’s one action you can take right now to reset?

Reset. Reframe the barrier.

Magazica: You’re giving me so many learning points – and to the readers as well. So whenever you say that – full respect and full kindness to the Tim Hortons lady – whenever someone “does not know,” that is such a powerful message.

Unstoppable Tracy: And I didn’t know, in that moment, that I get to. She had zero intention of hurting my feelings.

Magazica: Yes.

Unstoppable Tracy: And my impression, in hindsight, is that it was actually her backwards way of kindness. She was giving me empathy in her culture. It was her way of trying to say, “I see you, and I feel for you,” even though it didn’t translate that way.

Magazica: Yes, yes.

Unstoppable Tracy: And unstoppable – as you said – you broke your hand, the rope was cut, but you were being unstoppable. Unstoppable isn’t falling. It’s rising every single time. I still see the passion, the pride, and the smile in your eyes when you share that you were there. You didn’t finish that climb, but you were there. You finished a symbolic climb – probably even bigger because of breaking that hand. I’m sorry you broke your hand.

Magazica: That’s okay.

Unstoppable Tracy: I’m so proud of you for having that smile on your face. It isn’t a broken‑wing story – it’s just a story.

Magazica: It’s just a story.

Unstoppable Tracy: Yeah.

Magazica: So many things. And now, remembering what you said, unstoppable doesn’t mean overcoming hurdles every time. It means that whenever you fall, you get up every time.

Unstoppable Tracy: Yes.

Magazica: My father used to say, “Rise and rise again until the lamb becomes the lion.”

Unstoppable Tracy: Oh – rise and rise again until the-

Magazica: The lamb becomes the lion.

Unstoppable Tracy: The lion.

Magazica: We were visiting a castle in Scotland, and it was written on a stone slab. I don’t know who wrote it – ancient or recent – but my father told me, in the pre‑mobile age, “Remember this quote throughout your life.”

Unstoppable Tracy: I love it! I can see the rock. I want to paint that rock!

Magazica: He said, “Be like that, and you become a castle by yourself.”

Unstoppable Tracy: Yes!

Magazica: “If you can follow this stone, you will become a Castle Wanda, and so many people will get their shelter here.” And you will inspire so many people. I’m seeing that inside you now.

Unstoppable Tracy: Aww, I see that inside you, too. It’s so true. I love that we’re together.

Magazica: You get together, yes.

Unstoppable Tracy: Yes.

Magazica: Rise and rise again – whenever you fall and rise again, it means you have translated your doubt…

Unstoppable Tracy: Yes – into drive.

Magazica: So, you often speak about self‑doubt and procrastination. What’s a practical way someone can shift from hesitation to action?

Unstoppable Tracy: One of the reasons we hesitate or procrastinate – or face bigger roadblocks – is that we just don’t know how. That feeds our doubt. That feeds our procrastination. We just don’t know how.

We didn’t know how I would ski without hands and without legs. We tried my long legs, but because both my knees are artificial, I’d get on the hill, and my knees would collapse. We tried a sitting ski with outriggers – poles with skis on the end, but because I don’t have hands, I wiped out into the trees. I didn’t have enough control.

We tried for many weeks. One day, we were sitting inside next to my ski instructor, and I looked at his feet. I had a bit of an inappropriate thought as a young girl: “Holy cow – he’s got big feet!”

And then I had a lightbulb moment: He’s got big feet. I can put my thighs – my stumps, my legs that end above the knee – into men’s boots. And then I’m knees‑to‑skis.

I wiped out some more because ski boots are canted forward. So we turned the boots around. I don’t have toes – the toes were empty. We put my thighs into men’s ski boots backwards. And then I was in this duck‑squat position, knees to skis, because I don’t have knees or ankles. My “knees” were in men’s ski boots backwards.

So you get to embrace possibility even when you don’t know how. You jump in. You get started. You’re going to find your backwards boots.

What do you do with doubt and procrastination? You get started. I had a ski instructor – I wasn’t alone. Who are you rallying yourself around with?

But you’re not going to find your backwards‑boot solutions…

Getting started. Do a little research, but eventually you have to start – even when you don’t know how. The act of starting is what helps you find your backwards boots. You do it one determined step at a time.

Every unstoppable person knows this truth: Progress beats perfection – every single time.

Magazica: That’s a powerful line.

Unstoppable Tracy: Progress beats perfection every time.

Magazica: Just jump in. Just get started. You’ll find your backwards boots.

Unstoppable Tracy: I did not become a Double Black Diamond bronze downhill medalist with those backwards boots – but they definitely got me started.

Magazica: Progress beats perfection every time. So powerful. How do you protect this energy? You inspire thousands, but sharing inspiration constantly can be draining. You’re giving your energy, and energy has a reserve. How do you protect your own well‑being while giving so much to others?

Unstoppable Tracy: You know, I told you I spent three months sleeping in my car. You can imagine – on the 89th day – there’s a lot of self‑doubt. I’m eating Cheerios for 89 days. I’m sleeping in my car. It’s not quality sleep; it’s not quality food.

And now, as an athlete, it’s a huge part of my everyday life. I have no sailing competitions this month or next month, but I’m still doing my lemon‑ginger, still eating vegetables and fruit, and taking vitamins. I’m protective of my sleep – and yes, it gets compromised, but I go back to it. I acknowledge when it’s been compromised, and I bring it back.

But on that 89th day… what got me through was this: every day I would look in the rearview mirror of my car and say, “Today’s the day you’re going to talk to Magnus. Today’s the day Magnus is going to take you on.”

By the 89th day, I was saying it 20 times before I believed it. I wouldn’t get out of the car until I believed it. And I recommend you don’t leave that mirror talk until you believe it.

That morning, I said it 25 times – and I didn’t believe it anymore. I couldn’t get out of the car.

So I flipped it. I said, “Today’s the day I’m going to be the best version of myself.” Because I didn’t believe I was going to convert Magnus anymore.

“Today’s the day I’m going to be the best version of myself.”

I got out of the car. Someone was struggling with the lift. I’d been there for three months – I knew how to Hoyer the boats, crane the boats into the water. So I went over and helped.

Then another boat came flying into the dock out of control. All these Gold Olympians from around the world – not just the U.S. – were standing around shouting, “STOP!” But if the guy knew how to stop the boat, he would. He needed more than “STOP.”

So I shouted, “Let off the main – the line in the middle! Push the boom away from you! Push the mainsail away!”

Then I went to the part of the dock where the wind was coming from and said, “Sail to me!” Now he was sailing into the wind – wind resistance instead of with the wind. It was a big U‑shaped area, so I ran to where the wind would slow him down. And he stopped – right at the dock, at my knees.

To get to the wind, I had my legs on. I had to bum‑shuffle – I’ve got one arm – and I bum‑shuffled over to the dock where the wind was. He stopped poetically right in front of me.

Magnus saw me.

He came clambering down. I tied off the boat. All the Gold Olympians ran over to help, shouting at the poor guy instead of empathizing with how terrified he must have been. You can educate later – why not give him empathy now?

But that’s not what Gold Olympians do.

Magnus said, “Tracy! You can sail!”

And I was like, “Yeah, man!” For three months!

So how do I take care of myself? Yes, I have to eat right. I have to sleep right. But also – in my mind. You start the day with, “Today I’m going to be the best version of myself.”

And that was the day Magnus said, “Come on, let’s go sailing.”

It wasn’t the 89 days I spent trying to impress him – though they mattered. He’s used to people wanting something from him and then going home. They hadn’t shown tenacity or resilience for three months.

