Chronic Conditions
Inspirational Women Living with Chronic Conditions
Taylor Efford shares her journey with Type 1 Diabetes, addressing misconceptions, lifestyle changes, mental health, and advocacy.
How do you prioritize your mental health whilst dealing with Type 1 Diabetes? How do you use your platform to help others who may be struggling?
Making content that simply normalizes the disease and the medical equipment one may choose to wear to navigate it is important. I use humour to make the conversation welcoming because I don’t want to scare people away from asking questions. Those first three years after my diagnosis were mainly just survival mode, and I only now feel I’m ready to start healing from the initial traumas of life being flipped upside down. Slowly bringing things back into my life from before I got this full-time job of being my own pancreas. I used to really mourn the girl I was before, but as time passes, I see that I can maybe find her again, just in slightly different ways.
Sasha Exeter shares insights on managing FSGS and fibromyalgia holistically, prioritizing mental wellbeing, and advocating for comprehensive health strategies.
How do you balance managing chronic illnesses like Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) and Fibromyalgia alongside your busy schedule of professional and parenting responsibilities?
There has been a lot of trial and error over the years, but I think what’s helped me manage my chronic illnesses is looking at things holistically. I understand the importance of movement and exercise, eating the right food, sleep, and finding ways to lower my stress levels; especially when dealing with autoimmune issues that cause chronic pain. To stay on track, I ensure that my workouts are treated like meetings and are entered into my calendar, so I don’t miss them. I track my food intake, so it’s easier to identify what may have caused a flare-up and what I should remove during a reset period when I want to bring down inflammation.
Canadian Olympic swimmer Maggie Mac Neil shares insights on excelling in sports whilst living with asthma, addressing misconceptions, and promoting lung health education.
How has living with asthma influenced your training regimen as an Olympic swimmer, and what strategies have you found effective in managing your symptoms while performance? It was asthma that forced me to focus on sprint events, as I struggled to physically finish the longer races, which is ironic since this is what I have had the most success with internationally. As far as how my training for the Olympics has been impacted by my lung conditions, some days are better than others. As I currently live and train in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the only building on campus without air conditioning, the heat and humidity can be extremely challenging. I just try to take it day by day and know that if I give it my all regardless of how I’m feeling, I’ll benefit from it in the future. I also must stay extremely diligent about taking my puffers and medication.
Do You Have Inflammatory Bowel Disease?
What is inflammatory bowel disease?
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic condition that involves inflammation in the digestive tract. There are two primary types of IBD: ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. In ulcerative colitis, inflammation only affects the mucosa of the large intestine. In Crohn’s disease, inflammation can affect any part of the digestive tract and penetrate through all layers of the bowel wall. Symptoms can be mild to severe and include diarrhea, rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, weight loss, constipation, fever, and anemia. There is no cure for IBD, so treatment focuses on achieving remission through medications and, sometimes, surgery.
Understanding IBD: Survey Invitation
We invite you to take part in this survey so we can learn about the unmet needs of people living with inflammatory bowel disease (primarily Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis).
All information collected will be anonymized and used
in aggregate to shape future programming and to inform community members, healthcare professionals, and health policy decision-makers.
Participants who complete the survey are eligible for a free one-year subscription to our quarterly Inside Tract® PDF newsletter.
About the GI Society
The Gastrointestinal Society is committed to improving the lives of individuals with gastrointestinal and liver conditions, supporting research, advocating for appropriate patient access to healthcare, and promoting gastrointestinal and liver health. Canadian Registered Charity Number 817065352RR0001.
To take part in the survey, visit badgut.org/ibd-survey-2024 or scan the QR code.
Summer BBQs. Ballpark hotdogs. Camping and S’mores. It’s time to indulge a
But, sometimes it can catch up to you. Take control of your digestive health with our herbal blend we call
Simple Tests Can Identify Risk For Chronic Kidney Disease
1 in 10 Canadians has kidney disease and numbers are on the rise. Take a step towards kidney health by learning more about how your kidneys work and understanding the risk factors for kidney disease.
