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A new study has found the best way to treat life-threatening allergic reactions is to immediately use epinephrine injectors such as the Epipen. This research involved nearly 3,500 people, 80 per cent of whom were between the ages of one and 17.

'Parents are afraid'

“Most of the studies suggest that less than 50 per cent of people use their epinephrine autoinjector even if they have it available,” says Dr. Moshe Ben-Shoshan, an allergist and immunologist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital and co-author of the study. “We know from previous studies that most parents are afraid that they will hurt their child and that seems to be the main reason. They are afraid they will not use it correctly.”

The study found that the autoinjector was used on the way to hospital in only 31 per cent of cases. In 46 per cent of cases, antihistamines were used and, in two per cent, steroids were administered.

The study found that when only steroids were used it was nearly three times more likely the patient would need to be admitted to intensive care or a hospital ward. (iStock)

Quick treatment saves lives

Results showed that when the epinephrine autoinjector was used, patients were nearly five times less likely to require multiple doses of epinephrine in the emergency room to control the life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis. When only steroids were used it was nearly three times more likely the patient would need to be admitted to intensive care or a hospital ward.

“So, we say the first line treatment for anaphylaxis...should be with epinephrine...and then, in conjunction with that, antihistamines like Reactine can be given,” says Ben-Shoshan. “We do not suggest to give steroids as a first-line treatment. We also suggest to go to the hospital because up to five per cent can have a second reaction and should be observed.

“It’s really important to treat appropriately in the first minutes because we know that fatality cases are associated with not giving epinephrine in the first 30 minutes.”

The most common food allergy is to peanuts. (iStock)

Change is needed, says doctor

Given these results, Ben-Shoshan suggests governments in Canada pass laws on the use of epinephrine autoinjectors and that they consider placing them in public places and schools so they are widely available in case of emergency.

Some eight per cent of Canadians have food allergies, most commonly to peanuts (21 per cent), tree nuts (15 per cent), eggs (seven per cent) and milk (seven per cent). Others may be allergic to drugs or venom. All may be at risk for anaphylaxis because after the first reaction, subsequent episodes are unpredictable.

The study was published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Dr. Moshe Ben-Shoshan explains why it is critical to use an epinephrine autoinjector in the first minutes of a severe allergic reaction.ListenEN_Interview_2-20190607-WIE20

(photo: MUHC)

Over 93 per cent of Canadians are personally motivated to reduce single-use plastic food packaging, according to a survey by Dalhousie University in eastern Canada. Almost 90 per cent think regulations to reduce the use of such packaging should be strengthened and more than 71 per cent support a total ban.

'Convincing, dramatic' results

“That is very convincing and that’s a very dramatic piece of data from this study,” says Tony Walker, an assistant professor and co-author of this study. “However what we did find, whilst most Canadians want to reduce their environmental impact…(they) don’t want to pay more than a 2.5 per cent price increase for a green alternative.”

The amount of plastic wrapping for food has increased dramatically over recent years to maintain food safety and to extend the shelf life of foods. Besides the huge quantity of plastic produces, many different types of are used, many of which are not recyclable by municipalities. The result is that the vast majority finds itself in landfills or the environment or is burned.

There is already some production of compostable food packaging. (iStock)

A call for alternatives to plastic packaging

This study suggests the food industry needs to produce packaging that closely aligns with what municipalities can recycle, and that there needs to be more research and development into alternatives to plastic packaging. Another recommendation is that there be more biodegradable compostable options.

Some change is already happening. A bulk food chain is allowing people to bring their own containers provided they are clean, as is a mainstream food retailer in the province of Quebec.

And today, the large Loblaw food chain announced a partnership with a company that will produce sturdy packaging that can be returned to it, then cleaned and sterilized for reuse.

Walker says the survey shows Canadians are ready for more action.

“I think now is the time for the food sector as well as policy-makers to get on board and not only talk about this but to come up with tangible policies that would allow this transition to reduce single-use plastics in our packaging.

Prof. Tony Walker explains his study and recommendations to reduce single-use food packaging.

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Canada’s Juno Beach Centre and museum is at Courseulles-sur-mer right behind a section of the 8-kilometre stretch of beach assigned to Canadians for the invasion. This was the centre of the Allied forces with British and American armies assigned landings to their left and right.

Today on the 75th anniversary of June 6, 1944, Canadian vets, and literally thousands of family members, local residents and visitors assembled just behind the beach on the Juno Centre grounds to remember the sacrifice of the hundreds of Canadians killed, the hundreds more wounded, and the remaining few veterans, all in the 90’s, who were able to make the trip.

