Blog
capsule moments
NATIONAL NON-SMOKING WEEK: Part of this special week this year is “Weedless Wednesday”, this year on Jan. 23. This day has traditionally meant a day people could choose to forgo cigarette smoking for at least one day. The term weed is also used to refer to marijuana and since it’s now legal in […]
read moreCapsule comments
SMOKING CESSATION TIMELINE: We’ve all seen those charts depicting the changes the body undergoes when it doesn’t have to deal with tobacco smoke anymore. It starts with benefits beginning 20 minutes after the last puff when blood pressure starts to return to normal and those little cilia in the bronchial tubes start to move […]
read moreCapsule moments
I, along with many Canadian pharmacists, was disappointment that pharmacists weren’t included in provincial governments’ rules for selling medical marijuana products. I have always felt that once a reliable supply line of products was available, pharmacists could distribute them with full knowledge of a patient’s prescription history and offer advice on side effects and interactions. […]
read moreCapsule moments
HEART ATTACK AND STROKE SIGNS: Although this type of information is available everywhere, I thought I’d include it with this late December column because a lot of heart attacks and strokes occur at this time of the year. And the mention of denial is appropriate because we have all heard stories of people showing […]
read morecapsule moments
CATARACT SURGERY…A BIT OF HISTORY: I had to include this comment in this year’s Capsule Comments because in September I had the surgery done on one of my eyes. I knew exactly what was going to happen during the brief operation (it took only 20 minutes!) but I felt a bit gypped. They give […]
read moreCapsule moments
There are many types of water on the market and they all claim to be better than drinking plain water. There’s protein water with a smidgen of protein isolate. There’s desalinated water that supposedly hydrates you more quickly. There’s hydrogen water which is claimed to have extra hydrogen minimize lactic acid formation in the muscles. […]
read morecapsule moments
ANTIBIOTICS AND ALCOHOL: Common question especially at this time of year. We know that some antibiotics like the erythromycins can increase the amount of alcohol that enters the bloodstream. They cause a speeding up digestion which leaves less time for the alcohol to be metabolized in the stomach before reaching the intestines and bloods […]
read moreCapsule moments
FLU EPIDEMIC DURING AND AFTER WWI: In the winter of 1917-18, there was a flu outbreak at a British military base in Etaples, France. It was an area of 12 square kilometres and housed 100,000 soldiers. Winter viruses were common but this one appeared much different and more virulent. It killed 10-20% of the […]
read more