Recent screaming headline: "Swine flu shots doubled risk of GBS illness in over 50s". Scared yet? I would be and I know better. On the face of it, the facts are the facts. Researchers out of Laval University found that over a 6-month follow-up period from Oct 2009 to March 2010 out of 4.4 million (yes million!) Quebec residents who'd been vaccinated there were 42 cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) that could be rerasonably related to the vaccination, a rate of approximately 2 cases per one million doses (they calculated). This is an increase of one case per million compared to normal flu vaccination programs (they further calculated). This applied mainly to people over 50 and was far less than the risk of death which was one per 73,000. So by all rights, the headline is correct, the number of cases of GBS did double. But give me a break. ...

There is a lot of confusion in the minds of many people about whether they should be screened for cancers such as breast (if they're a women in their 40's) or prostate (if they're a guy in a regular risk group). The confusion is the result of the public debate between scientists and public health officials about large screeening programs using mamograms for breast cancer and the PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) blood test for prostate cancer. You can't dispute the scientists facts. For example, a large Norwegian study of 40,000 women pegged the rate of overdiagnosis of invasive breast cancer at 15 - 25%. That means that as many as one in four women in the group that was being followed who were told that they had invasive breast cancer could have been treated unnecessarily with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery for a disease that might not have killed them. We similarly know that approximately ...

Old joke, but true: it's not the heat, it's the humidity! It's actually both. As it gets hot outside, your body has to work very hard to keep you cool. As long as you have enough fluid in you, the best way to lose heat is by evaporation, ie sweat but as the humidity rises sweat can't evaporate and so the water beads up on your skin instead of evaporating into the air and taking heat with it. This is why you feel so much worse as the humidity rises. How to protect yourself? Try to limit your outdoor activities to when the heat is at its lowest (early morning and early evening are usually best); and, make certain that you are drinking enough liquid. How much? There really isn't a magic number. When you wake up your urine is concentrated because you've fasted overnight. It's usually dark yellow. During the day, ...

To follow-up on something from today's discussion: you might be surprised as how quickly a child (or a pet) can get into things that can be dangerous for them. And remember things that an adult can tolerate (or a human) can get a child (or a pet) into trouble. Parents often know to "child-proof" their homes but you have to do this wherever they visit (grandparents, family friends, babysitter, etc.) Remember that after a party you need to clean up before the kids get out, as even small amounts of alcohol or cigarette stubs can be very dangerous and there are the risks of choking as well to consider.

There's a lot of confusion around sunscreens. Let's try to make it easy. The best sunscreen is avoiding the sun! Staying in the shade, avoiding the hours where the sun is the strongest and wearing the proper hat with a brim wide enough to offer protection and closely woven clothing is part of the solution as well. Remember that even when it's overcast you are at risk and that surfaces like sand and water magnify the effect. Sunscreen needs to protect against both UVA and UVB. The SPF, or sun protection factor, only measures UVB protection, so you need to check the label. UVA protection is given by avobenzone and zinc oxide for example but the product should specifically state that it offers UVA and UVB protection. No sunscreen is waterproof. Reapply after exercising or being in the water as well as often during sun exposure but remember, there's a limit to ...