Health & Wellness

With February being Heart and Stroke Month, the Memorial Sports Centre and the Stroke Prevention Clinic are joining together to offer a fun approach to lowering your stroke risk factors.
For the month of February, the Memorial Sports Centre is offering free day passes to be used in the month of February for anyone who contacts the stroke prevention clinic.

To help more Ontarians quit smoking, people undergoing treatment for drug addictions soon will have access to free counselling supports, nicotine gum, and patches.
Over the next three years, the province will work with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to help nearly 23,000 smokers undergoing addictions treatment across Ontario.

If you are a male between the ages of 15-29, chances are you are going to be told by the Northwestern Health Unit to “Check ’em.”
January has turned into “MANuary”—a month dedicated to raising awareness of testicular cancer in Canadian men.

The Northwestern Health Unit released a report this month about the social determinants of health, including income, education, employment, inclusion, and housing, and how they affect the health of residents of the Kenora and Rainy River Districts.
Using statistics from numerous sources, the report makes several key points, such as:

Imagine looking into the mirror and seeing the face of a stranger.
Imagine you could hear what others had to say, but could make little sense of it.
Imagine if you couldn’t remember to do more than one task in a row.
Now imagine feeling that way every day of your life.

This is Alzheimer Awareness Month. . . . Let’s face it! Get the facts. Know for sure.
Canadians still are dismissing symptoms of dementia as “just old age” based on survey results released last week by the Alzheimer Society.
Close to 50 percent of Canadians lived a year or more with their symptoms before seeing a family doctor.
Of these, 16 percent waited more than two years.

Rooksana Randeree, RD, clinical dietitian for Riverside Health Care Facilities, Inc., is offering a “Healthy You” weight management program for free at La Verendrye hospital here.
The program is a group weight management approach that focuses on lifestyle changes that may help you reach—and maintain—a healthier body weight or shape.

Ontario is offering everyone 10 helpful tips to stay healthy and reduce the risk of spreading the ’flu and other viruses to your friends and family.
1. Get the ’flu shot (it’s free).

With many Ontarians choosing to join a gym or fitness club at this time of year, here is a simple checklist to help you make smart choices and protect yourself:
•Do your research (make sure the gym’s equipment is new or in good condition, the location and hours of operation are convenient, and the club is clean).

Families and caregivers of those with dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease will be able to gain insight as to what it is like to experience the world like their loved ones when the Alzheimer Society of Kenora-Rainy River Districts brings a free virtual dementia tour to Fort Frances next week to coincide with “Alzheimer Awareness Month.”