Where Healthcare Went Wrong: The Problems with Modern Drug Industries

May 23rd, 2017

Tune into the show on May 23^rd to listen to a discussion regarding the current situation in the pharmaceutical industry. As some may know, the situation is far from being ideal in nature especially when it is looked at from a highly surgical perspective. In light of the show�s theme, a McGill University pharmacology student joins in with the host of the show to discuss this very intricate topic. As such, we invite you to join us at Health on Earth as we take on the various very important issues that affect the current day pharmaceutical industry!

A big thanks to Matthew Basmadjian for joining into the show today!

Check out the recording of the show below:

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Inadequate Housing & Health Outcomes

Habitat for Humanity blog photo

March 21, 2017

This episode explores how increasing population density and skyrocketing housing prices in major cities are limiting people�s options to substandard housing, or even to the streets.  Executive members from the McGill Students for Habitat for Humanity, Karen Chiang, Mauli Patel, Matilde Alvarez Morera, Luke Robitaille, Demetra Patronidis, and Dana Unninayar, converse about increased health risks and governmental interventions associated with these issues by visiting news reports from CNN and CBC. They also expand on a non-profit organization�s solution by sharing their own experiences from Habitat for Humanity builds. To learn more about the McGill Chapter of Habitat for Humanity, or to get more involved, please visit their official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mcgillhabitat/

To listen to the full episode, please click here. 

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Women's Health at a Glance

Women's health under the sun - open source image

March 14, 2017

What does women's health mean to you?

For today's show, Health on Earth wants to help our listeners explore some critical women's health issues from an international perspective with professor Anne Firth Murray from Global Fund for Women and Stanford University. Not only that, we also aimed to connect Murray's prominent work with some local inputs from Alice and Georgia's interview with professor Jodi Tuck of McGill University.

To listen to the full episode, please visit here.

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Cancer Research

February 28th, 2017

Today�s show featured three graduate students from the program of Experimental Surgery of McGill University who are doing cancer research. Experimental Surgery is a graduate studies program offered by the Faculty of Medicine, whose aim is to do research in the different areas of the surgical subspecialties of medicine to better understand the mechanisms that cause disease, how can they be modified to improve the surgical outcome of people, and to create innovative approaches to surgery and surgical devices.

Our first speaker, Zhoufeng Zhou, is a PhD student in the skin cancer research group. She is studying the role of cancer stem cells in the development of cancer spread, better known as metastases. All tissues in the body have stem cells that help them grow and heal if they are injured. This also happens with cancer tissues; but the difference is that it leads to resistance against treatments and that it enhances the spread of the tumor. Thus, understanding how do cancer stem cells promote tumor spread could help patients prevent the appearance of cancer metastases. Zhoufeng�s research has tracked down one protein involved in this mechanism, and she is currently investigating whether its activity can be modified to prevent the spread of the tumor.

Bardia Barimani is a MD doing his Masters in Experimental Surgery. His line of work is researching novel strategies to repair bone after it has been injured by a metastasis. Once a patient�s tumor has spread, one of the main sites where new tumor growth occurs is on the vertebral spine. This may lead to pain and makes the patient prone to vertebral fractures, thus the current treatment is to surgically extract the tumor, leaving a big bone hole behind. Bardia�s research focuses on creating bone substitutes coated with a special drug that will promote bone cell recruitment. His preliminary results indicate that his bone substitute can deliver the drug in a local fashion that will help produce more bone and avoid undesired effects in the rest of the body.

Finally, our third speaker, Mina Ayoub, is working on developing novel treatment strategies for bladder cancer. Having a background as a MD and currently doing his Masters, Mina�s research interest focuses on discovering if the modulation of the immune system could lead to the destruction of bladder cancer cells. The importance of his research is that this type of cancer still has a high mortality despite the current treatments, thus, creating a novel treatment strategy may improve the cure rate of this disease. His results have pinpointed a protein that may be recognized by immune cells, making it an attractive target for immune modulation.

In conclusion, our young researchers are doing great progress in understanding how cancer cells spread, in developing novel treatment strategies against it and against its complications. It is expected that their results will be able to generate better treatments for patients in a not so far future. This is exactly the aim of the Experimental Surgery program: to create the future of surgery now.
If the audience wants to learn more about the program, or they want to contact our researchers, we invite them to visit our webpage: http://www.mcgill.ca/experimentalsurgery/welcome-experimental-surgery.

