image courtesy of flickr, nagdr Recently, I took a health book to read on my vacation. I had enjoyed Siddhartha Mukherjee's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer and was looking forward to his latest book The Gene: An Intimate History. Well, let me tell you that reading a 592 page tome at the beach […]
Staying hydrated in this heat can be as challenging or easy as you choose, especially with the LCBO's announcement of an online ordering and delivery service. National Mojito Day was on July 11th, but there are many different delicious options available for the rest of summer: Trying to stay healthy and cool? Check these out: Exercising […]
We are starting an exciting phase of the renovation program at the North York Central Library this week – this is the beginning of the construction of the new Circulation, Browsery and Children’s areas on the main floor. When completed, this will include a large KidStop for young children featuring a transportation theme, a Discovery […]
Ever wondered how long you will live or how you might die? I have and it appears that there is at least one other person who shares this morbid interest. Nathan Yau is a statistician who used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Underlying Cause of Death database to create graphs which show the […]
image courtesy of iconfinder.com Sleep — I just can't seem to get enough! I love reading about how to get the best sleep possible. I'm not the only person interested in sleep — my colleague Emoke did a great blog post on the health effects of sleep deprivation and how to foster better 'sleep hygiene' […]
Image courtesy of http://www.worldislandinfo.com It's Earth Month 2016 and the time has come to take seriously our impact on the planet. Toronto Public Library is happy to present the best of our collections on environmental education, geared to children, teens and adults. Watch for environmental displays in branches across the city and pick up some […]
Image courtesy of Wikipedia Health literacy is "the ability to access, comprehend, evaluate and communicate information as a way to promote, maintain and improve health…" (Public Health Agency of Canada). People with low health literacy levels are less able to manage their health conditions, more likely to rate their health as poor and they have higher […]
I remember the first time I was ever in a health foods store and looked at bottles of compounds such as Coenzyme Q10 and St. John's Wort Oil, and thought that any claims for these remedies for colds or allergies must be due to the placebo effect. I was similarly skeptical when I saw ads in […]
image courtesy of Wikipedia.com The microbiome is "the complete genetic content of all the microorganisms that typically inhabit a particular environment, especially a site on or in the body, such as the skin or the gastrointestinal tract" (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 2011). I first heard the term microbiome a few years ago with respect to the […]
When one is searching for health information, the usual suspects come to mind–books, encyclopedias and magazines. The latest research is available in journal articles which can be found in the library's databases, Health Reference Center Academic and Health and Wellness Resource Center. Health information can also be found in eBooks and eAudiobooks in Overdrive or […]