He realized I wasn’t going home. And I realized I needed one more piece of the puzzle – my own best version.

That’s how I keep my strength. It’s body – but it’s mind and soul, too.

Magazica: That’s very powerful – that you don’t stop telling yourself something in the mirror until you believe it, and then you choose to be the best version of yourself. That’s very stoic as well. Marcus Aurelius – one of my favourite writers – said something similar: that today, whatever happens, however I’m treated by people, I will be my best version to all.

Unstoppable Tracy: Yeah.

Magazica: It’s very powerful. Very stoic. Looking ahead, what’s next for you? Any projects or dreams you’re excited to share that continue your mission of being unstoppable?

Unstoppable Tracy: What’s next? I’m super keen – I’m back at it. In 2025, I’m back at it with World Cup sailing. In 2016, sailing was removed from the Paralympics, and my dream disappeared. It’s been ten years since I focused on it in a huge way. But world sailing is coming back, and they’re bringing in open class. Thank you, thank you.

I went to Australia in March, but it’s open. When it was the Paralympics, there was classification. In March, my competitors included a German sailor missing his pointing finger, and a young, strong UK veteran whose disability was PTSD – physically, he was incredibly strong.

So my competitors were this German sailor and this UK veteran with big muscles. You get perspective. And of the 80 sailors, about 80% were able‑bodied men. The sailors with disabilities included missing a finger, PTSD, missing a foot, and a couple paralyzed from the waist down – but I still call all of those paper cuts in comparison.

I’ve been going everywhere – New York, Rhode Island, Chicago, San Diego, Australia, Quebec – all over regattas this past year, sailing across the world and North America.

And yes – sleeping in my car again.

Here I am, a mature woman – not a youth – sleeping in my car at regattas. I’m an older, dignified lady, and I was sleeping in my car. So I want to give up my condo and convert my van. I’m walking on my legs again – not 100% of the time, but I’m coming back to walking full‑time, which they told me would never happen at my age. They said I’d be using a wheelchair now. They said I should thank my lucky stars I wore artificial legs that long.

Most double amputees above the knee use a wheelchair and are not full‑time on prosthetic legs like I was. But I’m back. I’m part‑time on my prosthetic legs, building up skin tolerance. I need the van for the chair, and now that I have the van, I want to convert it into a sleeper van.

I’m hoping for sponsorship – someone who wants to co‑brand with Unstoppable Tracy. We could have Unstoppable Toyota, Unstoppable Honda, Unstoppable Audi. I love Volkswagen – those classic vans. My big dream is: on April 1st, when my lease is up, I want to go full‑time into my van. Then, when I go to regattas, my home is with me.

Magazica: And it’s better sleeping.

Unstoppable Tracy: Better groceries – because it’s all there in the van.

So that’s part of the dream. But I wouldn’t be out there living this dream – I wouldn’t be back on my legs – if it wasn’t for the Canadian Amputee Coalition. We just did a fun fundraiser called Foot First, where they took pictures of amputee feet doing fun things – a foot in a fish tank, a foot in spaghetti. For me, I had sexy fishnet stockings on my prosthetic foot.

And so I get to live this van life – not in hardship, not in struggle – but as part of being powerful in pursuing World Cup sailing for Canada. There were no other Canadians in Australia. If I didn’t go, Canada wouldn’t have been represented. I intend to get Canada out there. We are Canada proud, and my mission is to get Canada there.

But because sailing left the Paralympics in 2016, there’s no funding for World Cup sailing. But it’s coming back.

Magazica: And you want to be the Canadian rep.

Unstoppable Tracy: Yes. Sail Canada sent me a nice shirt, and they’re behind me – but they don’t have the funding to support it. So all of it is 100% on my dime.

Magazica: On behalf of the common Canadian people – thank you.

Unstoppable Tracy: Thank you.

Magazica: Thank you for representing us. That is the Canadian spirit I love. That’s why we started Magazica on July 1st.

Unstoppable Tracy: Really? Was it part of the Canadian spirit? Yes!

Magazica: First of July.

Unstoppable Tracy: Seriously?

Magazica: That’s the spirit. We speak for common people – for those trying to make a difference in the world, in the medical sector, in every sector, and for those continuously inspiring others. So thank you for being there on our behalf.

Unstoppable Tracy: You know, another coincidence – I was taking my first steps, the steps they told me I wouldn’t take, in July. And as soon as I was walking, even just a little, I thought, “I want to get back in a boat.”

It was a boat that helped my mindset when I was feeling at my lowest. I broke out of the hospital and went down to the sailing club just to be around it. Then I came back, and the nurses didn’t even know I had snuck out to be near the water for a short time.

And it was July – the same month you started your magazine. And since July, I’ve been training so hard to represent Canada in world sailing again.

Magazica: That’s a beautiful coincidence.

Unstoppable Tracy: It is. We’re choosing courage over comfort. I imagine starting your magazine in July was out of your comfort zone, too.

Magazica: Way to go. Way to go. And lastly, your whole interview has been one big inspiring message. But at the end of this conversation, what would be your message to the audience? If someone listening or reading feels stuck… defeated… what’s the first step you’d encourage them to take?

Unstoppable Tracy: I don’t know what’s going on behind your eyes as my interviewer, or what someone reading or listening is facing. I don’t know. I could have said, “I’ve lost my mom, I’m learning my legs again, I have sores and exhaustion from prosthetic training, and I really want to do this interview – but I can’t do it this morning.” And you would have understood. Those are real reasons.

There are real reasons. Very real reasons. But my mom always said, “No excuses.”

My mom was from Liverpool – like the Beatles – and came out of a time of war. Liverpool has unbelievable humour, but also a tough‑love culture. They don’t say these exact words, but it’s very “suck it up, buttercup.” You’ve probably heard “Get on with it, love” a hundred times.

Magazica: Many times.

Unstoppable Tracy: Yes – “Get on with it, love.” They make fun of the strife. That was my mom. She had a big heart, but she also had tough love. No excuses.

Even when there were real reasons – even when I was bawling my eyes out from being bullied – she’d say, “How’s that working for you?” It wasn’t. She’d kiss me on the forehead, then walk away and leave me to figure it out.

This isn’t the story I meant to tell, but as soon as you said, Liverpool…

So yes – no excuses. I have empathy for not knowing what someone is facing, and that they may have real reasons. So with the biggest heart, I say: no excuses.

But the bonus to no excuses is no limits. I make a joke – no limits, I’m limitless. I was born limitless. No excuses, no limits. There’s a bonus in that tough love.

Magazica: Thank you. Thank you for the wonderful gems sprinkled across this conversation. Thank you for being with us. And I can confirm – this is not the last time we’re talking.

Unstoppable Tracy: Aww, it’s such a pleasure.

Magazica: Thank you.

Keywords: Unstoppable Tracy Schmitt; Leadership resilience; Paralympic trialist speaker; Executive coaching inspiration; Overcoming adversity stories

The post Unstoppable Tracy Schmitt: The Leadership Mindset That Turns Barriers into Breakthroughs with Resilience, Reinvention, and Real Leadership appeared first on Canada's Health Magazine.

]]> https://magazica.com/the-24-7-of-you-why-it-is-the-ultimate-season-for-a-self-care-overhaul/ Wed, 15 Jul 2026 04:06:28 +0000 https://magazica.com/?p=16187 Let’s say today the Canadian summer is at its peak, and you are probably trying to make the most of your time by...

