CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal articles from June 2009

CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal archives from June 2009

A country of perpetual pilot projects.(Editorial)
June 9, 2009... When it comes to moving health care practices forward efficiently, Canada is a country of perpetual pilot projects. We seldom move proven projects into stable, funded programs, and we rarely transfer the outcomes of pilot projects across...

Prenatal micronutrient supplementation: are we there yet?(Commentary)
June 9, 2009... Maternal undernutrition is one of most neglected aspects of nutrition in public health globally. Although relatively few indicators are systematically tracked or reported, a recent review of the global burden of maternal undernutrition...

Quality of acute coronary care in emerging economies.(Commentary)
June 9, 2009... Reasons for geographical and temporal variations in the death rates from coronary artery disease are not clear. To date, most explanations have focused on factors that affect the incidence of coronary artery disease, such as smoking, alcohol,...

Canada's ability to respond to a national health crisis hampered by jurisdictional issues, untested emergency plans.(News)
June 9, 2009... As a high school student in Israel, Dr. Daniel Kollek volunteered for ambulance duty, helping to provide basic life support services. "I was present at terrorist bombings. It colours the way you look at the world," says the associate professor...

Lessons learned.(For the record)
June 9, 2009... Territorialism, delay and poor communication plagued Canada's response to the listeriosis outbreak that killed 22 people in 2008, says Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency waited...

CPR in clinics.(News)(cardiopulmonary resuscitation)(Brief article)
June 9, 2009... Province of Quebec Coroner Catherine Rudel-Tessier has urged the College des medecins du Quebec to revise its regulations for private health care clinics to ensure that all physicians and nurses working in such facilities are trained in...

Health Canada contemplates providing food industry with "discretionary" authority to fortify junk foods.(News)
June 9, 2009... Fortified junk food, from potato chips to energy bars to fruit-flavoured drinks, may soon be appearing on grocery store shelves across Canada. But it's still junk food, warn dietitians and other health professionals, who fear that a Health...

Creative marketing.(Briefly)(Brief article)
June 9, 2009... Creative marketing: Testimony before the Federal Court of Australia indicated that drug giant Merck paid a division of medical publishing giant Elsevier to produce several volumes of a fake journal, The Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint...

Pharmakiosks.(Briefly)(Brief article)
June 9, 2009... Pharmakiosks: Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care David Caplan says the province will allow drug dispensing machines to be set up in remote areas. Patients would insert their prescriptions and converse with a pharmacist at a call...

Aging.(Briefly)(Brief article)
June 9, 2009... Aging: An integrated health and social services plan and bolstered pensions are desperately needed to assist elderly Canadians, says a Senate Special Committee on Aging. Chaired by Senator Sharon Carstairs, the committee makes 32...

In-hospital case fatality rates for acute myocardial infarction in Romania.(Research)(Report)
June 9, 2009... During the past 10 years, the health of people in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union has undergone changes very different from the health patterns seen in their Western counterparts. For example, mortality from cardiovascular disease...

The space-flight environment: the international space station and beyond.
June 9, 2009... Human space exploration is dependent on robust spacecraft design and sophisticated life-support technologies, both of which are critical for working in the hostile space environment. This article focuses on the specific challenges of the space...

The emergence of Lyme disease in Canada.
June 9, 2009... Lyme disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and transmitted by tick vectors, is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the temperate zone. (1) More than 20 000 cases are recorded annually in the United States. (2) In...

Carbapenem resistance in Canada.(Report)(Report)
June 9, 2009... For more than 2 decades, carbapenems have been considered the pharmacotherapy of last resort for managing multidrug-resistant infections caused by Enterobacteriaceae bacteria (e.g., Escherichia coli and Salmonella). Over the past decade,...

Expectoration of a hydatid cyst.(Clinical images)(Case study)
June 9, 2009... [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] A 30-year-old man with hemoptysis presented to a hospital in India. During examination, he coughed up a white membranous structure 3 cm long (Figure 1). A radiograph of the chest showed numerous masses in the left hilar...

Interaction between clopidogrel and proton pump inhibitors.(Letters)(Report)
June 9, 2009... The study by David Juurlink and colleagues is a significant contribution to the awareness of potential interactions between clopidogrel and proton pump inhibitors. (1) However, a number of important issues limit the general applicability of the...

Health care crisis in Gaza.(Letters)
June 9, 2009... We, the 8 coauthors of this letter and the 59 Canadian physicians and scientists who have reviewed and endorsed it, are writing in response to 2 articles in the Mar. 17, 2009, issue of CMAJ: "Gaza's health care system crippled before--and...

Correction.(Correction notice)
June 9, 2009... In a review of the book After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery for Life-shattering Events, (1) commentary on a poem by Meir Wieseltier was inadvertently included as part of the poem itself. The section should read as follows: Yet as she...

The body revealed.(Art)
June 9, 2009... 'The human body is the most magnificent piece of art." How many medical students have heard this phrase uttered by an anatomy professor or a neurologist in awe of the human brain? Like most platitudes, there is an underlying truth to this...