The few dozen Canadian veterans able to make the trip were clearly the stars of the ceremony being honoured as they and the crowd honoured the sacrifices of the many thousands of Canadians who fought on the beach and in the following deadly year-long battle to end the war. (via CBC)

Brigadier-General (ret’d)  Ernest Beno was in attendance at the major ceremonial event today at Courseulles-sur-mer along with Major Richard Gratton of Montreal with HQ 2 Div. Support Group.

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Maj. Richard Gratton (R) with D-Day veteran Bell Anderson, originally of Saint John New Brunswick, a D-Day veteran with the artillery for the Normandy campaign.campain

The ceremony today was well-organised by Veterans Affairs, and carried out with great dignity.

After the ceremony, the veterans all made their way to the beach to be once again, where they once ran to face an entrenched enemy and where many comrades fell never to rise again.

After the ceremony many of the veterans walked or asked to be taken in wheelchairs down to the beach where there are many lifelong memories (Andy Clark-Reuters)

Many young students had been brought from Canada to also take part in the event where they had the chance to meet these veterans and hear their stories, to learn about Canada’s history, and to take back that memory to share with others of their generation.

Aerial view of the emotional Canadian ceremony at Juno Beach. The black dots on the stage are pairs of soldier's boots to represent the fallen The beach that Canadians stormed across 75 years ago is just out of the photo at the bottom directly behind the stage (CBC)

This will also be the case for the group of artillery soldiers with Brig-Gen. Beno. He is leading a group of 60 Canadian military personnel, several of whom are on their first trip to the battle sites of Canada’s two world wars.

BGen. (ret'd) Ernest Beno (right) with the Hon. Romeo Dallaire (centre)- former LGen. and retired Senator. along with members of the artillery group on tour, shown at the ceremony at Juno Beach, Courseulles, June 6, 2019

Their trip has been financed in part with their own funds and through private donations.

Though the main Canadian event for this anniversary is over along with the international ceremony which was held at the same location a few hours later, the group has smaller commemoration events to attend to in the coming days

On the 8th, the group will take part in a dedication ceremony of a Canadian 25pdr field piece at Point 67 overlooking the outskirts of Caen where Canadians fought a series of bitterly contested battles at heavy cost.  The gun placement was an initiative of Gen. Beno who raised funds from private donations, including Britton Smith of Kingston Ontario, a veteran of the Normandy campaign and still an active 99 year old businessman.

The Canadian made QF 25pdr field piece marked to the 4th Field Regiment, "C" Troop, gun, now inposition overlooking Troteval Farm on Point 67. Found in Ireland it was purchased and restored thanks to generous private donations. it will be dedicated on June 8th

Thousands of people are on the beaches and towns of Normandy, France, as the anniversary of Allied landings approaches.

The historic event that led to the liberation of Europe from Nazi control is just a day away.

Among those visitors is a group of young Canadian soldiers and reservists seeing for themselves the battlefields and sacrifices made by other young Canadian soldiers, who like them, were volunteers in the military. After visiting Juno Beach itself they joined with others, veterans, visitors, and descendants to take part in the ceremony to commemorate Canadian fallen at the Beny-sur-Mer cemetery.

BGen. (ret’d) Ernest Beno and Master Bombardier Stacey Harris of Lethbridge, Alberta spoke to us by mobile phone from the Canadian cemetery at Beny-sur-Mer.

Gen (ret'd) Ernest Beno and MBdr S Harris on their visit of Normandy battlefields and Juno Beach, D-Day 75EN_Interview_1-20190605-WIE10

Canada's military is an all-volunteer force, as was the case over  seven decades ago. All the young soldiers in the army, air force, and navy who took part in the D-Day invasion were themselves volunteers

A commemorative ceremony was held today at the Canadian cemetery a Beny-sur-Mer, with Canada's Governor-General in attendance (via CBC news)

who had left the security of their homes in Canada. They were farmers, store clerks, bank managers, industrial workers, lumberjacks, fishermen, and miners. They came from all walks of life and from all parts of Canada, to fight for a cause they believed in.

Canadian veterans of the D-Day landings, now int their mid to late 90's, were in attendance at the June 5th ceremony at Beny-sur-Mer Canadian cemetery.(via CBC)

Some in the group on this visit have a special reason to be at the cemetery. They want to visit particular graves such as the two artillery men who had heard the story of Bdr.C.S May, killed when a mine blew up under the jeep he was driving. To know the story is one thing, but to be there at the grave site, was especially moving.