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Overuse of Antibiotics and the Rise of Superbugs: A Major Global Health Crisis

January 31st, 2017

We use antibiotics almost everyday. Even if we are not using antibiotics directly, food we eat will most likely contain antibiotics. Antibiotics are a such an important part of human  life. However, antibiotics can have almost a catastrophic effect to global health.  That is because of antibiotics resistance and the rise of superbugs. Bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics when antibiotics are overused or misused. This can happen in the health care system, the agricultural industry, and in everyday lives. Antibiotic resistance is so prominent in the global health system, that it is close to becoming a disastrous event. We must try to control antibiotic resistance by being more careful with our everyday antibiotic usage. The global health care system must come together and cooperate in order to solve this problem.

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Navigating Through the Era of Pseudoscience

January 10th, 2017

How safe are we from fake science? Is the healthcare sector any safer than the average citizen from this pseudoscientific issue? In fact, when just looking at the media and its effects, it becomes quickly clear which side has the upper hand. How many millions scavenge social media sites, TV channels, news articles, magazines and various websites, on a daily basis? Well in fact, that number has reached far beyond the million mark long ago. It is now well within the billions spectrum. These individuals, many of whom have minimal scientific education, are bombarded with material about thousands of hundreds of pseudoscientific remedies and crazy shams that can cure them in a day or two from the most unforgivable diseases affecting our society today. I mean at that point, who can we really trust? The rapid answer is: ourselves. Our society, as a whole, possesses the necessary tools to unearth all of these charades. All it will really take is action on all of our parts to really peer in and meddle around with the internals so as to clear out all the impurities that have illegally set up residence in the scientific realm.

Check out the recording of the show below:

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Yoga for Women

January 3rd, 2017

In this episode, Maud Urbas interviews Michal Rokem-Negev, a Montreal-based teacher who specializes in Yoga for Women�s Health, based on the �Yoga Nashit� method developed in Israel by Mira Artzi Padan. To learn more about how this approach helps women find greater health and supports them through the major life changes they go through, listen to the show here.

For more information on Yoga for Women, you can visit: http://www.yogaforwomen.ca/

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Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder

December 6th, 2016

This is a show aobut hppd, short for hallucinogenic perception disorder, which is a largely unresearched and ignored phenomena that affects people who have made use of psychedelics drugs in the past. To be precise, HPPD is thought to affect only a small percentage of the users, althouhg due its origin from an illegall behavior and loose definition of the term its real impact it�s hard to define.

Basically, I organized the show by alternating moments of information with narratives or poems and placing everything over a musical background that I felt would the argument discussed. The narrative are based on the personal experiences of an anonymous source while the information are based on independent research that I conducted. Most of the research was based on what I could through the Mcgill library�s database.

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Funding Drive Special Episode: Pain!

Art by Swarez

October 25, 2016

Welcome to the CKUT Funding Drive Special Episode! Today, we talked about pain: what it is, how it works, its complexities and pain reducing remedies. For this episode, we also included stories of chronic pain patients, Tylor and Steve, to give you a better idea of what their experiences are like. Lastly, what do researchers at McGill have to say about pain? Join Alice to learn more!

The theme for this year's Funding Drive is Radio Without Borders.

Please support us by donating to CKUT at www.ckut.ca/donate, or call 514-907-9424!

Our goal this year is $50,000, and it will go toward keeping the station alive! It is with your generous support that we are able to continue to provide you with non-oppressive and corporate-influence-free radio shows. Thank you!

To listen to this week's show, please click here.

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Calls to Action: Truth & Reconciliation for Healthcare Providers

October 4, 2016

This episode is featuring an interview by Alice with Laura Heather of Global and Indigenous Health Nursing McGill as well as Jodi Tuck from McGill Ingram School of Nursing, who are organizingan important public lecture & fundraising event taking place on October 5th, 2016, at 6pm: called Calls to Action: Truth & Reconciliation for Healthcare Providers.

This event hosts Andrea Auger, the Reconciliation & research manager & coordinating editor of the First Peoples Child & Family Review as well as Glenda Sandy, a CLSC Naskapi nurse and master�s student at the Universite Laval. There will be traditional music & a silent auction of Indigenous artworks from across the country, and all of the proceeds will be donated to the Montreal Native Friendship Centre & the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society.

To listen to this week's show, please click here.