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Let’s say today the Canadian summer is at its peak, and you are probably trying to make the most of your time by enjoying a hike or a backyard barbecue party. However, there is one particular reason why this date is reminiscent of the name of a convenience store – it marks the International Self-Care Day and all its focus on the “24/7” aspect of self-care. Interestingly enough, it turns out that the whole month before this event, Self-Care Month, is anything but a period of relaxing with face masks and bubble baths – quite the contrary, it is the most active period when we can finally take care of ourselves.

DIY Body Renovations: Defining the Self-Care Movement.

If your experience with health care seems like a bit of a circus act nowadays, then you must be searching for a way out of it. The term ‘self-care’ is generally perceived as a privilege, but the WHO calls it “an ability” that is fundamental for promoting good health and managing diseases in individuals and communities, irrespective of whether there is a professional around or not. It can be described as an individual’s art of being the Chief Executive Officer of his or her biology.

It is safe to say that scientific studies reveal self-care as a multi-level phenomenon. These levels include the individual one, which deals with people’s daily activities, the interpersonal one that concerns how the family influences their lives, and the structural one, which consists of legal opportunities and tools. Most likely, all these mean that you should go beyond your role as a passenger of the healthcare system and become an active “decision-maker” whose adherence to medical prescriptions and healthy changes in lifestyle works.

Conclusion: Self-care is not an activity but a biological one.

The Pharmacy Pit Crew: Your Local Health Keeners.

Although your local pharmacy could be viewed simply as a store where you get your prescriptions filled, these teams are, in fact, the healthiest keepers ready to assist you with “filling your boots” with useful information on your wellness. Community pharmacists are the most easily accessible healthcare providers that shift their attention from dispensing pills to dispensing advice about managing self-limiting health problems such as sore throat, hay fever, and mid-summer heartburn.

According to statistics collected through the global survey, more than 77% of pharmacy teams have an outstanding understanding of self-care and are willing to contribute to your health-related decision-making process. They function like a pit crew for your body, providing you with all possible information on medication adherence, nutrition, and physical activities. When engaging with these health care providers, you don’t only “purchase goods,” but enter into a collaboration intended to prevent you from getting sick and having to stay at home for long.

Conclusion: Pharmacists are credible sources of self-care tools that will enhance your quality of life without waiting for a long time at the clinic.

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Digital Dashboards: A Personal Trainer in Your Pocket.

We now live in a time where our watches know more about our heartbeat than we ourselves do. The digital self-care tools, such as health tracking apps and wearables, have evolved from being mere “neat toys” to becoming crucial health equipment. Studies show that roughly 36% of patients have started using health tracking apps for monitoring their health, while the rest are using home diagnostic tests.

Such tools act like a dashboard of the physical engine of your body. Through them, you get an insight into what goes on with your physical body in real time. You could monitor everything from your blood pressure to your glucose level right from the comfort of your home. Although there might be some “technical glitches” to sort out concerning privacy and integration of data, such tools are the most important enabler of today’s self-care. With them, you have access to “low-down” on how your body performs so that you can take appropriate action before the small thing becomes something bigger.

Takeaway: Using digital health tools is a key aspect of self-care.

The Summer Sweet Spot: Why July 24th is the Big Deal.

Well, how exactly is it that the thesis claims the mid-summertime frame to be the “commercially viable” jackpot for wellness? The reason behind it is that the International Self-Care Day is the global lighthouse which will point towards the fact that developing good habits now will make a big difference in decades to come. It may be the marketing campaign of the new fitness application, but the month provides a “content-rich” environment, as there is no other time when people are more aware of public campaigns.

Maintaining proper self-care from your twenties till your fifties can be the difference between having a chronic illness and having a healthy, active retirement. Taking care of your health by eating well, moving regularly and sleeping properly is nothing but buying a “health insurance policy” which returns dividends in the form of an extended lifetime in optimal condition. Instead of reacting to your symptoms in the summer, use the power of the Self-Care Month to develop a healthy habit of being healthy. That way, you will avoid the problems and keep your inner “bouncer” busy kicking out the bad guys who wish to ruin your health.

Key Takeaways.

24/7 Self-care: Self-care should be seen in terms of your capacity to take care of your health 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, rather than just during your visit to the clinic.

The Pharmacist Knows Better: You should approach your pharmacist as an expert who gives credible information on small health issues and lifestyles that need modification.

Take Advantage of Technology: Digital gadgets and applications have proved themselves as evidence-based interventions of self-care and can serve to help keep yourself informed about the progress.

Prevention Is the Aim: By taking proper care of your body regularly, you can avoid any possible chronic problems such as heart disease or diabetes.

Sources.:

Anderson, S., Carter, R. Z., Roberts, D., Thomas, P., & Hassan, E. (2025). Establishing a common definition for care provided by hospice societies in British Columbia, Canada: a Delphi process. Palliative Care and Social Practice, 19, 26323524251320104.
https://doi.org/10.1177/26323524251320104

Ferguson, L., Anderson, M. E., Satchi, K., Capron, A. M., Kaplan, C. D., Redfield, P., & Gruskin, S. (2024). The ubiquity of ‘self-care’in health: Why specificity matters. Global Public Health, 19(1), 2296970. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2023.2296970

Needs, A. F. M. (2023). Community pharmacy insights: Supporting the need for self-care.

This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. It should not be taken as a medical diagnosis or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional for personalized medical guidance.

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]]> https://magazica.com/health-awareness-of-the-month-june-14-world-blood-donor-day/ Mon, 15 Jun 2026 04:09:38 +0000 https://magazica.com/?p=16106 Just picture this: It's a hectic day at a Toronto trauma centre, and a patient comes in after sustaining severe injuries...

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2026 Theme: “One Drop of Humanity. Give Blood. Save Lives.”

Just picture this: It’s a hectic day at a Toronto trauma centre, and a patient comes in after sustaining severe injuries in a road accident, resulting in rapid loss of blood. As the surgical team sprang into action, what made the entire process possible was the act of generosity performed a few weeks ago by someone who simply rolled up his/her sleeve during lunchtime. And that is precisely what the World Blood Donor Day, celebrated each year on June 14, aims to promote.

A Date With History: The Man Who Made Transfusion Safe.

Why June 14 then? No surprise there either. This is because the date coincides with the birth anniversary of the great scientist who discovered the secret of safe blood transfusion. Born on June 14, 1868, in Vienna, Karl Landsteiner had, through his discovery made in 1901, solved a medical mystery for which several patients lost their lives. Human beings have different kinds of blood, mixing which causes an immune reaction known as agglutination.

The discovery, which led him to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1930, paved the way for safe blood transfusions and formed the basis of transfusion medicine. The first type-specific successful blood transfusion took place in 1907; blood banks were established in the 1930s. It can be said that all blood banks, crossmatches, and compatibles are directly descended from that 1901 research paper.

Celebrated for the very first time in 2004, the day became international thanks to its joint organization by the WHO (World Health Organization), IFRC (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies), and other prominent health organizations. A theme and host country are chosen each year to celebrate this day on an international scale. The country hosting the 2026 celebrations is Italy, with its National Blood Centre, and its slogan is: “One Drop of Humanity. Give Blood. Save Lives.”

The Global Picture – and Canada’s Place in It.

According to the WHO, the number of blood donations worldwide is estimated to be 118.5 million units annually. However, there is a disparity evident in the figures, as 40 percent of those donations are provided by rich nations, which comprise only 16 percent of the world’s population. In poor countries, blood is most critical for managing health problems such as childbirth difficulties, childhood anemia, sickle cell anemia, and injuries.