Two Canadian artillery gunners, (L-R) Gnr Jonathan Hemings, 1 Reg't Royal Canadian Horse Artillery and Gnr. Cole Kelloway, 4th Support Reg't RCA,,who are part of the group tour, visit the grave of Bdr. CS May, who was killed when the jeep he was driving hit an anti-tank mine. (supplied)

Gunner Johnathan Hemings, 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, left. Gunner Cole Kelloway, 4th General Support Regiment RCA Right.

For an officer like Gen. Beno, the reflection was on the burden weighing on officers of the war who had to make decisions ta send these young men into situations knowing that many would not survive.

War diary for 12 Field Reg't, Royal Canadian Artillery June 6-7, 1944

The main commemoration ceremonies for this auspicious 75th anniversary will take place tomorrow at Couseulles-sur-mer in the Canadian Juno Beach sector.

Additional information

Juno Beach Centre

Laurier Centre for Military Strategic and Disarmament Studies: Military History Archives(war diaries)

Canadian Press (via Ottawa Citizen): Jun 5/19: Canadian D-Day film among best invasion images

It's been a hard--sometimes disheartening--slog for Canadian animal activists, but they are about to have a very, very good spring.

And so are the animals the activists have long sought to protect and nurture.

Hundreds of sharks were seized from a Taiwanese fishing vessel in Palau in August 2011. (Associated Press/Micronesian Shark Foundation )

Two historic bills are about to pass in Canada's Parliament.

One bans the importation of shark fins into this country; the other bans keeping whales and dolphins in captivity.

Shark fins are seen during their drying process at Kalibaru district in Jakarta, Indonesia. The federal Liberal government is backing a move to ban shark fin imports. (Beawiharta/Reuters)

It was the shark fin ban that came across the wires overnight.

Canada banned finning in territorial waters in 1994 but never banned their import.

One type of shark fin soup, a status symbol in Asian communities. A single bowl can cost around $100 in N. America. (Kin Cheung/The Associated Press)

It is currently the third largest importer of shark fins outside Asia, trailing only China and Hong Kong.

Last year, Canada imported over 148,000 kilograms of shark fins, worth an estimated $3.2 million.

Qila, a beluga whale at the Vancouver Aquarium, receives a freshly prepared herring from trainer Katie Becker. A bill to ban whale and dolphin captivity in Canada has passed the Commons fisheries committee and is set for a final debate and vote. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

In 2018 world-wide, 73 million sharks were slaughtered.

The global population of sharks is now depleted by 90 per cent.

Camille Labchuk is executive director of Animal Justice. (Courtesy: Animal Justice)

But a hard-earned victory for those who love animals appears to be at hand.

The politics have been rough-and-tumble and activists had more than their share of disappointments, but Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice, is smiling a lot these days.

I spoke with her by phone Wednesday at her office in Ottawa.

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The television ratings are boffo, there are reports that single tickets are selling for $100-thousand apiece and Jurassic Parks are springing up across the country and elsewhere--putting to rest any doubts that professional basketball is the game of choice in Canada right now.

As we told you last week, it's been a long time--26 years--since any Canadian team has won a championship in any of North America's major spectator sports.

The Toronto Raptors are trying to do something about at the moment as they their first appearance in the National Basketball Association Finals

Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard during a team practice for the NBA Finals in Toronto last Saturday. The Raptors and Golden State Warriors are currently tied at one win each ahead of Game Three of the best-of-seven Finals on Wednesday. Leonard and his teammates have enthralled much of the country. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

The team they are playing, the Golden State Warriors, are the defending champs and this marks their fifth straight appearance in the Finals. (They have won three of the past four.)

The Raptors looked like world beaters in Game One and then let a big lead slip away in Game Two.

Game Three is Wednesday night in Oakland, Cal.

Their run--to understate--has enthralled Canadians across the country.

Basketball lovers in Canada are hoping the Raptors' success in the NBA Playoffs will have a major trickle-down effect. (Submitted by Don Fitzgerald, cbc. ca)

The newly-enthralled can join the crowd that has watched the game grow over the past 30 years, especially in the Toronto region, which is filled with hot-shot young players whose eyes are set on the NBA.

There has even been some talk that it's just a matter of time before basketball overtakes hockey as Canada's favourite winter sport.

That, it must be pointed out, remains to be seen and let's see what happens when (and if) a Toronto or Montreal NHL team makes in to a Stanley Cup Final.

