If you measure your blood pressure at home, compare your readings with what your medical professional measures at the clinic to gauge the accuracy your home blood pressure monitor.

Guide Health: What you need to know about home testing

With any home test, check to make sure you know what it actually tests for, and that you are aware of its limitations

Reading Time: 3 minutes Home tests give you information about your health or medical condition while enabling you to maintain your privacy. Some home tests are commonly used. Think about the blood glucose or sugar tests you use if you have diabetes, or the pregnancy and fertility tests that help you with family planning. The idea is to help […] Read more

Close up of syringe for insulin and Glucose meter with lancet for check blood sugar level on white background using as Medicine, diabetes, glycemia, health care and people concept.

Guide Health: Sorting through the alphabet on diabetes drugs

Diabetes treatment is more complex, but the principles are easy to understand

Reading Time: 2 minutes Insulin, at one time, was the only drug available to treat diabetes. Today there are many different classes of drugs which are often used together, although sorting through the different classes can be confusing. Diabetes occurs when your pancreas doesn’t manufacture enough insulin or none at all. In your body, insulin is used to metabolize […] Read more


A cough that lasts for more than three weeks is considered chronic, which includes about half of all cases.

Guide Health: That dry, hacking cough

No wonder they hurt… coughs can eject air from your lungs at 500 m.p.h.!

Reading Time: 2 minutes A cough is your body’s attempt to rid itself of something that is irritating your airways. You will be familiar with coughs associated with the common cold and the flu, but there are many other reasons for coughs. Other infections including pneumonia, tuberculosis and whooping cough can certainly cause coughs. But so can allergies, gastro-intestinal […] Read more

Close up saline IV drip for patient and Infusion pump in hospital

Guide Health: The cutting edge of biologicals

These newest types of drugs are manufactured by living organisms

Reading Time: 2 minutes Drugs are usually chemical molecules that block or enhance some activity within the body, and most drugs can easily be absorbed through your gastrointestinal tract in order to have their effect within the intended system. However, the newest types of drugs are termed biologicals because they are manufactured by living organisms such as bacteria using […] Read more


Back view of beautiful young woman in white undershirt combing her hair and smiling while looking into the mirror in bathroom

Guide Health: For healthier hair, focus on overall health

Hair loss, or even a change in the “healthiness” of your hair should be checked by your doctor

Reading Time: 2 minutes You are born with all your hair follicles, about 100,000 on your scalp, and you are not able to gain any more. There are actually two types of hair on your body. Vellous hair is the fine soft hair that covers the majority of your body, including the longer courser terminal hair that grows on […] Read more

emergency for an accident

Guide Health: Vital first aid for your first aid kit

Pre-packed first aid kits are convenient, but you should tailor them to your activities

Reading Time: 3 minutes Because most of us never really plan on needing them, it’s very easy not to think about that dusty box behind your workbench or the one tucked away in the trunk of your car. Giving your first aid kits just a bit of attention, however, can help make sure your kit does its job if […] Read more


Woman holding pill bottles

Guide Health: Antibiotic stewardship – it’s everyone’s job

As many as half of the 25 million prescriptions written for antibiotics in Canada each year are unnecessary

Reading Time: 2 minutes Antibiotic stewardship refers to a bundle of strategies to reduce antibiotic resistance. The aim of this stewardship effort is, yes, to treat infections effectively resulting in better health, but also to use the right antibiotic at the right time for the right infection, since this is a key measure for curbing future resistance. You may […] Read more

Stressed man trying to sleep in his bed at night

Guide Health: The pitfalls of sleep medication

Reading Time: 2 minutes Getting a good night’s sleep may be something you take for granted, or alternatively it may something with which you struggle. From time to time everyone experiences some degree of sleep problems with about 10 to 15 per cent of Canadians experiencing insomnia. Of those about half have chronic difficulty with sleep. Insomnia is simply […] Read more


Beautiful young smiling woman holding a spoon with sour cream while standing against white background

Guide Health: Are probiotics as good as they claim?

While probiotics are mostly considered safe, some people may need to avoid them

Reading Time: 2 minutes Probiotics seem to be everywhere these days. You find them as capsules on store shelves and as ingredients in food products, and they’re even available through internet shopping. Probiotics are promoted for a wide variety of conditions, but the main use is “good intestinal health.” Your intestines contain more than 100 trillion (yes, trillion!) micro-organisms […] Read more

Mature Woman Experiencing Hot Flush From Menopause

Guide Health: Hormones for menopause. Yes or no?

Women need to balance the risks versus the benefits of treatment

Reading Time: 2 minutes Menopause symptoms like “hot flashes” and “night sweats” are a big problem for every woman who experiences them. Yes, the symptoms will pass, but in the meantime you’re just miserable. Hormones like estrogen are involved in keeping your body temperature within a normal range, and when their levels decline in menopause, body temperature regulation is […] Read more