Conversations That Matter

Dr. John Muscedere: Combating Fatigue

Many people still believe frailty is associated with aging. We use to think it was an inevitable part of growing old. However, that is not true - Frailty is not a natural part of aging. There is more and more research that demonstrates we can avoid frailty.

 

As you age, you can make a choice to avoid frailty and keep yourself functioning independently longer by getting informed and participating in your health. Basically you have two choices, you can work to ensure your body functions optimally, or you can sit back and allow mother time to slowly chip away at your body and your mind.

 

The challenge, of course, is that sitting back is the antithesis of aging well. Even if you have chronic health conditions it is possible to exercise, eat well and get involved. In fact it is the best way to prevent frailty. When you stop moving, stop exercising your body and your brain, stop socializing, ..well, the consequences not only shorten your life they increase suffering.

 

There is a tsunami of boomers headed north of 70. I’m one of them. We’re in the pre-frailty stage of our lives.

 

The good news is we are learning a lot through research on how to identify frailty early and intervene sooner. Some of the leading research on frailty is done here in Canada and what we are learning is changing how doctors practice and what seniors can do to stay well. In order to age well you need to learn how to void frailty.

 

Doctor John Muscedere of the Canadian Frailty Network is committed to fighting frailty. He joins us this week for a Conversation That Matters on why frailty is the fight of our lives and what we and everyone involved in health care can and need to do about it.

 

Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.

 

Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Dr. Helene Langevin: The Science of Stretch

Okay, stretch and hold and hold and hold.

What happens when you stretch, what exactly are you stretching? Is it your muscle or is it your connective tissue?

Connective tissue or fascia - as it is also known as - is what holds us together, it is a net that suspends your organs – a high-tech adhesive that holds your cells in place while relaying messages between them.

The network is so extensive and ubiquitous that if you were to lose every organ, muscle, bone, nerve and blood vessel - your body would still retain its shape.

So what happens when you don’t stretch and when you do stretch how long should it?

These questions lead to a decade’s long research project into acupuncture and stretch.

It started when our guest Dr. Helene Langevin of the Harvard Medical School, Brigham Women’s Hospital questioned why acupuncture needles grab, what are they grasping and how long should the treatment last?

Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Jocelyn Macdougall and Mark Busse: Interesting Vancouver

For more than a decade Interesting Vancouver has been addressing issues that challenge us, make us unique, make us uncomfortable and make us talk to one another.

Interesting Vancouver is about dialogue, it’s about rolling your sleeves up and digging into conversations with other people who invite you into a world that is new to you, people who introduce you to a Vancouver you didn't know existed.

It’s about admitting you don’t have the answers but you’re willing to muddle your way through a messy process. A process that breaks down barriers and invites participants to set aside our minor differences and embrace our common humanity.

Neat little solutions to complex problems do not exist and you won’t find them at Interesting Vancouver, what you will find are others, who like you are looking for a level of discourse that is respectful, reflective and adaptable.

To learn more about interesting Vancouver we invited Jocelyn MacDougall and Mark Busse, two exceptionally interesting people who embrace dialogue to join us for a Conversation That Matters.

Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Robert Lewis-Manning: Shipping on our Coastal Waters

Shipping on our Coastal Waters

Every year the Western Canada’s gateway generates over 21 billion dollars in economic activity.

Each year thousands of ships transit BC’s Coastal waterways bringing cargo in and taking it out. The new Oceans Protection Plan lays out a number of issues the Federal Government is requiring the shipping industry to meet.

Tougher regulations that require working with First Nations and Indigenous Communities to identify environmentally sensitive areas of cultural, social and economic importance. Stronger polluter pay principles, identification of safe refuge sites, 24 - 7 emergency response and the continued modernization of the ship pilot regime.

And then there is the impact of shipping on the Southern Resident Whale Population. Does the underwater noise generated by ships play a large role in preventing Orcas from identifying the location of the Chinook Salmon that is the staple of their diet?