Canadians cannot escape the reality of such a problem. As early as May 2025, Canadian Blood Services launched its most ambitious campaign to recruit new donors, targeting at least one million within the five-year period. There is a lot of truth in the call for action since there will be a 10 percent increase in demand for blood in the country in the coming five years. Meanwhile, there may even be as much as a 50 percent increase in immunoglobulin demand, which is produced from plasma donations. Nevertheless, only 4 percent of Canadians eligible for blood donation have been donating voluntarily to date.

Think of it like a community well. Everyone benefits from it, but very few are currently refilling it. And unlike a reserve of medication, blood cannot simply be manufactured or stockpiled indefinitely — which brings us to the often-overlooked reality of shelf life.

What Happens to a Single Donation?

It takes only one unit of blood to derive these three products: red blood cells, platelets, and plasma, which are all used to treat certain health conditions. Transfusion of red blood cells is mostly done when a patient undergoes a surgical operation or is anemic. The platelet product is critical in cancer cases where patients are undergoing chemotherapy because the process usually leads to the suppression of platelet formation. Lastly, the plasma component, the fluid portion of the blood, provides crucial life-saving medications, which include clotting factor for those with bleeding disorders and immunoglobulin for those with weakened immunity.

This is where the shocker comes in: blood products do not last forever. Red blood cells can be stored for about 42 days, while platelets expire after seven days. This means that a steady flow of donors – not just one-time donors in emergency cases – is crucial in sustaining the health system. Donations are allowed to donate whole blood every 56 days, but platelet donors may donate every seven days, up to 24 times per year.

Unlike sanitizers, blood donation is not like building a stockpile. It requires a living, breathing, routinely replenished supply.

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Blood Diversity: Why the Full Spectrum of Donors Matters.

This is one thing that does not get covered by the media often – the diversity of blood types among the donors is medically important. While everyone knows about the well-known A, B, AB, and O blood types, there are actually over 300 different blood group antigens. The benefit of having transfusions with donor blood that is as close to the patient’s blood type as possible is especially noticeable in cases where regular transfusions are required, for example, in sickle cell anemia or thalassemia. The closer the match, the better.

Since some blood types are relatively common among certain ethnicities, Canadian Blood Services puts effort into encouraging people of various nationalities to become donors. Canadian blood type O-negative is highly desirable in emergency cases since it is compatible with all other types and can be transfused to a person regardless of his or her blood type, if there is no time to do otherwise. However, all types of blood are required equally.

Donating Blood in Canada: What to Know.

The other company that plays an important role in blood donation in Canada, apart from Héma-Québec, is the Canadian Blood Services, which handles blood donations in all other provinces except Quebec. The two companies work together to ensure that hospitals get their supply of blood throughout the year. The company runs 35 permanent blood donor centers as well as 4,000 mobile blood collections every year.

According to the organization, people who want to give their whole blood must be above 17 years and have a weight of 110 pounds (approx. 50 kilograms). Unlike many organizations that require donors to be younger than a certain age, there is no restriction on how old people should be in order to be able to donate whole blood.

Donations of whole blood in the organization typically last one hour, starting from the point a person gets registered until completion. Individuals with health conditions are advised to ask a health professional at any of the blood centers for more information on their condition.

In Quebec, the organization responsible for blood donations is Héma-Québec.

One Drop, Enormous Reach.

World Blood Donor Day is not just a day marked on the health calendar. It represents a constant reminder of the presence of anonymous voluntary donors without whom none of what goes on in hospitals is possible. The discovery made by Karl Landsteiner in 1901 laid the scientific foundation for blood donation. However, what keeps the system alive and operational day in and day out is humanity itself – the continued readiness of ordinary individuals to donate.

This will be celebrated across the world with the 2026 World Blood Donor Day event being hosted by Italy’s National Blood Centre in Rome. As the theme for this day – ‘One Drop of Humanity’ – reminds us, a million donors in Canada means that everything that goes into a healthcare system is literally embodied in a drop of blood.

Key Takeaways.

Why June 14? This date has been chosen because of the birth date of Karl Landsteiner (1868–1943). This scientist’s discovery of the ABO blood group system back in 1901, which allows for safe blood transfusions, won him the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Canada’s Supply Gap: Currently, the amount of donations from eligible Canadians totals 4 percent, while blood demand is expected to increase by almost 10 percent in the next five years. Canadian Blood Services needs one million new donors by 2030.

Blood Doesn’t Last Long: Red blood cells have only 42 days left, while platelets are usable for seven days. What is important here is regular donation rather than sporadic blood collections when there are emergencies.

Diversity Matters: There must be variety among the donors regarding their blood types since some patients might need frequent transfusions. In addition, some types of blood can be found more often among certain ethnicities.

Sources.

World Health Organization. (2026). World Blood Donor Day 2026: One Drop of Humanity. Give Blood. Save Lives. https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2026/06/14/default-calendar/world-blood-donor-day-2026-one-drop-of-humanity-give-blood-save-lives

Nobel Prize Committee. (n.d.). Karl Landsteiner — Facts. NobelPrize.org. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1930/landsteiner/facts/

Noor, N. H. M., & Siti Asmaa, M. J. (2024). Karl Landsteiner (1868–1943): A versatile blood scientist. Cureus, 16(9), e68903. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.68903

Rockefeller University. (n.d.). Karl Landsteiner: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. https://www.rockefeller.edu/our-scientists/karl-landsteiner/2554-nobel-prize/

Canadian Blood Services. (2025, May 8). Canadian Blood Services sets its most ambitious recruitment goal ever. https://www.blood.ca/en/about-us/media/newsroom/canadian-blood-services-sets-its-most-ambitious-recruitment-goal-ever-one

Canadian Blood Services. (n.d.). Am I eligible to donate blood? https://www.blood.ca/en/blood/am-i-eligible-donate-blood

National Day Calendar. (2026). World Blood Donor Day — June 14, 2026. https://nationaldaycalendar.com/celebrations/world-blood-donor-day-june-14

Disclaimer.

This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. It should not be taken as a medical diagnosis or treatment.

Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional for personalized medical guidance.

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]]> https://magazica.com/indigenous-canoe-journeys-healing-through-water-and-tradition/ Mon, 15 Jun 2026 04:08:32 +0000 https://magazica.com/?p=16105 Think of a river upon which no cedar canoe had set foot for more than a hundred years. Not due to any changes in the...

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Think of a river upon which no cedar canoe had set foot for more than a hundred years. Not due to any changes in the river; it hadn’t. Nor had all knowledge of building and using canoes been lost. Rather, a concerted effort had been undertaken by colonial policies to break the people’s connection with the river, and via the river, themselves.

In 2017, after a period of over one hundred years, four adults and five youth from the Anishinaabe First Nation community of Biigtigong Nishnaabeg embarked on a paddle down the Biigtig Ziibii, or the river they traditionally inhabit. What is remarkable about this particular trip is not only that it happened at all, but what scientific research was conducted during the trip.

Water, Land, and the Architecture of Wellbeing.

Within Western biomedicine, the connection between individuals and their natural surroundings can be considered a backdrop. Within many Indigenous frameworks of medicine, this connection is not a backdrop at all; rather, it forms the basis for the entire system.

The work of Jennifer Redvers, published in the journal International Journal of Indigenous Health, was based on interviews with eleven land-based healing practitioners in Canada’s three northern territories: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. These land-based healers did not present their practices as any form of program or service. Instead, they saw land-based healing as a process that inherently involved a relationship with the land, where the land and the water were not merely a place where healing occurred but were actively engaged with in the process. Cultural identity was not something that one brought to water but was made through it.

