Category Archives: News
Asbestos ban is a good start but we need a registry, says Hancock | CUPE
May 11, 2016
Following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s announcement that the federal government is “moving forward on a ban” of asbestos, CUPE National President Mark Hancock reiterated CUPE’s call for a comprehensive ban of the deadly substance.
“Asbestos is killing CUPE members. It’s been a serious hazard for decades. We’re happy to hear the government is moving on this issue, and we want to see them do the right thing by introducing a comprehensive ban,” said Hancock.
A comprehensive ban means, among other measures:
- Banning the use, export and import of all asbestos-containing materials
- Establishing an expert panel to make recommendations for implementation of the ban
- Creating registries of cases of asbestos-related diseases and buildings used by the public that contain asbestos.
The Canadian Labour Congress has a detailed description of what a comprehensive ban would look like here.
“The government has to do more than just say ‘we’re banning it.’ We need to find out exactly where it is, so workers can take the appropriate actions to protect themselves from exposure. We need to prevent exposures, and support workers who have been exposed. It’s about protecting workers and protecting Canadians,” said Hancock.
Trudeau made the announcement on Tuesday at a building trades unions policy conference in Ottawa. No details or timetables for imposing a ban have been released. In April, CUPE joined the CLC in lobbying the federal government about implementing a comprehensive ban, and sent a letter to the prime ministeron the issue.
CUPE has been calling for a full ban of asbestos for decades, but successive governments have been slow to act and sometimes even worked counter to the cause, despite overwhelming evidence of the serious harm caused by exposure. Every year approximately 2,000 Canadians die from asbestos-related diseases.
Lyme Disease: Learn The Basics, What It’s All About
Lyme disease, and Lyme-carrying ticks are of serious concern with each passing year.
Lyme Basics
Lyme disease (often misspelled as “Lime” or “Lymes”) is an inflammatory infection that spreads to humans through tick bites.
Lyme is a borreliosis caused by borrelia bacteria, which commonly infects woodland animals like mice or deer. Ticks pick up the bacteria by biting infected animals, and then pass it on to their human hosts. The are many strains or genospecies of borrelia that cause Lyme disease (borreliosis) in humans just as there are many strains of the flu virus that cause flu symptoms in humans, with some strains more virulent than others.
3 stages of Lyme (often blurred together quite rapidly)
Stage 1: Early infection (first few days after infection)
Stage 2: Infection spreads (days to weeks following infection)
Stage 3: Chronic Lyme (days to weeks after infection if left untreated, or not properly treated, for months/years after infection)
Lyme disease is most treatable during Stage 1. As time passes, both treatment and diagnosis become more difficult. Symptoms worsen during each stage of infection, ranging from flu-like symptoms to neurological illnesses, including paralysis. With chronic Lyme disease there is not one system of the body that can be unaffected… this includes various hormone production as well.
Lyme disease is on the rise in Canada. Decrease your risk of infection by taking preventative action and learning more about Lyme.
Tick ID & Removal
Canada is home to many species of ticks, but the Ixodes Tick – more often known as the “black-legged” or “deer” tick – is the most common Lyme-carrier.
Ixodes ticks…
- Have hard-shelled brown and black bodies, but appear greyish when engorged and some times are confused with a skin tag
- Have 8 legs as adults, but baby ticks have only 6
- Are 1–5 mm long, but adults can grow up to 20 mm when feeding
Protect your family from Lyme. Learn how to identify various tick species and how to properly remove them if bitten.
Symptoms
Early treatment of Lyme disease is critical, however Lyme is very difficult to diagnose because symptoms vary from person to person. There are over 100 known symptoms of Lyme disease.
Common symptoms include:
- Developing a rash, sometimes shaped like a “bull’s eye” mark.
- Initial flu-like symptoms, such as: fever, headache, nausea, jaw pain, light sensitivity, red eyes, muscle aches and neck stiffness.
While some Lyme victims experience immediate symptoms after infection, others may have none for many months.
Source: Lyme Basics | CanLyme – Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation
Obesity less dangerous than 40 years ago
May 11, 2016
New research from Denmark involving more than 100,000 individuals suggests that the excess risk of premature death associated with obesity has decreased over the past 40 years. All-cause mortality was higher in obese individuals than in normal weight individuals in 1976-78, but not in 2003-13.
