Providence In the News

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St. Paul’s Hospital is celebrating a milestone in a medical procedure it pioneered a decade ago.

The procedure allows for the replacement of a patient’s heart valve, without open heart surgery, by using a catheter.

The procedure is relatively painless, patients recover quickly, and many remain awake for the entire procedure. They are also able to go home one day after the operation.

Today, the hospital performed that surgery for the 1,000th time, live on video to a large gathering of medical specialists in downtown Vancouver.

How do opioids affect the brain and body?

Dr. Evan Wood, an addiction specialist at St. Paul’s Hospital, compares the deluge of dopamine that floods the brain after a hit of heroin to the blip the brain would get from a naturally pleasurable experience — a cold glass of water on a hot day, a satisfying meal, sex — to be a ratio of about 1,000 to one. “That’s not an exact number, but it gives a general sense of how intense the feeling is,” he explains.

The latest health and beauty fad is a medley of vitamins and minerals fed directly into your bloodstream through an IV drip. It’s supposed to rehydrate and revitalize your body quickly but as Elaine Yong reports, health care professionals are urging caution.

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Vancouver Coastal Health and St. Paul’s Hospital are joining forces to combat Vancouver’s soaring alcohol and drug addiction problem with the appointment of Dr. Evan Wood as the new medical director for addiction services at VCH and physician program director for addiction at Providence Health Care.