The Kidney Foundation of Canada
National Executive Director,
Your kidneys are important to your overall health. They regulate water, help balance the body’s minerals, remove waste products, and produce hormones.
Unfortunately, the signs and symptoms of kidney disease are often silent. Sometimes even people with serious kidney disease have no symptoms. Knowing more about how to maintain kidney health and identify personal risk early could help delay or prevent kidney failure or reduce the risk of other complications, such as heart disease.
Are you at risk? Request the tests
There are a number of risk factors for kidney disease, some that you can control, such as smoking, and others that you cannot. People with diabetes, high blood pressure, or who have a family history of kidney disease are at increased risk, as are children born with kidneys that did not develop properly.
The Kidney Foundation of Canada has a risk awareness quiz that helps people understand their potential risk factors. It takes less than 10 minutes and will provide some insight into the results, so people have a list of things they may wish to speak to their healthcare providers about.
“If people are concerned about their kidney health, talking to their healthcare provider about some simple tests is the next important step,” said Elizabeth Myles, National Executive Director of The Kidney Foundation of Canada. “Sometimes even people with serious kidney disease have no symptoms. Blood and urine tests can indicate how well your kidneys are functioning.”
failure, the only life-saving treatments are ongoing dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Talk to someone who understands “Being diagnosed with a chronic illness like kidney disease is life-changing and can happen with little or no warning,” said Carrie Thibodeau, National Director of Programs & Public Policy. “We’re here to provide resources and emotional support to help people live well with kidney disease. Peer support is one of our key services. You can talk to trained volunteers with similar life experiences about what to expect when learning to live with kidney disease.”
Maureen, who was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) 20 years ago, is one of The Kidney Foundation’s peer support group facilitators. “When you first get diagnosed it can be frightening. Then you come to realize, there are a lot of people with similar issues, and you don’t feel so alone.” PKD is a genetic disease that causes fluid-filled cysts to grow on kidneys and other organs, and impacts kidney function. For some, PKD can be managed for decades without causing serious illness. For others, it leads to physical pain, discomfort, and kidney failure.
If people are concerned about their kidney health, talking to their healthcare provider about some simple tests is the next important step.
Maureen was diagnosed with PKD in her mid-50s, while living in Dubai with her husband. The diagnosis came as “a total shock”; she was not aware of anyone else in her family, past and present, with the condition. At first, she had mild symptoms. Then, about two and a half years ago, while back in Canada and in her early 70s, she started to feel the tell-tale abdominal pain and discomfort, and her kidney function dropped.
Kidney disease is a challenging diagnosis and will impact the rest of someone’s life. At the stage of kidney
She finds the PKD peer support sessions help mitigate any stress she has around her condition and regain a sense of control over the disease.
“We don’t provide any medical advice, but we talk about how we manage our symptoms. You can learn a lot about the disease by listening to other peoples’ stories and hearing about their experiences.”
The Kidney Foundation of Canada has an extensive peer support program, which organizes virtual sessions on a wide variety of specific topics. The Kidney Foundation’s resources empower people with knowledge and its services provide support to those
with kidney disease.
Elizabeth Myles
The Kidney Foundation of Canada
Say Hello to a New Way of Accessing a Critical IBD Biologic Therapy
For years, people living with moderate to severe IBD needed to access a foundational critical therapy at an infusion centre. Now they can have it at home.
Anne Papmehl
About 1 in 140 Canadians is living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis — two of the most common forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). While these are two different and distinct conditions, they share some common characteristics. Both involve inflammation of the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, and both can cause debilitating symptoms such as abdominal pain and cramping, diarrhea, rectal bleeding, weight loss, and poor appetite.