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Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) at McGill

Jenny Ji & Chloe Rourke at CKUT studio

August 23, 2016

McGill University has added the internationally renowned Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) program to its toolkit to bridge the gap between the increasing students' demands and the available mental health services. This flexible, simple and infinitely doable program consist of 5-6 week, two hour per week peer-facilitated workshops that focus on helping students gain coping strategies and skills to reclaim wellness for their lives. This week, Health on Earth's Alice invited Chloe Rourke and Jenny Ji, two McGill students who have just received their WRAP facilitator training, to talk about their exposure to WRAP, as well as how to access WRAP at McGill. 

You can listen to this week's show here.

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Vers des organisations vivantes : Entretien avec Jonathan Jubinville

August 19, 2016

Comment insuffler une nouvelle vie dans nos organisations et nos entreprises, favoriser l'expression de l'intelligence collective, et promouvoir le bien-�tre des employ�s ? Jonathan Jubinville, innovateur social, facilitateur de changement et co-fondateur de Mati�re Brute, nous d�voile ses secrets ici.

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L'agriculture urbaine : Entretien avec Microhabitat

August 9, 2016

Lors de cette �mission, Maud Urbas discute avec Alexandre Ferrari, le fondateur de Microhabitat (http://microhabitat.ca), un projet d'agriculture et d'apiculture urbaine � Montr�al. Quels sont les avantages et les d�fis de l'agriculture urbaine ? Comment se lancer dans l'aventure ? Peut-on minimiser l'impact des insectes ravageurs de mani�re naturelle ? Les r�ponses ici.

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Cancer Epidemiology and the Human Papilloma Virus

The Human Papilloma Virus; source: wikipedia.org

July 19, 2016

Epidemiolowhat? Listen to this week's show to learn about what epidemiology is, the limits and strengths of quantitative research study designs, and why knowing these things could be important! For part of our show, Viv was joined by public health student Safyer for a live discussion on epidemiology research methods. We also heard an interview with The Division of Cancer Epidemiology of McGill University, which is conducting several studies focused on human papillomavirus (HPV) transmission and prevention. HPV is is a common virus that affects all genders. More than 120 types of HPV have been identified, and certain types can cause cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, anus, mouth and throat. Check out their website if you're interested in participating in a study!

You can listen to this week's show here.

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Racial Justice Matters! Part 2

Source: racialjusticematters.com

21 June, 2016

Racial Justice Matters: Advocating for Racial Health Equity was a 2-day conference held in October 2015, hosted by students in the Dalla Lana School of Public health at the University of Toronto. This week we aired part 2 of Viv's interview with Anjum Sultana and Navita Singh, two of the conference co-chairs. Anvita Kulkarni, who recently earned her degree in public health, also joined in for a brief discussion.

Through the conference they aimed to create a platform where meaningful discussions around racism and the resulting racial health inequities could take place. Critical research, internal reform and public advocacy are three ways in which we as people interested in health can take action.

To listen to this week's show, click here.

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Racial Justice Matters! Part 1

Source: racialjusticematters.com

14 June, 2016

Racial Justice Matters: Advocating for Racial Health Equity was a 2-day conference held in October 2015, hosted by students in the Dalla Lana School of Public health at the University of Toronto. This week we aired Viv's interview with Anjum Sultana and Navita Singh, two of the conference co-chairs.

Through the conference they aimed to create a platform where meaningful discussions around racism and the resulting racial health inequities could take place. Critical research, internal reform and public advocacy are three ways in which we as people interested in health can take action.

To listen to this week's show, click here.

To find the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada reports, click here.

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Genetics and Personalized Medicine

By Iltis, Hugo - [1], CC BY 4.0, Source

June 7 2016

Mendel was an Augustinian monk, a scholar, a scientist and a botanist. Today, he is honoured as the father of genetics. Lots of titles for one man! 

Today on the show, producer Kaylee has a live conversation with Eric Zhao, a MD/PhD student from the University of British Columbia. Together, we delve into the life works of Mendel and also his heated scientific scandal. We also discuss the journey that the field of genetics has taken since Mendel's time, and reach an interesting discussion about personal genomics. Tune into a casual banter about the history of science and the light it has seen since then.

To listen to this week's show, click here. 

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L'alimentation vivante

"On est ce que l'on mange..."

Dans cette �mission, Maud Urbas parle alimentation et bien-�tre avec Laura Belfadla, directrice de l�Acad�mie culinaire de Crudessence. Laura nous explique les principes de l�alimentation vivante, un mode de vie permettant une v�ritable reconnexion avec son corps, loin des r�gimes et des dogmes alimentaires. Comment retrouver son �nergie et sa sant� de mani�re naturelle? Cliquez ici pour en savoir plus.

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