: Healthhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11847093<![CDATA[PCOS, a condition that affects 1 in 10 Canadian women, is being renamed]]>Wed, 13 May 2026 18:06:27 +0000
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a chronic hormonal condition that impacts one in 10 Canadian women, is being renamed to polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS).
The announcement was published in the Lancet, which states that the condition affects 170 million women during their reproductive years alone.
The condition can cause a range of symptoms, such as irregular or disrupted menstrual cycles, infertility, excessive facial hair and mental health issues, and “has multisystem health impacts and represents a growing health and economic burden.”
The Endocrine Society, one of more than 50 patient and professional organizations that took part in the process to create the new name, said in a press release that PMOS is “characterized by fluctuations in hormones, with impacts on weight, metabolic and mental health, skin, and the reproductive system.”
“For too long, the name reduced a complex, long-term hormonal or endocrine disorder to a misunderstanding about ‘cysts’ and a focus on ovaries. This contributed to missed diagnoses and inadequate treatment,” according to the press release.
Dr. Roland Antaki, chief of the reproductive endocrinology and fertility division at the University of Montreal’s CHUM hospital, said the name change has been “overdue for a long time.”
“The old name comes from 1935,” he said. “At the time, there were no ultrasounds, they [doctors] didn’t have many testing, they did surgery on patients, and they found big ovaries and they thought those were cysts, so they called it polycystic ovary syndrome, and the name survived all that time.”
Let’s talk about it, period: Women call for action on severe menstrual pain
“But we know since then that those are not cysts. What we see on the ovaries of many patients with PMOS are follicles, so it’s what contains the egg, and those are well-working follicles.”
As a result, these factors contribute to delayed diagnoses, with “up to 70 per cent of affected individuals remaining undiagnosed — and also contribute to widespread knowledge gaps and patient dissatisfaction,” according to the Lancet.
“It’s very important for the patient and for the medical community to have a name that reflects the impact of that syndrome,” Antaki said.
He also estimated that it can take more than 10 years before the change from PCOS to PMOS is actualized.
“There’s a lot of books written on that [PCOS], you have a lot of publications on PCOS, we have websites, support groups that have PCOS in the name and to make all those changes, it will be a very long process, even in the medical community.”
However, Antaki has hope that it can occur sooner.
“Hopefully, people will forget about the C, because that is the issue and put more emphasis on the other parts of the syndrome,” he said. “It’s something that is here to last.”
Canadian specialty tea retailer DavidsTea has triggered a recall of its Organic Sneeze Ease Herbal Infusion product due to an undeclared almond that is not stated on its label.
The recall states that the allergen is related to a tree nut and is only available to be purchased online.
The UPC on the recall is 101202100502 and the code is 000CHA831216.
DavidsTea Organic Sneeze Ease Herbal Infusion product has been recalled due to an undeclared almond, missing on the label.
Health Canada
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is conducting a food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products.
The CFIA is recommending consumers not to consume recalled products “which you are allergic or sensitive as they may cause a serious or life-threatening reaction,” alongside not serving, using, selling or distributing the recalled product.
]]>: Healthhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11847335<![CDATA[Canadians can now get Ozempic, Wegovy delivered to their homes. Here’s how]]>Wed, 13 May 2026 16:58:41 +0000
Canadian retail pharmacy Rexall is now offering home deliveries of Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus, Novo Nordisk Canada, the drugmaker behind the GLP-1 drugs, said in a statement Wednesday.
The partnership between the two companies aims to provide Canadians with home access to Ozempic and Wegovy semaglutide injections and Rybelsus oral tablets.
The service, called Novo Nordisk Care Rx, has launched across all Canadian provinces and territories, except Quebec, the company said.
The support will be delivered through Rexall’s online pharmacy, Rexall Direct, and Canadians can order the medication “right to their doorstep with pricing in line with in-store pharmacy,” Novo Nordisk said.
Patients can receive the treatments at home for “no additional cost” and will have the option of chatting with a Rexall pharmacist over the phone to “receive personalized education, advice, and ongoing support.”
“Through this collaboration, customers can confidently access Ozempic and Wegovy products from a trusted pharmacy, receive personalized support and guidance from our pharmacists, and manage their care from the comfort of their own home,” Rexall COO Jeff Boutilier said in a statement.