Since its approval over 20 years ago, a biosimilar known as infliximab has been a foundational therapy in treating moderate to severe IBD, as well as certain forms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, until recently, the only way to receive this treatment was through intravenous injection administered at infusion centres — which, for some patients, can be inconvenient, time-consuming, and costly to access.
A new at-home option
With Health Canada’s recent approval of a subcutaneous form of infliximab, Canadians living with IBD now have the option to receive their treatment at home. This can help reduce the logistical challenges and costs of travelling to an infusion centre, which is especially meaningful to patients living in rural or remote areas away from major cities, where infusion centres are more common. With this new subcutaneous option, patients can self-inject their treatment at home and at their convenience based on a plan determined by their health care team.
Giving patients the choice as to where they prefer to receive treatment — at an infusion centre or at home — is a decisive step toward a new era of
personalized medicine and a more patient-centric approach to managing IBD. Whether someone is new to this therapy or a long-time patient, this subcutaneous option offers many advantages to patients living busy lifestyles and managing family responsibilities. If subcutaneous infliximab is suitable, they may no longer have to arrange time off work to visit an infusion centre or worry about leaving their home, country, or care team for extended periods of time.
A wealth of efficacy and safety data
The approval of the subcutaneous administration of infliximab is the culmination of rigorous clinical trials and real-world data proving the efficacy and safety of this mode of treatment. This data was recently presented at the 19th Congress of European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation. This level of robust data is not common with many biosimilars.
Whether it’s infusion or subcutaneous treatment, most biologic and biosimilar therapies offer extensive support programs to guide patients through their treatment journey, and this includes IBD patients. These programs often include tailored support and resources to meet their individual needs. Health Care Practitioners can offer more information about these offerings and their suitability for patients.
Depending on the specific therapy regimen, patients starting treatment may have to undergo a few infusion cycles before moving to the subcutaneous mode. Patients should speak to their physician and healthcare team who can recommend the best course of action based on their individual situation. The IV infusion of infliximab may be the most suitable option for patients who require greater attention from their care team or prefer not to self-inject their therapy. But either way, with this new mode of treatment delivery, patients with IBD now have more options and choice in managing their condition.
Q&A WITH DR. JASON REINGLAS
Dr. Jason Reinglas is a gastroenterologist, Director of the Scarborough Centre for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, clinical investigator at the Toronto Immune and Digestive Health Institute and associate at St. Michael's Hospital. Mediaplanet recently talked to him about the challenges of living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and how the new subcutaneous option of infliximab is helping reduce the disease burden.
What challenges do patients face in the diagnosis or treatment of IBD?
Sometimes the diagnosis is unclear and hard to come to terms with because it’s a lifelong illness without a medical cure. The treatments available alter the immune system to allow the bowel to heal itself enabling patients to live normal lives. Accepting the concept and time commitment that someone needs medication for the rest of their life can be challenging.
What can you tell us about the new infliximab option?
Infliximab is one of our most effective and versatile agents for treating IBD. The main downfalls of it are that patients have to take four hours out of their day to get it at an infusion center frequently and their bodies can reject it, which may lead to dangerous infusion reactions. This new injectable version makes the medication more accessible to the patient and removes the risk of infusion reactions altogether.
What are some of the clinical advantages of the new subcutaneous infliximab option compared to traditional intravenous infusion?
Besides accessibility and no infusion reactions, the injectable version can achieve higher blood levels than the IV version. There is a strong relationship between how well this drug works and the blood level of it, so just by changing the delivery of it we can improve how well it can work.
How does this injectable option align with a more patient-centric approach to health care?
There are many medications available that treat IBD. Not all are effective for every type of IBD and not all suit the patient’s lifestyle. If the medication works but the patient won’t take it because it’s too inconvenient, then that medication is useless. Having an injectable option that allows patients more freedom is desirable for some. Some people like the idea of infusion centers, others like being in control of their care more and prefer injections. It’s important to have both IV and injectable options to cater to both groups of people.