This notion is further corroborated by Acharibasam et al. (2024) in their paper published in the EXPLORE journal, where they collaborated with Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan to investigate how land-based healing relates to water governance. The conclusions they reached were clear: disconnecting from both land and water within this community was not just an issue of lack of accessibility or geography but a disconnect from the cultural spirituality and ways of knowing upon which healing is built. Engaging again in culturally relevant activities centred on reconnecting with water had significant repercussions for the well-being of the community beyond what any clinical treatment could achieve.

Paddling the Biigtig: A Peer-Reviewed Story of Return.

This event did not only serve as an example of community life, but it was also analyzed by Kayla Mikraszewicz and Chantelle Richmond in their paper in the journal Social Science & Medicine. These authors conducted interviews with the participants and discovered what kind of health effects the Biigtigong Nishnaabeg River Journey had produced.

There were three important themes discussed by the researchers in their analysis. The first one concerns the role that the journey played in the transmission of Indigenous Knowledge. Specifically, Mikraszewicz and Richmond noted that “portages [along the route] had names said out loud in Anishinabemoen; youth heard the history of certain bends in the river for the first time in their lives, and they experienced the reclamation of the story behind each landmark that was being passed during the journey.” The second theme concerned the development of social relations between the Elders and the youth. This process was achieved in ways that could not be reached by any other institution, such as a school, municipality, or even a health care institution. The last theme involves the personal connection with place that was developed among the younger participants of the event.

All of these were discussed within the context of the Anishinaabe tradition of mino bimaadiziwin (living a good and healthy life). As articulated by the authors, this particular journey of the canoe was no reenactment of the past; rather, it was an enactment of philosophy itself.

A related study conducted by Nightingale & Richmond in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health examined another camp experience led by the same Biigtigong Nishnaabeg community in 2019. This time, the camp took place at Mountain Lake – a culturally important site from which the community had been removed for several decades. This particular camp involved the participation of fifteen members of different ages: Elders, youth, and band staff members. As found in the thematic analysis of their story-based interviews, the camp allowed for the development of better relationships among the community members, the practice of Anishinaabe knowledge, and pride in their community. For instance, one of the youth expressed amazement in arriving at the ancestral lands that others did not care much about: “It was really interesting seeing how much we have to ‘fight for’ there.”

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The Canoe Journey as a Health Intervention: Pacific Northwest Evidence.

In addition to community-specific research conducted in Canada, this same theme of healing is investigated in other health-based research that takes place further down the Pacific coast. “Healing of the Canoe,” an intervention developed at the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute of the University of Washington in collaboration with the two Pacific Northwest tribes of Suquamish and Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribes.

Donovan et al. publish their work on this program in the American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, which utilizes the annual event of the Tribal Canoe Journey – wherein canoes from different Indigenous Nations from the coasts of Alaska, BC, Washington, and Oregon meet each year – as both a metaphorical and tangible practice for cultural interventions aimed at preventing substance abuse among high school age adolescents.

In addition, the participants in the program expressed increased levels of hope, optimism, and self-efficacy, decreased substance use, and increased levels of cultural identification and understanding of alcohol and drug issues. Significantly, it should be highlighted that the described intervention did not only imply the participation in the tribal canoe ride, but that the participants devoted themselves to preparation for this event for a whole year and lived substance-free lives during this time.

It was stressed by the authors that the actual Tribal Canoe Journey is, first of all, an event that restores the strong maritime identity of the Coast Salish people, whose lives were tightly connected with the canoes – a means of fishing, communication, trade, and spirituality of this culture. The young participants are taught how to navigate in deep waters under challenging conditions; how to resolve any conflicts that might arise during their joint stay.

Traditional Activity and Holistic Wellness: What Systematic Research Finds.

These results are embedded within the larger literature on this topic. Akbar, Zuk, and Tsuji conducted a systematic review in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health on the impacts on health and wellness of traditional physical activities, such as canoeing, on Indigenous youth in Canada, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. In doing so, Akbar et al. employed an integrated Indigenous ecological theory that structures the results into the dimensions of health and wellness, intrapersonally, interpersonally, organizationally, communally, and policy-wise, utilizing the medicine wheel as an organizing theory.

Indeed, the results of their analysis, which were drawn from nine independent studies, were consistent throughout: traditional physical activities engaged in by Indigenous youth resulted in both physiological and psychosocial benefits, ranging from improvements in physical fitness and physical self-concept to an increase in cultural identity, intergenerational connections, and engagement with community. However, most importantly, it was observed that the participants did not regard the activities as exercise at all, but rather as life, as part of their daily routine and identity.

It is important because it highlights an aspect of the practice of wellness which is often overlooked by standard theories of health promotion; that is, the practice of wellness through traditional processes, such as journeying by canoe, is not achieved because of physical activity alone, but because of all those other things which are done at the same time.

Cultural Continuity as a Determinant of Health: A Canadian Foundation.

Beyond these particular studies lies a more fundamental and established finding within Canadian Indigenous health research. In 1998, two psychologists, Michael Chandler and Christopher Lalonde, wrote a seminal paper on the issue of Indigenous youth suicide rates among nearly 200 First Nations bands located in the province of British Columbia.

Their finding was one of extraordinary variability. Although youth suicide rates among Canada’s Indigenous population were significantly higher than in other parts of the country, the national figure did not do justice to the complexity of the situation, according to Chandler and Lalonde. Instead of reflecting some sort of uniform pattern of youth suicides across different communities in BC, their data showed that some Indigenous communities experienced rates hundreds of times greater than others. Yet these rates were not randomly determined but were systematically related to what Chandler and Lalonde referred to as cultural continuity.

It doesn’t imply that travelling by canoes prevents suicides, as the connection between cultural integrity and psychological well-being is far more complicated and dependent upon individual communities. What the finding proves is that cultural activities and indigenous self-determination, as practiced through the act of canoe travelling, are no longer seen as a marginal aspect of health but rather a significant determinant thereof.

The River Has Always Known the Way.

There is an exact knowledge that can only be passed down from person to person when one is on the water – the name of a particular rapid in the language of the people who have used it for ten thousand years, how to understand a current, the history of those who were lost at a particular portage and those who lived through it and why. When colonial policy cut off the passing of such knowledge for decades, it wasn’t just interfering in a cultural tradition. Rather, as recent peer-reviewed studies have shown, it was disrupting a practice of healing.

Reconnecting with the canoeing tradition in places like Biigtigong Nishnaabeg in Ontario or the Suquamish and Port Gamble S’Klallam peoples of the Pacific Northwest does not constitute cultural reminiscing. It is neither a cultural tour nor a healing program. It is a grassroots effort of restoration that the data suggests leads to significant positive effects on mental health, cultural awareness, family relations, and the health of children and young adults. The river has always been the healer; only recently has the research begun to confirm it.

Key Takeaways.

Water and Land Are Not Settings – They Are Systems: The indigenous health paradigms, as shown by the findings of Canadian practitioners, recognize the land and water as integral elements of the process of healing rather than merely serving as settings for the conduct of cultural activities.

The Biigtig Canoe Journey Is Documented Evidence: According to a peer-reviewed study examining the first ever canoe journey conducted by the community of Biigtigong Nishnaabeg in more than 100 years, it helped promote intergenerational knowledge exchange, Elder-youth relationships, and a connection with the traditional territory, which are key aspects of living in a good and healthy manner.