The BC Chamber of Shipping and it’s members participated in the Port Metro ECHO program where ships reduced speed to 11 knots in Haro Strait in an effort to reduce ambient noise and better understand the relationship between speed, noise and the effects on killer whales.

Looming in the background is an increase in oil and LNG tanker traffic.

To discuss what the shipping industry is doing to meet these concerns, issues, and regulations we invited the President of the Chamber of Shipping,  Robert Lewis-Manning to join us for a Conversation That Matters about protecting our coastal waters.

Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Andrew Day: Howe Sound Report Card

Is the health and well-being of Howe Sound our canary in the coal mine?

 

For more than 30 years Vancouver Aquarium and other groups have been conducting research on the fjord that extends from West Vancouver to Squamish. It has housed pulp mills, a copper mine, been the gathering site for log booms and the output of sawmills.

 

Then in 1956 BC Rail completed its line to Squamish making it more accessible to industry and the people who lived and worked for the major employers that were extracting the resources from the land that borders the Sound.

 

By 1959 the Sea to Sky Highway had been completed and with it commerce grew, residential housing expanded and Whistler boomed. Each new development put pressure on the ecosystems that feed into Howe Sound.

 

Salmon, the Southern Resident Killer Whale population and the myriad organisms that make up the food chain all came under pressure.

 

With the closing of the Woodfibre Pulp Mill and Britannia Mine the impact from heavy industry was eased while at the same time urban expansion presents new challenges and new toxins entering Howe Sound.

 

Andrew Day the past Executive Director of the Coastal Ocean Research Institute which released its’ report card on Howe Sound joins us this week on Conversations That Matter to share what we know, where are the gaps in our understanding and what the well-being of the Sound means to the south coast and the Salish Sea.

Madeleine Shaw: Social Entrepreneurialism

Can you change the world through entrepreneurialism?

 

In other words, can business be an instrument of social change?

 

In his book ‘How to Change the World, David Bornstein profiles social entrepreneurs.

 

Men and women who are innovative, successful, grass-roots individuals who created businesses that address a wide range of social and economic problems.

 

As he puts it, “social entrepreneurs are creative, driven, and adventurous. The embrace change, exploit new opportunities, and think big.”

 

Social entrepreneurs can and do change their societies - AND the world - AND in doing so demonstrate that one person can make a difference.  

 

Madeleine Shaw is one such person - she was concerned about the impact feminine hygiene products had on women and the environment and not to be overlooked, the cost.

 

Shaw and her business partner Suzanne Siemens created Lunapads, a company that provides better health products for people and the planet.

 

Lunapads are sold worldwide, as a result more than two million disposable pads and tampons are being diverted from landfills every month.

 

To talk about social entrepreneurialism, Lunapads and her latest social venture - Nestworks, we sat down with Madeleine Shaw for a Conversation That Matters.

Dr. Evan Wood: Rethinking our approach to the Opioid Crisis

Ep 159 - Dr. Evan Wood

It’s time for an entirely different approach to the drug crisis

 

The Opioid - Fentanyl crisis that is sweeping through Vancouver, the province and beyond is growing unabated. This week Conversations That Matter features Dr. Evan Wood of the BC Centre on Substance Use, says it’s time to completely re-examine our drug policies and our drug laws.

 

Simply put, he says prohibition hasn’t worked. He points to Opium as an example. It was the drug that ignited a trade war between Great Britain and China. Since then the transportation of the drug became restricted.

 

The production of heroin was the result because it was far easier to conceal, transport and avoid detection if the alkaloid morphine was extracted from the dried poppy and packaged in smaller bundles.

 

Fentanyl is one-thousand times more potent than morphine is the latest iteration in the make it small, more potent and harder to detect reaction to prohibition. Buried below the surface of detection these synthetic opioid analgesics enter the marketplace devoid of consumer protection.

 

And drug users with no intention of consuming fentanyl are at risk. The drugs are packaged in less than ideal locations, like a kitchen table.  Once finished with fentanyl, the table may get a quick brush over which frequently leaves traces of the killer drug behind.