Generic version of Ozempic approved in Canada: What you need to know
Over the last few weeks, Health Canada approved two generic versions of semaglutide, the medication in brand-name drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.
Canada is the first G7 country to authorize generic semaglutide. There are now seven other submissions currently under review for generic semaglutide by different companies.
According to Felix, a Canadian integrated health-care platform, the average cost of Ozempic injections can be between $200 and $450 per month, depending on the province.
Health Canada has stated that many generic medications are 45 to 90 per cent cheaper than the brand-name versions.
Health Canada approves generic semaglutide for adults with type 2 diabetes
There have now been many studies and analyses that suggest that the use of GLP-1 drugs goes beyond just weight loss and diabetes, with potential benefits ranging from helping mental illness and substance abuse to kidney disease, heart disease and even osteoarthritis, some experts say.
While multiple studies have said there is data suggesting benefits from semaglutide, others have also found risks.
A 2023 study out of the University of British Columbia found that GLP-1 drugs were associated with an increased risk of stomach paralysis, pancreatitis and bowel obstruction.
In 2024, a Harvard study found that the drugs were also linked to an increased risk of sudden and irreversible vision loss and blindness.
Some of the more common side effects associated with semaglutide include belching, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, stomach pain, indigestion and nausea.
]]>: Healthhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11847045<![CDATA[1,700 confined on cruise ship amid suspected norovirus outbreak in France]]>Wed, 13 May 2026 14:44:17 +0000
French authorities on Wednesday confined 1,700 passengers and crew to a cruise ship docked in Bordeaux after a passenger died and about 50 fell ill with suspected gastrointestinal illness (GII), otherwise known as norovirus, the Ambassador Cruise Line confirmed to Global News.
The ship, which has 1,187 guests on board, the majority of whom are British and Irish nationals, and 514 crew, arrived in the French town on Tuesday, where French health officials boarded.
‘No sign’ of larger hantavirus outbreak: WHO
“As of 11:00 a.m. UK time on 13 May 2026, there are forty-eight active guest cases of GII onboard Ambition and one crew case,” the cruise liner told Global News in a statement.
The cause of death for the passenger, who was 90, is pending confirmation from the coroner, according to The Guardian.
The uptick in cases seems to have occurred on May 9, following embarkation in Liverpool on England’s northwest coast, the company said. The ship had departed from Belfast a day prior on a planned 14-day excursion.
Upon arrival in Bordeaux, French authorities conducted a “routine” review of the ship’s health status and records and collected samples for lab testing at Bordeaux University Hospital.
“While the investigation and testing are ongoing, all guests and crew have been instructed to remain onboard under the direction of the local shore authorities. Once clearance is granted, guests will be permitted to disembark,” the statement said.
How to manage symptoms of the highly infectious Norovirus
“We would like to reassure guests that we take any illnesses aboard our fleet extremely seriously. Enhanced sanitation and prevention protocols were immediately implemented across the ship in line with established public health procedures following the initial reports of illness,” it continued.
All shore excursions were cancelled and refunded, and medical consultations relating to GII are being provided free of charge, the cruise liner said.
The outbreak comes amid an unrelated wave of hantavirus cases believed to have originated on a cruise ship moored in Cape Verde, a small island off the coast of West Africa, and reports of norovirus aboard a Caribbean cruise.
Earlier this week, more than 100 passengers and crew members fell ill during a norovirus outbreak aboard the Caribbean Princess cruise ship, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC said that 102 passengers and 13 crew members reported becoming ill during the voyage, which took place from April 28 to May 11.
Norovirus is highly contagious and thrives in places where people gather in close quarters, making cruise ships susceptible to outbreaks, the U.S. health organization says.
According to the CDC, norovirus can be contracted from an infected person, contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces. The virus causes inflammation of the stomach or intestines, leading to stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.
The outbreak on the Caribbean Princess comes more than a month after another norovirus outbreak was reported on the cruise line’s Star Princess ship.
In March, the CDC reported that 141 passengers and 52 crew members became ill with norovirus aboard the Star Princess cruise ship. The ship left Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and made stops in the Caribbean, Honduras, Belize and the Mexican Riviera.
