some of our favourite healthing stories of 2022
we took a look at the impact of racial inequality, what it takes to be a caregiver and ... lettuce tea?
5 minute read
queen latifah accepts the lifetime achievement award during the bet awards at microsoft theatre in los angeles, california, u.s., june 27, 2021. reuters/mario anzuoni org xmit: mexsin
as 2022 wraps up, what better time to reflect on some of our favourite stories this year. here are ten that we think are worth a read.
music and acting legend queen latifah spoke to healthing’s emma jones about the psychological toll that can accompany the stigma around obesity.
“i remember throughout my life, at periods of time, i would get this flash of … this self-hate, self-loathing. it was just weird. it was scary,” she said. “and it was something that i had to really try to control. i couldn’t control when it happened to me, but i try to turn my mind around and try to get out of that space.” read more
a few weeks after his wife tania’s death from colorectal cancer, alexander boldizar shared his frustration, heartbreak and anger about the poor quality of health-care that his wife received — including the denial of a colonoscopy, which could have saved her life. he channelled these difficult emotions into a letter to her oncologist.
“when we asked to try the diabetes drug metformin because of a study that showed it could inhibit metastatic colorectal cancer, you refused to even consider it — even though metformin is one of the most widely used medications in the world with a good side-effect profile.” (tana died on feb. 28, 2022 of colorectal cancer.) read more
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it’s well-established that structural inequalities in the health-care system contribute to disproportionate numbers of people of colour often being the most at risk of disease and death. after her brother died from avoidable and treatable complications of sickle cell disease — an illness that disproportionately affects the black community — lanre tunji-ajay wanted to do something about it.
she spoke to writer sadaf ahsan about founding the sickle cell awareness group of ontario in her brother’s memory, and why race can often be an unjust barrier to good medical treatment. read more
skin care trends were everywhere in 2022, and they were not all created equal: while some of the science behind skin claims is sound, some of it is totally ridiculous. writer vanessa hrvatin helped separate the fact from the fiction.
“skin is a big deal — as the largest organ in the human body, it plays a major role in our overall health and can also cause a lot of grief, with more than 3,000 known skin disorders. do you know everything there is to know about skin?” read more
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als is a devastating illness: there’s no known cause, no cure, and few treatment options. what goes through the head of a patient who’s just received that diagnosis?
healthing’s emma jones spoke to adam welburn-ross, a father of two, who found out he had als at age 43. he told her that even though the diagnosis was horrifying, it provided him with some clarity.
“i started to think about some of the most ridiculous things you would think about. all the obvious stuff, like i’m going to miss my kids’ weddings, i’m not going to see my grandkids. i was getting very upset; it was tearing me apart. and then i thought, i can’t stop. i can’t live in a future i don’t know and mourn something i think i’m going to miss out on. that’s not how life works.” read more
schizophrenia is both a highly stigmatized and misunderstood illness. while movies and tv almost always depict people with the illness as hallucinating, the reality is that some of the most common symptoms include what’s called a flat affect (emotions don’t show) and avolition — the inability to find motivation to perform tasks that have an end goal. a new drug called vraylar addresses those symptoms specifically, but it isn’t accessible to the people who need it most.
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healthing’s maija kappler spoke to katrina tinman, who lives with schizophrenia as well as leading advocates and representatives from canadian health agencies to understand why people with this disease can’t get the help they need. read more
study uncovers what it takes to be a big jerk
why are some people nice while others are so unpleasant? a study with the evocative title “‘they are such an a-hole:’ describing the targets of a common insult among english-speakers in the united states” tried to answer that question. read more
with the series, how i care, healthing highlighted the stories of one of the country’s most significant unpaid workforces: people who care for friends or family members.
maja begovic spoke to sherron grant, who cares for isaiah, her adult son with autism. isaiah has a full and happy life, with several part-time jobs he enjoys and hobbies he’s good at. but sherron and her husband have dealt with a frustrating lack of resources, especially once their son aged out of childhood.
“as parents, we didn’t receive any support — instead, we were given a piece of paper from the doctor with the formal diagnosis, and we were expected to find our own way through it,” she said. there was a period when we stopped going to church because of the way our son was treated. there was also a time when my faith was quite challenged, and so i sought emotional support from the people around us, and i also attended a parents’ support group. to just be in a room with mostly other moms who understood where i was coming from — my fears, my hurt, my anger and my pain — is what got me through it.” read more
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tiktok has grown exponentially in the last few years — and like it or not, it’s becoming the place that many people get their health information.
luckily, healthing’s emma jones can step in to talk to do some research, talk to experts and find out just how much of this social media wisdom is worth following. read more (and watch the video!)
teri price’s brother greg died just days after he was told he might have testicular cancer. his death seemed entirely preventable: a red flag for his cancer was detected at one clinic he went to, but not the next; there was no followup scheduled after a doctor’s practice moved; a fax request for an urgent appointment went unanswered.
“before greg’s death, we assumed that health care, like other sectors, had evolved over time to adopt tools for effective communication and information sharing,” price writes. “we were wrong.”
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