http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health Winnipeg Free Press health-related stories from Winnipeg and around the world. en-gb Thu, 23 May 2013 12:30:05 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/heating-cooling-mats-for-dogs-and-cats-recalled-due-to-health-risk-for-kids-pets-208536091.html OTTAWA - Health Canada says a line of heating-cooling mats for dogs and cats is being recalled due to a potential risk for children and pets. Royal Canin has determined its mats contain diethylene glycol. The potentially dangerous chemical can be released from the mat if it is damaged, and can... Wed, 22 May 2013 14:35:06 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/canada-lifts-lifetime-ban-on-gay-men-giving-blood-but-some-restrictions-remain-208478281.html TORONTO - Canada is lifting a nearly 30-year-old ban on gay men giving blood, though for the time being only those who are abstinent will be allowed to donate. The new policy, which Canadian Blood Services hopes to have in place by mid-summer, will allow men to give blood if they haven't had sex Wed, 22 May 2013 17:06:11 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/montreal-issues-boil-water-advisory-208494861.html MONTREAL - Over one million Montrealers were affected by a boil-water advisory Wednesday after an apparent malfunction at Canada's second-biggest filtration plant. The incident resulted in brownish water gushing from fire hydrants and an unpleasant aroma wafting, at least temporarily, over parts Wed, 22 May 2013 18:08:04 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/american-cancer-society-born-at-a-time-when-cancer-was-a-lesser-threat-marks-100-years-208447151.html NEW YORK, N.Y. - The American Cancer Society — one of the nation's best known and influential health advocacy groups — is 100 years old this week. Back in 1913 when it was formed, cancer was a lesser threat for most Americans. The biggest killers then were flu, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and Wed, 22 May 2013 10:13:13 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/portland-ore-residents-voting-whether-to-put-fluoride-in-water-last-big-city-without-it-208430991.html PORTLAND, Ore. - The mayor of Portland, Ore., has conceded defeat in an effort to add fluoride to the city's drinking water. With more than 80 per cent of the expected ballots counted late Tuesday night, the Multnomah County election website showed the fluoride proposal failing, 60 per cent to Wed, 22 May 2013 02:02:04 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/family-members-want-rcmp-to-do-more-for-officers-with-post-traumatic-stress-208391671.html VANCOUVER - Krista Bouchard was married to a Mountie for 13 years — a quirky, funny, chatty guy she'd met on a blind date. Thirty-year-old Martin Bouchard was an RCMP officer in Manitoba and had a French accent and plenty of friends. But three years into the marriage, Krista Bouchard started Tue, 21 May 2013 20:49:03 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/illicit-drug-users-in-abbotsford-bc-sue-to-back-demands-for-health-services-208336531.html VANCOUVER - Three injection drug users filed a lawsuit Tuesday over an Abbotsford, B.C., bylaw that has banned harm-reduction services such as clean needle exchanges for the past eight years, arguing the prohibition violates their charter rights and needlessly puts them at risk. The lawsuit Tue, 21 May 2013 18:10:31 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/new-brunswick-discouraging-new-family-doctors-from-practising-medical-residents-208308671.html FREDERICTON - New Brunswick is discouraging family physicians from practising in the province despite a growing need for care, a number of doctors in the Maritimes say. Medical residents from throughout the region have written an open letter expressing their concerns to Premier David Alward and Tue, 21 May 2013 12:28:04 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/active-transportation-declines-fewer-kids-commuting-by-foot-bike-report-finds-208277161.html TORONTO - Fewer Canadian kids are commuting by walking or biking as a new report reveals a marked decline among young people using active modes of transportation. Active Healthy Kids Canada released its annual Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth on Tuesday, assigning a "D" Tue, 21 May 2013 17:52:36 CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/skin-picking-gets-status-as-distinct-disorder-should-help-sufferers-access-help-208158511.html TORONTO - Angela Hartlin's legs are covered with small bloodied sores that overlay myriad scars, ghost-like reminders of similar lesions that have dotted her skin for years. For more than decade, she has been obsessively picking at the skin on her legs, chest and face — sometimes for many hours Mon, 20 May 2013 12:45:09 CDT