Canoe Programs Produce Measurable Youth Health Outcomes: The “Healing of the Canoe” program conducted in the Pacific Northwest was found to have led to increased levels of hope, optimism, and efficacy and decreased substance use among indigenous youth, where culture acted both as a means and end.

Traditional Activities Engage Wellness Holistically: Systematic review on traditional physical activities such as canoeing among indigenous youth revealed consistent physiological and psychosocial benefits resulting from the operation of intra-, inter-, and interpersonal mechanisms.

Cultural Continuity Is a Determinant of Mental Health: Significant studies in Canada revealed that the suicide rate among young people in First Nations was extremely low because the communities retained their cultures and exercised self-determination, making cultural restoration key to the provision of health care rather than merely an addition to it.

Sources.

Mikraszewicz, K., & Richmond, C. (2019). Paddling the Biigtig: Mino biimadisiwin practiced through canoeing. Social Science & Medicine, 240, 112548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112548

Nightingale, E., & Richmond, C. (2022). Reclaiming land, identity and mental wellness in Biigtigong Nishnaabeg territory. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(12), 7285. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127285

Redvers, J. (2020). “The land is a healer”: Perspectives on land-based healing from Indigenous practitioners in northern Canada. International Journal of Indigenous Health, 15(1), 90–107. https://doi.org/10.32799/ijih.v15i1.34046

Acharibasam, J. B., Hurlbert, M., Datta, R., & Lewis, K. w. (2024). Meanings of Indigenous land-based healing and the implications for water governance. EXPLORE, 20(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2024.04.002

Donovan, D. M., Thomas, L. R., Sigo, R. L. W., Price, L., Lonczak, H., Lawrence, N., Ahvakana, K., Austin, L., Lawrence, A., Price, J., Purser, A., & Bagley, L. (2015). Healing of the canoe: Preliminary results of a culturally tailored intervention to prevent substance abuse and promote tribal identity for Native youth in two Pacific Northwest tribes. American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, 22(1), 42–76. https://doi.org/10.5820/aian.2201.2015.42

Akbar, L., Zuk, A. M., & Tsuji, L. J. S. (2020). Health and wellness impacts of traditional physical activity experiences on Indigenous youth: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21), 8275. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218275

Chandler, M. J., & Lalonde, C. (1998). Cultural continuity as a hedge against suicide in Canada’s First Nations. Transcultural Psychiatry, 35(2), 191–219. https://doi.org/10.1177/136346159803500202

Note on Language: This article uses the terms First Nations, Anishinaabe, Anishinabemoen, and mino bimaadiziwin with reference to specific communities and research sources cited. The diversity of Indigenous nations, languages, and healing traditions across Canada and beyond cannot be generalized.

Disclaimer.

This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. It should not be taken as a medical diagnosis or treatment.

Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional for personalized medical guidance.

This article references research on youth suicide and mental health outcomes. If you or someone you know is experiencing mental health challenges, please reach out to a healthcare provider or contact the Hope for Wellness Help Line at 1-855-242-3310, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to Indigenous peoples across Canada.

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]]> https://magazica.com/from-oxford-to-canada-dr-tim-stockwell-on-alcohol-society-and-what-we-get-wrong/ Mon, 15 Jun 2026 04:07:45 +0000 https://magazica.com/?p=16153 Dr. Tim Stockwell has spent his career chasing one question that shapes millions of lives: How does alcohol truly affect us?...

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Dr. Tim Stockwell has spent his career chasing one question that shapes millions of lives: How does alcohol truly affect us? From the halls of Oxford to the front lines of global substance‑use research, he has challenged myths, confronted industry narratives, and illuminated the human stories behind the science. His work bridges psychology, public health, and raw lived experience – revealing why we drink, how it harms, and what it takes to change. In this conversation, Stockwell brings clarity, humility, and decades of insight to a topic often clouded by culture and confusion. This is the interview that reframes everything you thought you knew.

Magazica: Welcome, and welcome again to Magazica.

Today, we have Dr. Tim Stockwell, who has spent his life asking one deceptively simple question: How does alcohol shape our health, our relationships, and our society?

From Oxford University to Australia’s National Drug Research Institute, and finally to the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, his work has influenced global policy, challenged long-held beliefs and myths, and helped millions rethink their relationship with alcohol. Today, we sit down with Dr. Stockwell to explore the human stories behind the science – his journey, his insights, and the hope he sees for all of us, for healthier communities. Dr. Stockwell, welcome.

Dr. Tim Stockwell: Thank you very much. I wish half of what you said was true, but it’s a very gracious and kind introduction. Thank you.

Magazica: Thank you very much. So, let’s start with your journey. You have dedicated your career to understanding alcohol and substance use across three continents. When you look back, was there a moment – maybe early in your training period or your personal life – that made you think, this is the work I’m meant to do?

Dr. Tim Stockwell: I can’t say that I ever had a moment when I knew I was going to do this kind of work. It would be bizarre to have such a moment, because I think my work is unusual. But I know the moment when I became aware that I was very interested in the subject of – let’s just call it addiction. There are many terms for it.

I struggled with my own mental health as a young person. I still do from time to time, and I used nicotine when I was a teenager. I was addicted to tobacco. I became interested in psychology probably because I reflected on my well-being at an early age. You wonder: What is this? Why is it hard to be happy? Why do I get anxious? Why am I sad sometimes? And why is it that I can’t stop smoking?

I remember studying at Oxford, going around the psychology department – maybe it was the social sciences library – and coming across this tome on a shelf that said British Journal of Addiction. I thought, What? Are there journals on this subject? People are studying this! I pulled it off the shelf, sat down, and pored over the contents.

A little later, I was accepted to do a PhD at Edinburgh University. I had a choice of a supervisor, and I selected someone interested in the topic of alcoholism, having read a book that inspired me. I also have relatives who have struggled with alcohol. So, my own struggles, and the idea that maybe if we were good at what we do – if we were good psychologists – we could help people, that this was a big problem we could do something about, inspired me as a young person.

Magazica: And that’s quite interesting. Out of nowhere, some of the things that make you so engaged lead you to dive deeper and deeper, and you find the subject to be very fascinating.

Dr. Tim Stockwell: Yes.

Magazica: One keyword – one theme – I can make out from that is curiosity. Your curiosity was sparked so much that you drove deep into it. Your path has taken you from Oxford to London, then Australia, and then, as far as I remember from your profile, to Canada. Along the way, who or what shaped the way you think about human behaviour, health, and the role alcohol plays in our lives?

Dr. Tim Stockwell: I’ve been very lucky. I had so many wonderful mentors and people who humoured me, took me under their wing, and encouraged this strange, young, nerdy person who believed that study – academia – could help people with their real-life, nitty-gritty, difficult problems. I really had a passionate belief in that.

I could single out many, but I’ll mention a gentleman called Griffith Edwards, a very distinguished psychiatrist who was head of the Addiction Research Unit where I did my PhD. He had a multidisciplinary approach, and he hired people in his research unit who were sociologists, psychologists, social workers, medics, and liver specialists. He believed we all had something to offer.

Magazica: The task was to get you all together to be creative and come up with –

Dr. Tim Stockwell:  – really big, challenging questions, and think of ways we could contribute insight and guidance not just in treatment, but in prevention and policy as well.

Magazica: True. And from what you’re saying, you have a very vast area to cover whenever you’re going into research. So whenever we hear the term research, you yourself were a PhD student, and you completed it, then worked as a researcher – white lab coats, numbers, statistics, experiments… all these are common phenomena. What is the human side of the research that you have experienced so far? What is that side?

