News + Research
During the pandemic, it is crucial that you have access to the most up-to-date and accurate information. The Sarnia Journal released this fantastic list of resources for anyone wanting more information or with medical questions about COVID-19. We were delighted to be featured and are committed to helping patients from across Ontario get access to the information and care they need.
Full list availabel here.
Huge thanks to the Observer (tag them) for helping us spread the word about the telephone consultations we are offering to members of our community who have questions about COVID-19.
As the situation continues to unfold, we hope this will help conserve the resources of our amazing ER and urgent care staff and protect those that are very ill and require those resources.
Thanks to everyone in our community who is doing their part. We will get through this together by supporting each other.
Full article available here.
A big thank you to Blackburn News and Josh Boyce for this article, and helping to circulate the news that our office is taking COVID-19 related calls. In an effort to help ease the burden our healthcare system is facing during this pandemic, we've opened up our phone lines, 7 days a week, to the public—regardless of whether you are a current patient or not.
We know that call volumes at your Primary Care Provider and Ontario Telehealth are extremely high right now. So to help patients get access to the information they need, our team is standing by to help. Simply contact our office at 519.339.9233 to set up your consultation call.
Full article available here.
Cannabis companies hoping to expand the medical market will have to overcome the conservatism towards cannabis amongst medical associations — both the Ontario Medical Association and the Canadian Medical Association support the dismantling of the medical cannabis regime altogether, arguing that with legalization, there remains no need for medical professionals to serve a “gatekeeper role.”
This kind of opposition, said Pearson, is what makes is so difficult to obtain funding to really understand how cannabis can improve the lives of seniors. “I treat seniors in a long-term care setting and I’m weaning down their use of anti-psychotics and opioids. To just say leave it up to themselves, that means you’re saying they should self-medicate, which is absurd.” Read full article here.
At the close of 2018, the U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams made a bold move, and called on the federal government to rethink marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I substance.
His belief– and that of researchers around the world– is that the current U.S. classification of marijuana inhibits research for medical advancements that include cannabis and cannabinoids.
This is long over-due and will have wide-reaching benefits for patients all over the world: "Reversing the excessively harsh and prohibitive laws for cannabis in the United States remains essential for making cannabis chemistry real human medicine." Read full article here.
By now, we all know that the opioid epidemic is widespread. Unfortunately, right here in my own small community, we still have one of the highest rates of opioid prescriptions in Ontario. In my new role as the Primary Care Lead, Addictions and Opioid Strategy, with the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network, I am looking forward to collaborating closely with doctors, other health care professionals and experts across the region to develop a progressive strategy to make a real impact on the addiction problems afflicting our community. Read more here.
From time to time, I like to share what is happening in other countries regarding access to medical cannabis. This article dives into the historic, recent changes to the laws in the UK.
The condition at the forefront of the campaign to legalize medical cannabis in the UK is childhood epilepsy, specifically, the cases of 13-year-old Billy Caldwell and 7-year-old Alfie Dingley.
Both children have severe epilepsy and were initially prevented from using cannabis oil treatments that helped improve their condition. Their heartbreaking stories made international news and the outcry fueled the recent changes in the UK. Real progress has been made in Britain - but some argue that access is still too restrictive.
Read full story from Bustle.com here.
From the Ottawa Citizen, November 1, 2018: A decade ago, Dr. Taylor Lougheed would never have imagined standing up in front of a crowd of people at a conference and talking about the potential benefits of cannabis for people recovering from stroke.
Lougheed is a family physician who works in sports, emergency and cannabinoid medicine. He’ll be one of the speakers on Friday at this year’s Ottawa Stroke Summit, an event that will bring together about 250 researchers, medical professionals and stroke survivors to hear about new frontiers in stroke treatment and prevention.
“I think this might be at the edge of their comfort zone,” said Lougheed, a physician at the Canabo Medical Clinic. “Scientists and physicians are taught to be skeptical. We’re taught to look under stones. But maybe some of my colleagues haven’t looked under these stones for some time. Science evolves.”
Full article here.
"Dr. Naftali, whose study is being billed as the first of its kind, found that an eight-week treatment with cannabis oil containing a four to one CBD to THC ratio produced clinical remission in up to 65 per cent of individuals with Crohn’s disease. The randomized, placebo-controlled study involved 50 people with moderately severe forms of the disease. The group that received cannabis oil also reported significant improvements in their quality of life."
Read full article here.
We have seen time and again the positive impact that cannabis can have on chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. New research is now emerging that cannabis can actually kill cancer cells. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done in this area but this is definitely one to watch closely:
“This isn’t fringe science anymore,” says Los Angeles pediatrician Dr. Bonni Goldstein, an expert in cannibinoid therapy who worked with the von Harz family. “Studies have shown that cannabis can help kill cancer, in conjunction with chemotherapy, and also help fight the side effects of chemo.”
Read the full article here.