]]>: Healthhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11847053<![CDATA[French hantavirus patient critically ill, on ‘final stage of supportive care’]]>Wed, 13 May 2026 13:01:19 +0000
A French woman infected in the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship is critically ill and being treated with an artificial lung, a doctor at the Paris hospital caring for the sickened passenger said Tuesday. The outbreak has now reached 11 total reported cases, 9 of which have been confirmed.
Three people on the cruise died, including a Dutch couple that health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.
The French passenger hospitalized in Paris has a severe form of the disease that has caused life-threatening lung and heart problems, said Dr. Xavier Lescure, an infectious disease specialist at Bichat Hospital.
Canadians from hantavirus-stricken cruise ship isolating in B.C.
He said the woman is on a life-support device that pumps blood through an artificial lung, providing it with oxygen and returning it to the body. The hope is that the device relieves enough pressure on the lungs and heart to give them some time to recover. Lescure called it “the final stage of supportive care.”
With the evacuation of all passengers and many crew members completed, the MV Hondius is now sailing back to the Netherlands, where it will be cleaned and disinfected.
“At the moment, there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general. He added: “But of course the situation could change, and given the long incubation period of the virus, it’s possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks.”
The latest person confirmed to be infected is a Spanish passenger who tested positive for hantavirus after being evacuated from the ship, Spain’s health ministry said Tuesday. The passenger was in quarantine at a military hospital in Madrid.
Health authorities say it is the first hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. While there is no cure or vaccine for hantavirus, the WHO says early detection and treatment improves survival rates.
Argentina’s health ministry said Tuesday a team of scientific experts will be dispatched in the coming days to investigate the origin of outbreak.
A Dutch couple, identified by the WHO as the first cruise passengers infected with hantavirus, spent several months in Argentina and neighboring South American countries before boarding the cruise ship. The husband and wife later died.
Public health risk remains low in global hantavirus outbreak: WHO
Argentine officials have said the couple took a bird-watching tour that included a stop at a garbage dump where they may have been exposed to rodents carrying the infection. The health ministry said its team will investigate the landfill and other locations the couple visited where rats known to carry the virus are found, although local officials in the province where the cruise departed have challenged the theory it began there.
A total of 87 passengers and 35 crew were escorted from the ship to shore in Tenerife by personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks in a carefully choreographed effort that ended Monday night.
Two aircraft arrived in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven overnight carrying Dutch nationals as well as passengers from Australia and New Zealand and crew members from the Philippines. All were placed into quarantine, according to the Dutch government.
Some crew stayed aboard the ship and set course for the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, said ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions.
Doctors reiterate hantavirus ‘very different disease’ from COVID-19
Hantavirus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms — which can include fever, chills and muscle aches — usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.
WHO chief Tedros has advised that returning passengers should stay in quarantine, either in their homes or in other facilities, for 42 days. He added that WHO cannot enforce its guidance, and that different countries may handle the monitoring of passengers without symptoms in different ways.
Twelve employees at a Dutch hospital where a passenger from the Hondius is being treated have to quarantine for six weeks after improperly handling bodily fluids, Radboud University Medical Center said in a statement Monday night.
The “risk of infection is low” the hospital said, but it was requiring the dozen employees to go into preventive quarantine as a “precaution.”
Three people isolating in Ontario after Hantavirus exposure
The hospital in the eastern city of Nijmegen received a passenger last week from one of the evacuation flights that landed in the Netherlands and the person has since tested positive for hantavirus.
Blood and urine from the patient should have been handled “according to a stricter procedure,” the hospital said.
]]>: Healthhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11845432<![CDATA[Still ‘many steps to do’ in creating a hantavirus vaccine, experts say]]>Wed, 13 May 2026 12:37:27 +0000: Healthhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11846324<![CDATA[7 more in Ontario told to isolate, considered ‘low-risk’ hantavirus contacts]]>Tue, 12 May 2026 22:39:26 +0000: Healthhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11845717<![CDATA[Spring cleaning your home or cottage? How to limit hantavirus risk]]>Tue, 12 May 2026 19:11:02 +0000: Healthhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11845053<![CDATA[No sign of larger hantavirus outbreak, WHO says as cases continue to rise]]>Tue, 12 May 2026 17:23:53 +0000: Healthhttps://globalnews.ca/?p=11843878<![CDATA[‘We’re struggling’: Caregivers are feeling the financial squeeze, report says]]>Mon, 11 May 2026 20:38:41 +0000: Health