Health disparities grow as people live longer.(Global Health and Global Aging )(Book review)
June 9, 2009... Global Health and Global Aging Mary Robinson, William Novelli, Clarence Pearson and Laurie Norris, editors Jossey-Bass; 2007. 373 pp $55.00 (e-book available) Calgary is aging, Canberra is aging, Calcutta is aging. The world's population...

Chisholm, WHO and the pursuit of the public's health.(Brock Chisholm, the World Health Organization, and the Cold War)(Book review)
June 9, 2009... Brock Chisholm, the World Health Organization, and the Cold War John Farley UBC Press; 2008. 254 pp $85.00 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Whether by coincidence or by design, 4 remarkable books that express the ideal of peace through...

Health as a bridge to peace.(Peace Through Health: How Health Professionals Can Work for a Less Violent World)(Book review)
June 9, 2009... Peace through Health: How Health Professionals Can Work for a Less Violent World Neil Arya and Joanna Santa Barbara Kumarian Press; 2008. 341 pp $39.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Peace through Health is a significant book that...

The 10 000-hour rule and residency training.(Salon)
June 9, 2009... With new rules limiting the number of hours residents can work in some jurisdictions, should medical educators be rethinking existing training strategies? Is it time for medical education itself to become more evidence-based? There are 2...

Variations in home care programs across Canada demonstrate need for national standards and pan-Canadian program.(News)
June 9, 2009... It has become a truism that home care is a critical component of the future health care system, as skyrocketing costs persuade governments to seek answers in community settings on the premise that there's a "bigger bang for the buck" to be had,...

Swine flu outbreak tests Canadian preparedness.(News)
June 9, 2009... As Canada faces the first test of its pandemic influenza plan, the threat comes from much closer to home than experts expected. "Everyone thought the next pandemic would come from Asia... and there would be time to prepare. But holy cow it...

Revised WHO pandemic scale requires higher incidence of disease for most alert levels.(News)
June 9, 2009... In the midst of global concern about a potential A(H1N1) swine influenza pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has revised its 6-point scale for determining whether a pandemic is a possibility. Using the revised scale, the WHO's...

Nova Scotia confirms swine flu case contracted within Canada.(News)
June 9, 2009... The first case of human-to-human transmission of A(H1N1) swine flu within Canada has been confirmed by Nova Scotia health authorities. A student at King's-Edgehill School in Windsor, Nova Scotia contracted the flu from another student who'd...

Close calls.(Dispatch from the medical front)
June 9, 2009... Until Apr. 1, one might have thought that things had quieted down around here. However, just an hour ago, and for more than the thousandth time over the past 8 years, 3 missiles were launched from Gaza into southern Israel. Were they aimed at...

Effects of prenatal multimicronutrient supplementation on pregnancy outcomes: a meta-analysis.(Research)(Report)
June 9, 2009... Nutrition plays an important role in the growth and development of the fetus. Studies of the nutritional status of pregnant women during the Dutch famine revealed increased risks of infertility, abortion, fetal intrauterine growth restriction...

Harp seal heart valves being tested for human use.(News)
June 23, 2009... Researchers in Quebec will soon begin testing heart valves from harp seals to determine if they are suitable for use in humans. Animal rights groups say the research is unnecessary and will serve only as a government propaganda tool to...

Limited onboard amenities.(Dispatch from the medical front)
June 23, 2009... Published at www.cmaj.ca on May 27, when Expedition 20/21 launched. Since the dawn of human space flight nearly a half-century ago, about 500 people have lived and worked in space. Each of us have had the opportunity to fly in space at...

Disclosure standards.(For the record)(Brief article)
June 23, 2009... The medical community must develop uniform disclosure standards for financial dealings with industry and the United States government should create a mandatory national reporting program requiring industry to make public all payments to...

Residency match.(News)
June 23, 2009... Residency match: The bulk of unfilled residency positions from the annual CARMS match are in Quebec.--Ann Silversides, CMAJ

Great leaps.(News)
June 23, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Great leaps: China unveils its long awaited health care reform blueprint.--Katie Lewis, Beijing, China

National trends in rates of death and hospital admissions related to acute myocardial infarction, heart failure and stroke, 1994-2004.(Special report)
June 23, 2009... The full-text version of this article is available at www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/180/13/E118 Cardiovascular disease, including stroke, is the leading cause of death globally. Therefore, changes in the incidence and mortality of these...

A moment in time.(Essay)(Viewpoint essay)
June 23, 2009... Published at cmaj.ca on May 29, 2009. Space shuttle Endeavour's STS-118 mission was the 22nd shuttle flight to the International Space Station. During the 12-day mission in August 2007, the crew, including Canadian physician Dave Williams,...

National trends in rates of death and hospital admissions related to acute myocardial infarction, heart failure and stroke, 1994-2004.(Special report)
June 23, 2009... An abridged version of this article appeared in the June 23 issue of CMAJ Cardiovascular disease, including stroke, is the leading cause of death globally. Therefore, changes in the incidence and mortality of these disorders have a major...