The Dose

Surgery delays, addiction, a steep drop off in ER visits, all contributed to a spike in excess deaths during the pandemic beyond COVID deaths. Yet for some common conditions, the drop in ER visits had no impact on patient outcomes. What does this tell us? And how can we tackle the surgery backlog? Dr. Peter Juni, the scientific director of The Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, explains.

Feeling anxious about re-entering society when pandemic restrictions are lifted? Or maybe you're feeling exuberant? Steven Taylor, author "The Psychology of Pandemics", and a professor and clinical psychologist in the department of psychiatry at UBC, walks us through the psychology of post-pandemic life — and why some people will experience lingering mental health side effects, while others will experience something called post-traumatic growth.

What's the difference between seeing a therapist and trusting a therapist? Dr. Hillary McBride and her clients want you to hear for yourself in Other People’s Problems. After working together for years, they want to demystify the long game when it comes to mental health and let us hear what years of therapy really sound like. More episodes are available at hyperurl.co/otherpeoplesproblems

Coronavirus is airborne, so what does that mean for how we fight COVID outbreaks? Michael Brauer, a professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC, is calling for a shift in COVID prevention strategies. He says we need to focus more on ventilation and much less on disinfecting — particularly because cleaning products can be associated with some health conditions.

Catherine Hankins, the co-chair of Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, explains why achieving herd immunity may be elusive, but stopping transmission with vaccines can lead to a similar return to some semblance of normalcy — and that should be the focus.

Surveys suggest cannabis use in Canada is up by as much as 35% in the pandemic. And cannabis sales doubled in this country last year. So what are the risks of cannabis use? And how can you minimize those risks? Neuroscientist Sarah Konefal, a research and policy analyst with Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, has the lowdown on the reducing the harms of getting high.

The risk of catching coronavirus outdoors is very low. Yet new pandemic restrictions in Ontario ban most outdoor sports and gatherings. Infectious diseases physician Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti joins Dr. Brian Goldman to debunk myths about outdoor transmission - and explain why being outside is so much safer than being inside, and what you can do to reduce your risk even further.

The COVID variant P1 is surging in BC and spreading east. Infectious diseases and critical care specialist Dr. Srinivas Murthy joins Dr. Brian Goldman to break down what you need to know about P1 - and what can be done to stop it, including restricting interprovincial travel.

Learning how to breathe better can have real impacts on your overall health, according to James Nestor, author of “Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art”. He shares tips on how we can harness the power of our breath, even when we're wearing a mask, and feel better physically and mentally as a result.

This week we hand The Dose over to you. Canadians have been on a roller-coaster with changing guidance on the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, so we put your questions to infectious disease specialist Dr. Zain Chagla who, despite rising COVID-19 numbers and vaccine concerns, remains optimistic.