Many try to lose weight to avoid diabetes and cardiovascular disease and hopefully live longer. This is often driven by recommendations from health care authorities and is further supported by the media and not least, by commercials often presenting normal weight or even thin people as ideal humans.
“The increased risk of all-cause mortality associated with obesity compared to normal weight decreased from 30% 1976-78 to 0% in 2003-13,” says principal investigator Dr. Shoaib Afzal, Herlev Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark.
This research has just been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
What is the optimal BMI for lowest mortality?
The study also revealed changes in the BMI associated with the lowest all-cause mortality in three cohorts from Copenhagen, examined respectively in 1976-78, 1991-1994, and in 2003-2013 (all individuals were followed until 2014).
“The optimal BMI for the lowest mortality increased from 23.7 in 1976-78, through 24.6 in 1991-94, to 27 in 2003-13, while individuals with a BMI below or above the optimal value had higher mortality,” adds Shoaib Afzal.
“Compared to the 1970’s, today’s overweight individuals have lower mortality than so-called normal weight individuals. The reason for this change is unknown. However, these results would indicate a need to revise the categories presently used to define overweight, which are based on data from before the 1990’s” says senior author Clinical Professor Borge G. Nordestgaard, University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen University Hospital.
“Importantly, our results should not be interpreted as suggesting that now people can eat as much as they like, or that so-called normal weight individuals should eat more to become overweight. That said, maybe overweight people need not be quite as worried about their weight as before”, adds Nordestgaard.
Obesity and overweight are classified using Body Mass Index (BMI), calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. A BMI of 25-29.9 represents overweight, a BMI of 30 or greater represents obesity, while a BMI of 18.5-24.9 is considered normal weight. These categories are often used for recommendations on optimum weight.
Source: University of Copenhagen The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Source: Obesity less dangerous than 40 years ago | Science Codex
Fairness at work can affect employees’ health
May 11, 2016
Employees’ experiences of fairness at work can impact on their health, according to a new study involving the University of East Anglia (UEA).
The researchers investigated whether perceptions of what they call ‘procedural justice’, such as the processes in place to decide on rewards, pay, promotion and assignments, are related to employees’ health.
They found that when perceptions of fairness changed, the self-rated health of employees also changed, for example those who experienced more fairness on average over the period studied reported better health.
The finding suggests that fairness at work is a crucial aspect of the psychosocial work environment and that changes towards greater fairness can improve employees’ health.
It was also found that changes in employees’ health are related to changes in fairness perceptions, indicating that the health status of employees may also affect how employees feel treated at work.
The study, which focused on more than 5800 people working in Sweden, was conducted by Dr Constanze Eib, a lecturer in organisational behaviour at UEA’s Norwich Business School, and researchers from Stockholm University. The results are published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health.
Dr Eib said: “Our study provides a thorough examination of how fairness at the workplace and health of employees is related over time. The findings can help raise awareness among employers and authorities that fairness at work but also health is important to consider to increase satisfaction, well-being and productivity in the workplace and wider society.
“It is important to know about these issues as there may be things that can be done to improve perceptions of fairness at work. For example, making sure people feel their views are considered, they are consulted about changes and that decisions are made in an unbiased way.
“People who feel fairly treated are not only more likely to be motivated at work and go the extra mile for their organisation, but they are also more likely to be healthy, have an active lifestyle and feel positive.”
The study used data collected between 2008 and 2014 for the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health, which is conducted every two years and focuses on the associations between work organisation, work environment and health.
Participants were asked to rate their general state of health on a scale from one to five, one being ‘very good’ and five being ‘very poor’.
They were asked about their perception of fairness by saying to what extent they agreed or disagreed with seven statements relating to their organisation’s decision-making processes. These included ‘hear the concerns of all those affected by the decision’, ‘provide opportunities to appeal or challenge the decision’ and ‘all sides affected by the decision are represented’.
‘The influence of procedural justice and change in procedural justice on self-rated health trajectories: Results from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health’, Constanze Leineweber, Constanze Eib, Paraskevi Peristera, and Claudia Bernhard-Oettel, is published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health.
Source: University of East Anglia
Source: Fairness at work can affect employees’ health | Science Codex
Andrew Phillip Chernoff 