For some perspective on where all this is headed, I spoke with Mike Hickey.

Hickey has been around the game since he was a kid on Long Island and around it in Canada since he first came to Montreal in 1971 to play at Sir George Williams University, a team he later coached with elan.

Mike Hickey has been involved in Canadian basketball since 1971. (cbc.ca)

He currently has two coaching jobs in Montreal--the women's program at John Abbott College and at Lakers Academy.

He also serves as a guest coach at basketball camps and clinics across the United States and in his spare time is both an author and a journalist.

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Yes, you read that correctly. It’s an event to demystify and educate and entertain, all centered on that particular feminine body part. The Montreal event to celebrate the vulva is believed to be a Canadian first and indeed possibly unique in the world.

Mel Goyer is the founder of Festivulve

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Goyer says that for too long the female genitals have either been taboo, a source of shame or embarrassment, or at the opposite end, been associated with pornography.

Founder Mel Goyer with lifesize 3-D model of a clitoris. (supplied)

She says she got the idea to change that and so created an event where people could learn more about it but in a highly festive atmosphere, and in a way accessible and appropriate to various age groups.

Festivulve last year was such a success that a bigger version "2" is being held this weekend in Montreal, (Festivulve)

Goyer notes that a great many people, women included, are unaware of many aspects, form and function of female genitalia.

After overcoming the initial hurdle last year of finding a place that would agree to hold the event, for the exact reasons mentioned above, she says the first event was a big success.

A variety of artists with "themed" works will be available along with many other events, both informative and entertaining (Festivuvle)

This has led to this year’s event coming this weekend in Montreal at a community centre Saturday and Sunday.

This year the event has grown significantly for this second edition “Festivulve II” with

18 education conferences

12 “inspiring” workshops

13 related organisations participating including medical advice

27 vendor tables and kiosks

5 stage events

7 DJ’s “D-Jettes”

2 artists in the private “vulva booth” to take photos or mouldings

And a food section with delightful surprises.

An example of the "delightfully surprising foods that were available at last year's event (Festivulve)

Goyer says the event has sparked interest in France, and she also hopes to be able to create an English or at least officially bilingual version in the near future. It takes place this weekend at a community centre near the Jean Talon subway in Montreal.

additional information

Festivulve website (in French)

Festivulve Facebook (in French)

It is commonly recommended that people walk 10,000 steps a day for good health, but a new study suggests older women don’t need that much to lower their mortality rate.

It’s not clear how the goal was set. McGill University’s Office for Science and Society suggests a Japanese company introduced a new step-counter in 1965 and called it the “10,000 steps meter” and marketed it as such. It surmises the name caught on as a marketing slogan and is not scientifically proven to be the optimum number.

Mortality benefit peaked at 7,500 steps for older women

Researchers in the U.S. found that women in the 70s who took an average 4,400 steps had a 41 per cent lower mortality rate than those who took only 2,700 steps a day. Their mortality risk decreased as their number of steps increased but plateaued when they reached 7,500 steps.

“It’s not the first study that’s come out to say that we can still accrue health benefits walking less than 10,000 steps,” says Sarah Woodruff, an associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Windsor in Ontario. “I think the relevance (of this study) is that we don’t need to walk that 10,000 steps and if you don’t reach that 10,000 step goal each and every day, it’s okay. You’re still getting health benefits.”

Many Canadians spend a lot of time in front of screens. (iStock)

Walking good for blood sugar levels and blood pressure

Another study suggests that diabetics improved their sugar control while increasing their steps from 5,000 to 6,200. Yet another found people decreased their blood pressure by 11 points by increasing their step counts to 9,000.

So, it seems the 10,000 steps is an arbitrary number, but the message remains the same. Most Canadians are too sedentary, working in offices or spending too much time in front of screens and would benefit from moving more.

Hear Prof. Sarah Woodruff explain that taking fewer than 10,000 steps a day has benefits too.

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(photo: Mark Atkinson)

“We get set in our ways,” says Woodruff. “I think sometimes we just need to remember that we need to get up and move.” She suggests parking the car a distance from our destination and walking, taking the stairs instead of the elevator and getting to appointments or meetings early and going for a walk. She adds people meeting socially can go for a walk instead of going for coffee.

Walking good for mental health too, says professor

Walking, especially a brisk walk, has physical benefits, say Woodruff, but also has been found to decrease depression and improve mental health.