Dr. Tim Stockwell: I think another inspiring person who influenced me early on – and someone I didn’t mention earlier – was my PhD supervisor, Ray Hodgson. He was a clinical psychologist at the Maudsley Hospital in London, and he told me about a tradition from one of his mentors, a gentleman called Aubrey Lewis, who specialized in individual case studies. He listened to people, but he also did this behavioural, psychological work of getting measures of people’s well-being.

My supervisor got me thinking about multiple ways we could measure and get valid empirical evidence to help us solve problems. But it started at the individual level. This is all based on describing individual experience – our emotions, our feelings, our relationships, the physical and mental health consequences, short and long term, of using different substances. So, really understanding phenomena – the phenomenology of substance uses in our lives.

Magazica: After a long time, I’ve heard the word phenomenology. My bachelor’s was in sociology, so the word is familiar to me. Phenomenology, epistemology, ontology – those are the terms that make you pause and think. Okay, let’s now go to the myth-busting phase of our discussion.

There is a myth of “healthy drinking.” For example, debunking the famous J-curve, which suggested moderate drinking is good for health. What was it like to challenge such a popular belief – that one or two pegs will not do anything, or that a small amount is not harmful but rather beneficial for health? And what helped you stay grounded as the conversation shifted from research to this myth-busting phase?

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Dr. Tim Stockwell: I have to say that I’ve followed other people’s lead in this area. There’s been a long tradition over the last four or five decades. I remember observing people challenging this many years ago. Initially, it was all over the news: yes, there’s evidence that a little bit of alcohol reduces heart disease and has all these benefits.

Then I remember it being covered – I’m talking about the 1970s and 80s. I remember, in the UK as a young person, reading about contradictory views on this. Then the idea emerged that this is an illusion because they compared drinkers with abstainers who were unhealthy. If you gather a group of older people and find that those who aren’t drinking have often given up alcohol because they’re unwell, of course, they’re not going to live as long as their robust, healthy friends who are well enough to keep drinking.

But then people revisited the data and said, no, we’ve controlled for that, and we still get benefits. That debate still goes on. It goes back and forth, but I think it has shifted toward more people being skeptical. My position is that I’m skeptical. I don’t have certainty.

And I think that’s really important. Evidence is mounting that if there are benefits, they’re fairly minor. There may be something special in red wine. If there is, you can get it from red grapes – particularly the grape skins. You can also get similar benefits from exercising and eating well.

But we do know that even a little bit of ethanol is a carcinogen. It’s carcinogenic. There’s no safe level in relation to cancer risk. There are low-risk levels, but no complete risk-free level of drinking alcohol because it’s carcinogenic.

There has been pushback. I try not to read my hate mail. I’ve been absolutely torn to shreds in some of the right-wing tabloid media that are industry-friendly. They have been rude and unpleasant, and I try not to look there. Increasingly, though, people like yourself are coming to talk to me about this – I’ve been getting a lot more positive feedback. I think times are changing.

There’s been a real shift. A massive cultural shift worldwide. It’s seen here in North America. Maybe less so in my old country, the UK. When I go back there, it’s like they think you’re seriously odd if you don’t drink every day and at every possible moment.

Magazica: I know. I was in Liverpool for a few years, so I understand. Two very small questions – not a tangent, but just two quick clarifications. You mentioned the word carcinogen, and carcinogenic means it causes cancer?

Dr. Tim Stockwell: Yes.

Magazica: Okay. And second: for a person who never drank – for example, I don’t drink – some people tell me that at my age, if I start drinking now, I’m close to 50, so by the time it’s my probable time to die, alcohol won’t do anything. So, at what point, for example, if a person starts drinking at a certain age – say 20 or 25 – at what point will it start to show the negative impact, or whatever impact it has on the body? Is there a certain timeline, physical condition, or anything?

Dr. Tim Stockwell: We’re all very varied, and we have different susceptibilities.

Magazica: Yes.

Dr. Tim Stockwell: And so, that’s the first thing to say. There’s no absolute cut-off point. As younger people, there’s a different profile of risks. There’s the tendency – particularly for young men – to do risky or reckless things. Young men take more risks, and alcohol-related violence, alcohol-related crime, crashes, and workplace injuries are predominantly associated with men. That’s both because they drink more and because they take more risks. So, people can die or get injured at younger ages.

As we grow older, we tend to calm down in some of those behaviours – not always, there are notable exceptions, but these are generalities. The sad thing is that a link has been drawn between the drinking habits of young adults and their risk of heart disease or cancer in later life.

It’s clear that people who get married and settle down after having some wild drinking days carry that risk with them into old age. But the longer they go without drinking, or drinking very little, the better their chances will be. It’s about risk. If you don’t drink at all, then you have zero risk of an alcohol-related cancer. And of course, you have zero risk of the acute problems – poisoning, violence, injuries, accidents.

So, no absolutes. We all have different degrees of risk, different profiles. One thing we do know is that more vulnerable people – generally in terms of mental health or socioeconomic status – people on lower incomes have a much greater risk of all of the above: the physical harms, the mental health harms, the social consequences. We have protections if we are in a more privileged, higher-income bracket.

Magazica: Over the years, if a person – specifically a male – settles down and the drinking habit attenuates, then yes, they will still carry over the risk, even if it’s reduced. So again, back to square one a bit. Why do people drink? What are the factors beyond biology? Why do people drink?

Dr. Tim Stockwell: That’s a really good question, and obviously, I’ve thought about it. One place to start is that we’ve been doing this for a long time. Our ancestors drinking probably goes back millions of years. Our earliest ancestors found fruit that was fermenting. Animals do this, primates do this – they get drunk on fermented fruit.

So, it’s a natural progression. Going back thousands of years, people have done this. We mammals – creatures – but Homo sapiens in particular seem to have a fondness for alcohol. We have a long history of finding different ways to consume it. Initially, it was accidental: you eat the fruit, it happens to be fermented, and it gives you a nice effect.

Over time, we cultivated ways and developed systems. Our society is now the most efficient it has ever been at producing alcohol. You can make alcohol from almost anything that grows – fruit, nuts, crops, whatever is around. We’ve developed ways of making alcohol from it and storing it so it doesn’t go off. It used to be that you could only get drunk at harvest time for a few days. You’d stop everything, all rules could be broken, and then you’d forget about it. But now it’s in refrigerators, trucked, transported, flown, shipped all over the world.

We’ve distilled alcohol so it can be very concentrated. But basically, it hits the reward centers of our brain. In the short term, it makes us feel good. It can facilitate certain important things, like dealing with anxiety, feeling less anxious, feeling more comfortable with other people. In the short term, it stimulates social interaction.

The trouble is that later – after an hour or two – it has a sedative effect. It’s a depressant substance. It suppresses the activity of our nervous system. It calms or sedates us, and we get tired, bored, or even hostile and bad-tempered. Our sleep can be disrupted, and then we have a terrible day the next day.

So, it’s very important that we’re aware of the short-term versus the middle- and long-term consequences of using any psychoactive substance. Alcohol is just one that’s easy and available. We have this relationship with it, and it seems to be anathema to regulate it or restrict access to it, unlike other substances we’ve discovered more recently.

Magazica: And it’s worldwide, socially accepted, and everything.

Dr. Tim Stockwell: As a result, yes.

Magazica: Resulted in various uses.

Dr. Tim Stockwell: Various uses, and it’s something we do as a group.

