Advances in Laser Vision Correction Procedures

I’ve been wearing prescription glasses since I was a child, and when laser eye surgery came around I was sceptical to say the least. A friend of mine had the surgery when it first came about and complained of dry eyes and blurry night vision. I figured before I gave it any consideration, I’d give the medical community a few years to work out the bugs. 

LASIK

LASIK which is the most common type of laser eye surgery stands for Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis. Although it’s not invasive, removing tissue from the cornea to change its shape sounds invasive to me. Although I am still a little afraid, the advances in procedure I’ve been reading about have gotten me to re-consider it.

New advances in the last two decades have introduced the new and improved LASIK, known as LasikXtra which is said to dramatically reduce the risk of infection, regression, and eptheial ingrowth. Opthalmic surgeon Bobby Qureshi says it is “the biggest thing in laser eye surgery in the last 20 years”. The treatment cross-links corneal fibres making them thicker and more resilient. 

If you’re like me and considering having the surgery, and you have a health insurance plan you might be surprised to find that you have coverage for the laser eye surgery. If you don’t have health insurance but are considering having the surgery check into a plan that offers coverage to help lessen the cost.

Don’t Take Chances with your Mental Health

Mental illness has been referred to as the invisible disease as it is still surrounded by social stigma among Canadians.

Your mental health is as important as your physical health. One in five Canadians (6.7 million) suffer from a mental health issue, a fact that costs the economy over $50 billion a year. In most cases, a mental health condition will reveal itself before the age of 24, affecting individuals in their prime working years.

About 3,500 Canadians fall under suicide-related deaths; it’s the second leading cause of death for young Canadians. Canada is the only G7 country without a national mental health strategy. Last year, Parliament passed Bill C-300 which imposes the task on Ottawa to come up with a plan to combat suicide. Partners for Mental Health would like to see the government invest $100-million over the next four years towards educating teens and crisis intervention.

Because there is an element of shame attached to mental illness, many victims go undiagnosed and suffer silently, and others self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. One of the biggest problems is that, unless you have a private health insurance plan, you can remain on a waiting list upwards to a year before receiving counselling after a diagnosis.

Going through the public health care system can be a trying ordeal. A private health insurance plan can not only help reduce costs when continual medication is necessary, which is often the case with mental illness, but it can also diminish the waiting time for counselling sessions. It can ensure you seeing a doctor of your choice and getting quality treatment when you need it. 

When your mental health is at stake, you want to get diagnosed promptly; if prescription medication is needed, you want to begin treatment in conjunction with therapy as soon as possible.

Health Insurance Plans in Canada

Is Insurance on your To-Do List?

Last night my son’s girlfriend, her friend and son were the victims of a house fire. They barely escaped with their lives, jumping out of a two storey window to safety. They were renting the premises and didn’t have home insurance for tenants. 

As a consequence, they have walked away from this experience with nothing but the clothes on their backs and the support of loved ones. It was fortunate that the girls only sustained a few minor injuries and the baby was unharmed. 

The Red Cross has helped them a great deal, and so have friends and family. There has also been an incredible outpouring of aid from city residents. Nevertheless, the incident has brought about the realization that having home insurance can make a big difference.

Acquiring insurance is too often put on the “to-do list” to be dealt with later on, be it  house insurance, health insurance, or life insurance. When all is going well in life, we tend to ignore the “what ifs”.  What if I suddenly get sick and cannot work? What if my house goes up in smoke? What if I have an accident and meet an untimely death? In such situations, many will worry about how to get back on their feet and about the support of their family. 

There’s no time better than the present to address the subject of insurance.

Prescription Drug Abuse in Canada

Canada is second to the United States for its misuse of prescription drugs. It has been estimated that over 350,000 Canadian kids have taken pharmaceutical drugs that were not prescribed to them by a doctor. A recent Ontario report revealed that the number of opioid-related deaths soared by 242 per cent between 1991 and 2010. Opioids are in the group of medicinal drugs that contain opium (or an opium-like substance) that is usually prescribed by physicians for pain relief. 

Prescription Drugs

Because of the issues associated with prescription drug abuse in Canada, federal health minister Rona Ambrose announced that Health Canada will be imposing more descriptive warnings on labels for controlled-released prescription narcotics.  It wants to modify such labels that display “for moderate pain” to labels that clarify that these types of drugs are to be used “for severe pain”.

Ambrose was quoted as saying that prescription drug abuse is “a major public health and safety concern” for many Canadians and remarked that this country is second only to the United States for its per capita consumption of prescription opioids.

What Can We Do?

One practical and reassuring way to restrain prescription drug abuse in our own homes would be to return unused portions to drug stores. Canada’s National Drug Take Back Campaign has partnered with Shopper’s Drug Mart and Pharmaprix to help tackle this issue.

Find a drug store near you and participate in this positive campaign. Remove all leftover pain medications from your medicine cabinet and help reduce the misuse of prescription drugs in Canada.