A sedentary adult who does not exercise regularly may take roughly 6,000 steps a day in their normal course of activity. A 30-minute walk generally involves about 3,000 to 4,000 steps, which would get your average person to 10,000.  It is generally recommended that people aged 18 to 64 get 150 minutes of moderate to vigourous physical activity per week.

As a prelude to the major ceremonies commemorating the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, a group of Canadian soldiers is touring battlefields, monuments, and cemeteries of the fallen in both World Wars.

I spoke with Brigadier-General (ret’d) Ernest Beno an organiser of the commemorative tour and  Sgt. Daniel Musgrave (7th Toronto Reg’t Royal Canadian Artillery) who is visiting these sties for the first time. They spoke to me by mobile phone from France.

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Late on June 5th, Canadian paratroops were among others dropped into France to disrupt enemy communications and transport lines, several hours prior to the landings on the beaches.

BGen (ret'd) Ernest Beno (L) and Sgt. Daniel Musgrave (R), of the 7th Toronto Reg't RCA, in front of a Canadian made 25 pdr field artillery gun. (supplied)

Although a nation small in population compared to Britain and the U.S, Canada was assigned one of the five landing beaches in the early hours of June 6, 1944,

The eight kilometre stretch was designated Juno and troops came ashore in daylight around 0800 amid heavy enemy gunfire.

Canadian paratroops dropping behind enemy lines late on June 5th early on June 6th prior to the beach landings. ( 1 Canadian Parachute Bn- YouTube)

From the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada  museum website an account by Doug Hester, ‘B’ Company:

“Then we saw the five pillboxes on top of the sea-wall. These were our first objective. About 500 yards out, they had us in their sites of their small arms and began shooting. When the craft got into shallower water, the Royal Marines lowered the door. The three in front of me including Doug Reed were hit and killed. By luck I jumped out between bursts into their rising blood. Cold and soaking wet, I caught up to Gibby…the first burst went through his back pack. He turned his head grinning at me and said, “that was close, Dougie.”…the next burst killed him.”

Vimy Ridge Memorial: Some of the members of the group of former and current Canadian soldiers with the Royal Canadian Artillery Flag who are touring Canadian battlesites prior to attending the 75th commemoration of D-Day at Juno Beach Normandy (supplied)

This year the group of mostly young regular force and reserve soldiers are learning and seeing up close, many of the sites where actions took place and of the sacrifice. As Sgt. Musgrave said, it’s both humbling and an honour to visit these places and provides an experience and understanding that cannot be fully expressed from books and teaching.

After visiting several WWI sites in the past two days, the group heads to the Normandy coast and the main D-Day commemoration at Courseulles-sur-mer at Juno Beach.

We will speak again with Gen. Beno in the coming days.

Additional information-sources

QOR Regimental Museum and Archives

Juno Beach Centre (Canadian museum)

Laurier Centre  Military History Archive: Normandy campaign war diaries

While the Canadian government provides paid parental leave for employees, there appear to be workplace barriers that prompt parents to avoid drawing attention to their children.

“It could be something small like not putting photos out on your desk,” says Lisa Durante, a working parent consultant. “Or it could be more significant like not talking about your children during working hours or, if your child falls ill and you’ve got to pick them up...you’ll say that you’re sick and have to go home rather than you have to go and get your child.”

Women are victims of 'the motherhood penalty,' says consultant

Durante says this happens because of  “the motherhood penalty” which she says is alive and well in many industries across Canada and around the world. “Women, once they become mothers, are penalized in terms of pay, in terms of promotion, but perhaps most significantly, in terms of ...how they are perceived by their colleagues, managers and senior people in the office.”

Once placed on the “mommy track” women may be perceived as less reliable and less committed to their careers and they may be passed over for promotions or raises.

Women who have to leave work to pick up a sick child may prefer to say they themselves are sick. (iStock)

Replacing an experienced employee is often expensive

Durante says companies lose out whenever employees have to hide any part of themselves. She says many women leave jobs where they feel underpaid or where their advancement is blocked and this, she says, costs firms dearly. “In Canada, we have a labour shortage but the talent war is all around the world...Companies need talent in order to innovate and to be creative and to work in this new disruptive economy.”

Durante suggests companies implement policy changes to keep their employees. She suggests creating parenting networks to have colleagues meet and discuss parenting challenges and benefits. She also says senior leaders should set the example by talking about themselves as parents.

Hear Lisa Durante explain why companies should make sure women don’t feel they have to hide their parenting.

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(Photo: Tynan Studio)