Magazica: As a group, yes. It’s a way of gathering. It’s a conversation.

Dr. Tim Stockwell: We gather over meals, and we gather with alcohol. It makes us feel good, and we can all feel good together. Often, we attribute that feeling good to the alcohol, as if it were essential for the feeling. It’s quite extraordinary to try connecting with people and situations – if you’re someone who always drinks in those situations – and discover that you can feel connected and good without alcohol. It isn’t essential.

Magazica: I read somewhere that alcohol disrupts our deep sleep, like delta-level sleep. Does alcohol disrupt that? Is it true?

Dr. Tim Stockwell: Yes, there’s very good evidence that alcohol might help you get to sleep, but you’re going to wake up early, and the more you’ve drunk, the harder it will be to get back to sleep. The simple reason is what some psychologists call the opponent process theory, which means you get the opposite effect of the short-term effect over time. So, you get the sedative effect – you have a tot of rum, whiskey, whatever it is, before bed, and a glass of wine calms you.

Two or three hours later, you get a reaction. Your nervous system gives you the opposite. It makes you anxious, more alert, more vigilant. And the more you’ve drunk, the stronger that reaction will be. The more frequently you drink, the more reliable and stronger that reaction becomes. That’s where you get tolerance. So, we drink more and more, and then there is a vicious circle that leads people to becoming, if you like, addicted, dependent – developing a substance use disorder, whatever people’s preferred term is.

Magazica: So, what is the recent trend we are seeing on social media and in social gatherings? There are zero-alcohol drinks, or people are practicing dry months – like, “January is my dry month because I enjoyed a lot during the year-end holidays,” or “February is my dry month.” Is this beneficial in any way?

Dr. Tim Stockwell: Yes. There have been some nice studies indicating fairly simple, predictable benefits. People say they have better well-being, they sleep better, they feel their memory and concentration improve. These are people who might be regular, moderate, or heavy drinkers – those most likely to notice these things. They save money. And there are even physiological measures of improved well-being and physical functioning.

People say, “What’s the point of being off it for a month?” Well, the studies show that people usually drink less afterward. Many start drinking again, but less. They’ve developed skills for choosing whether or not they drink, or drinking less, or finding things like zero-alcohol beverages actually quite great.

You can kid yourself. The placebo effect is fantastic. I was fascinated by this as a young psychologist. I used to do tricks on my friends and give them alcohol that was actually 0%. This was way back – the early ones tasted terrible. But now, really good ones are available because there’s a market.

And one thing the industry likes is that they can sell this product. It’s great branding and advertising. You can go to your supermarket or grocery store and see things that look exactly like alcohol. But they’re zero proof. They get great advertising, people like them, and they charge almost as much as the real thing. Profits are massive because they don’t pay tax on them.

And they convince us that this is as good a product. I pay a small fortune for zero-proof beverages, and I know retailers make the most profit on those drinks. Well, hats off to them. If that makes us drink a little bit less and we achieve our health and well-being targets, that’s fine. I don’t really have a problem with it.

Magazica: Last two questions, very quick ones. You do research and heavy, grounded work – heavy work. How do you keep yourself grounded during all the heavy lifting, research work, deep work? How do you keep yourself grounded?

Dr. Tim Stockwell: Look, I’m an academic now. I used to be a clinical psychologist, and I cared a lot. You’d worry about the people you’d seen, and some of them had really terrible lives, and awful things happened to them. It was devastating to them, but you carry that burden and strain yourself. I don’t think it’s possible to do that for very long. I think I did it for maybe ten years.

Because I love academia – as I said, I’m curious-minded – I love the research process. It’s not hard for me to do research in this area. I find it fascinating. I love designing the study, finding out what the data have to say, writing it up, and hearing what other people have to say about what you’ve found.

And this whole thing about dreaming up a research question that will help answer a practical policy or practice question – sometimes the data can be a circuit breaker. People are stuck. They have doubts: “We can’t do this because this might happen.” And you do the research, and it says, “Yes, we did it, and that didn’t happen.” Or “Oh no, a lot of that happened – we shouldn’t go there.”

Research can help with that. I’ve seen that happen, where research has made a difference. It’s not the only thing – people say, “How can research affect policy or practice?” Well, it isn’t the only thing. You need a champion, you need a political context, and you often need a crisis. But every now and then, everything freezes, and people want to ask the question: “What’s the evidence?” And if you’ve been doing your job, you’ve got the answer.

Often you have to do that opportunistically – “They won’t be interested in this for very long; we’d better quickly do some research to answer it.” That’s when I’ve had the most fun. It’s dynamic, it’s related to what’s going on, it’s trying to answer current, important questions.

Magazica: By hearing you, it’s clear you’ve found that spark in your work – something so rare, something very few people ever find. Your work becomes fun; it becomes a challenging fun ride. You solve challenges, you match patterns, and you find joy in it. It’s a blissful life. Thank you for sharing that with us.

Dr. Tim Stockwell: Yes. In summary, I’ve been very fortunate.

Magazica: Yes. And last question, very quickly – we have to be conscious of the time. You have lots of lessons from the way you’ve lived your professional life and carried out your tasks. You’ve learned a lot. So, for our readers, for the general public, for people from non-medical backgrounds – what are a few lessons you’ve learned that would be valuable for us?

Dr. Tim Stockwell: Look, I don’t want to presume too much here. But one thing that has helped me – and I don’t know whether I get too wrapped up in it, or whether it will be useful – is going back to what I was saying about individual case studies and psychologists trying to really understand what people are going through, but also getting measures and trying to quantify what is happening with a problem you’re concerned about.

So, if it’s about substance use, maybe keep a diary. Be aware of the times when you really want to have a drink, or a cigarette, or whatever it is you feel you need. Be aware of those times. Reflect a little on whether you can do other things – have coping strategies. But also become aware of the later effects: the short-, mid-, and long-term effects, this whole opponent process.

We focus so much on the short-term, immediate effects – cocaine will make us high, opioids will take our pain away and make us less anxious, and alcohol will do whatever it does. But be aware. Keep a diary about how you’re feeling. If you balance it up – maybe you get 10 or 15 minutes of feeling pretty good if you have a drink – and then look at how it affects your sleep, how you feel the next day.

Just stand back and think about how we balance these short-term, immediate pleasures or relief from pain with longer-term patterns in our lives and feelings of well-being. Focus on what we can do that has longer-term benefits. There are things we can do that are the opposite, like exercise. It’s painful, you have to discipline yourself, but you feel great afterward.

I actually hate swimming, but I do it quite often. I loathe it, but once I’ve finished, I feel fantastic, and that feeling lasts, and I sleep well. And connecting with people – I find that helps. Having a nice social occasion, I often sleep well and feel good. I think we need to be aware of those things: when we put the effort in, when we experience the pain, we get more enduring benefits. Substance use is always the opposite – you get the quick, short-term benefit, and often a pretty nasty whiplash afterward.

Magazica: Dr. Stockwell, thank you so much for sharing your journey and your wisdom. Your work reminds us that science isn’t only about numbers – it’s about people, how they master themselves, and their choices. We appreciate your time and your voice in this conversation. Thank you very much.

Dr. Tim Stockwell: My pleasure. Lovely talking with you.

Magazica: Thank you.

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Keywords: Alcohol and health; Substance use research; Drinking myths; Alcohol risk factors

The post From Oxford to Canada: Dr. Tim Stockwell on Alcohol, Society, and What We Get Wrong appeared first on Canada's Health Magazine.

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