 

Then when the cocaine, the dealer is cutting gets dropped on the same table, grains of the deadly fentanyl can and often do get mixed in. The unsuspecting cocaine user snorts the white powder and the result can be and frequently is - deadly.

 

Wood suggests the establishment of labs available to pushers and users to determine the purity and potency of the drug will go a long way to reducing the fatal side effect.

 

Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Dr. Allen Eaves - At the Epicentre of Biotech

Ep 158 - Dr. Allen Eaves

At the Epicentre of Biotech

 

This week Conversations That Matter features the remarkable Dr. Allen Eaves, the founder, CEO and President of STEMCELL Technologies, Canada’s most successful biotech company. A firm that is playing a pivotal role in fostering a community of biotech startups. Eaves says, “we're very keen to support an ecosystem of biotechnology here and be closely related with the universities, especially UBC and SFU, and you know, this is my passion.”

 

STEMCELL Technologies has experienced year over year growth of 20% over the past quarter-century, Eaves predicts that will continue, “over the next 15 years we're going to be hiring 5,000 more people and our sales will be well over one billion dollars, and we'll be even more of a global company. At only 3% of our sales, the Canadian market is small.”

 

Not only is STEMCELL Technologies fostering growth and employing scientists, it is also playing a significant role in generating export sales, which Eaves points out “are worth two to three times the value of dollars generated within an economy. And so we're gonna continue to do this, and of course, I would like to see this evolve into supporting all the things we do in healthcare.”

 

Where does he go from here? For Eaves there are no limits, not only does he plan to work for the rest of his life, he plans to do so with gusto, “We are going for world domination and it's all working out nicely.”  

Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

ICBC's Mark Milner Smart Phone - Dumb Driver

This week Conversations That Matter features Mark Milner of ICBC’s Road Safety Program, a program that is devoting more and more resources to discouraging distracted driving. It’s a fight Milner admits is challenging because “apps are designed to get your attention”. Unfortunately, the apps are playing a significant role in driving up accident rates. Milner says, “the average person touches their phone up to 2,000 times a day and the addicted user up to 5,000. This is a contributing factor to the number of fatal accidents associated with distracted driving. The numbers of fatalities exceed those associated with impaired driving and they’re close to speed-related deaths rates.”

ICBC says over the past five years close to 400 people have lost their lives due to distracted driving. The insurance company along with Police Forces throughout the province are clamping down with an increasing number of counter-attack programs. Unlike drinking driving roadblocks the police simply walk or cycle through a row of cars stopped at a red light. Much to their chagrin, they do not have to conceal who they are, drivers focused on their phones don’t see them coming. Fines for use of your phone when driving are $543 on the first infraction, another $368 if you get nabbed a second time and $3,000 if you get caught again within 12 months. After a second ticket, ICBC is going to review your driving record and could remove your driver’s license.

Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue presents Conversations That Matter. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for an important and engaging Conversation about the issues shaping our future.

Please become a subscriber and support the production of this program, www.conversationsthatmatter.tv

Small Business - The Backbone of the Canadian Economy: Laura Jones

This week Conversations That Matter features Laura Jones of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business who talks about the value small business contributes to the economy.  Jones points out, “Over half the private sector jobs are in small business. So small businesses create jobs. But they do way more than just creating jobs. You know in an economic downturn, big businesses are really quick to shed jobs. Small businesses are not. They try and keep their employees. And what that does, is it creates a lot of economic stability.”

 

Jones goes on to address the proposed tax changes that will have a significant impact on small business. According to Jones, “small businesses are insulted by the tone that the Government is taking around these consultations. A tone that suggests small business people are trying to cheat on taxes.”

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program with the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Join veteran Broadcaster Stuart McNish each week for these important and engaging Conversations shaping our future.

 

Please become a subscriber and support the production of the program at www.conversationsthatmatter.tv