Trying to Reduce Sugars? Splenda Is a Sweet, Safe and Reliable Option
Committed to helping all Canadians live healthier, happier lives, Splenda makes it deliciously simple to reduce sugar intake.
Katherine Cappellacci
Diabetes, a chronic condition that impacts how the body turns food into energy, can reduce one’s lifespan by five to fifteen years.1 This striking statistic highlights the significance of reducing one’s sugar intake to help manage the risk developing the disease.2
Almost one in ten Canadians 20 years and above has been diagnosed with diabetes. 3 Maintaining a healthy diet, and specifically monitoring carbohydrate intake, is a critical aspect of diabetes management. It is also an important lifestyle choice for those looking to take proactive measures for their overall health.
Maintaining a balanced diet without compromising taste
As a proud supporter of Diabetes Canada and a company that offers diabetes-friendly recipes that everyone can enjoy, Splenda has developed a longstanding reputation as a trusted partner in a consumer’s journey to reducing sugar and supporting healthy habits.
Splenda, the #1 low- and no-calorie sweetener brand in Canada,4 has an entire product portfolio that includes the famous Splenda Original Sweetener and plant-based options such as Splenda Stevia and Splenda Monk Fruit sweeteners, which are available in packets, pouches, jars, and liquid! When used in place of sugar, zero calorie sweeteners (including Splenda® Zero Calorie Sweetener) help to avoid blood sugar and insulin spikes caused by food and drinks with added sugars. 5
Accessible, reliable alternatives
Splenda is making it easier for Canadians to reduce added sugars and take control of their health. It provides a diverse range of reliable sugar alternatives suitable for individuals managing diabetes or aiming to maintain optimal health, offering accessible options for all. Well-known for more than just its iconic yellow packets, Splenda is highly regarded as a safe and trustworthy mission-driven brand.
*Allsourcescanbefoundonthedigitalarticleathealthinsight.ca
Learn how The Singing Dentist’s organic journey intertwines music, dentistry, and social media for engaging oral health education.
Why do you think oral health is an important topic for Canadians to continue to educate themselves/their families on ?
The mouth is such an important part of the body and it is often forgotten about. I think we need to treat it like any other organ. We take our heart health seriously, we try to look after our lungs and our livers and our kidneys… so why not look after our mouth?! It is the gateway to everything! Food comes in and if our mouth isn’t functioning correctly, it has a massive effect on our general well-being. Plus, we know there are links with oral health and many other diseases such as diabetes, heart conditions, and even dementia, so a healthy mouth really does help with having a healthy life.
What is one tip you would give Canadians who are looking to improve their oral health?
One tip is hard when there are so many! First, I would say to start thinking of the mouth as an important and integral part of the body and do the basic things consistently. Make sure you brush your teeth effectively with a good toothbrush twice a day for 2 minutes. Clean in-between the teeth daily with floss or interdental brushes and also clean the tongue with a dedicated tongue scraper. Reduce the frequency of sugary foods and drinks and do not smoke, even vaping has shown negative effects on the mouth. And lastly, see your dental care professional regularly for maintenance and check-ups because prevention is always better than cure!
Leslie Wirth
Dental assistants are integral members of your oral health care team, and work in cooperation with dentists and dental hygienists. Certified and licensed dental assistants complete formal education, pass national board exams, and uphold professional standards. They’re the second pair of hands in dentistry, provide patient education, uphold meticulous health and safety standards, and perform an extensive scope of skills to help you maintain your healthy smile. This includes preparing and maintaining dental instruments and equipment, assisting dentists in patient care, preparing dental materials such as dental composites and amalgams, and more. Dental assistants may also help with managing dental emergencies, examining, diagnosing, or planning dental treatment, performing final placement of fixed or removable dental prosthetic appliances, managing dental records, and managing patients during dental procedures.
The Canadian Dental Assistants’ Association has a vision for a strong and safe oral health care system for all Canadians and its members will always be by your side when you’re receiving dental care.
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