For decades, Ian Stedman lived with severe rashes, constant joint pain, red eyes and debilitating migraines. He saw dozens of doctors, but no one knew what was wrong with him. So he gave up. But when his infant daughter started showing the same symptoms, he turned to the internet. After a lot of research, he successfully diagnosed himself with a disease so rare, only one in a million people have it.

Pete Pearson, 74, is not ready to die. He was diagnosed six years ago with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which has an average survival rate of 2-3 years after diagnosis. He knows he's on borrowed time, and has been dealing with anxiety and depression. That’s why he's seeking approval from Health Canada to use psilocybin as part of a treatment called psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. His son Blake, who is also a family doctor, believes it can help his dad live the rest of his life to the...

They needed certainty. They got chaos. For over a decade, countless people from at least five different countries put their trust in a company offering prenatal paternity tests. It promised clients “99.9% accuracy” — but then routinely, for over a decade, identified the wrong biological fathers. Investigative journalists Jorge Barrera and Rachel Houlihan track down the people whose lives were torn apart by these bad results, the shattered families and acrimonious court cases that followed,...

Many women report sexual health difficulties and don’t always know where to go for help. A small cadre of Canadian doctors specializing in women’s sexual health is trying to change that. They’re helping patients boost pleasure, while empowering them to get to know their sexual anatomy.

When the last full-time doctor left the small town of Carberry, Manitoba in 2023, the responsibility of providing healthcare was left on the shoulders of nurses. In our second show from Carberry, Dr. Brian Goldman learns from a retired nurse just how robust rural healthcare once was. And when Brian witnesses a health emergency first hand, he sees the toll a town without doctors is taking on one nurse practitioner.

Like many Canadian small towns, Carberry, MB had become a healthcare desert. In 2023, the small ER closed and the last doctor left. Carberry embarked on the fight of its life to get healthcare back. And now, just days before the first of two new MDs starts work, Dr. Brian Goldman visits Carberry to learn about the Herculean efforts it takes for one town to reinstate healthcare, and make sure they don't lose it again. 

When Mary Jarratt's brother, Billy, had a debilitating stroke at the age of 58, she was thrown into the role of power of attorney. That meant making significant decisions on Billy's behalf, including his personal care, the care of his high school-aged son, and whether to sell the family home. It has taken a physical and emotional toll on her and she wants people to know what they’re getting into when they sign up to be a POA.

When he's not working in the ER, Dr. Nicholas Sparrow spends his spare time in a surprising way. He responds to critical threat-to-life calls as a volunteer through the Kootenay Emergency Response Physicians Association (KERPA), a charity he created. Dr. Brian Goldman rides along on one of Dr. Sparrow's shifts to learn how - and why - he does it.  

Companies are spending big bucks advertising weight-loss drugs like Rybelsus and Ozempic. But in Canada, "reminder ads" can give only the medication's name, not what it's for, telling people to ask their doctor for more. Special guest Terry O'Reilly, host of CBC's Under the Influence, says it can result in bad ads that turn people off, while pharmaceutical policy expert Barbara Mintzes says reminder ads can do more harm than good.

A first-of-its-kind medical school, part of Queen's University in Ontario, is recruiting and training students with the sole intention of graduating family doctors. But can it prepare them for the daily realities of the job?

Every two weeks, tenants of a Toronto Community Housing high-rise benefit from an on-site food bank. It's run by an embedded healthcare team, to build trust and get people the help they desperately need.

A behind-the-scenes chat about the making of the CBC collaboration "Overheated" where White Coat, Black Art, What on Earth, and Quirks and Quarks explore how heat is affecting our health, our communities and our ecosystems.

How far would you go to test your body in extreme heat? Ironworker apprentice Britnee Miazek travels hundreds of kilometres to Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario for a gruelling experiment to see how her body deals with high temperatures. She wants to find out why she stopped getting her period while working in sweltering conditions on a coke oven. Researchers are hoping to find answers for Britnee, and understand more about the long-term health effects of working in an increasingly...

Pediatrician and vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez warns the anti-vaccine movement has morphed into a dangerous anti-science force. In The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A Scientist's Warning, Hotez says failing to act now will threaten governments’ ability to fight serious infectious diseases.

The CBC’s Julianne Hazlewood takes us on a familiar journey that for her is filled with uncertainty and peril. Julianne is in the late stages of pregnancy. She also has epilepsy. For additional support, she joined a research program called The Lullaby Project. It paired her with a musician to help her write and record a song to soothe her baby, and her fears.

Childhood neglect and abuse can lead to serious health problems in adults. Toronto psychiatrists Dr. Bob Maunder and Dr. Jon Hunter are calling for radical change to deal with this national epidemic in their new book, "Damaged: Childhood Trauma, Adult Illness, and the Need for a Health Care Revolution."

Some doctors believe a minor gynecological procedure called an opportunistic salpingectomy can reduce dramatically the risk of ovarian cancer.

Scott Hedlund and David Broman design, build, fit and fix prosthetic appliances like artificial limbs. They talk about the challenges and joys of their jobs.

When cancer patients receive chemotherapy, they often lose their hair, and that can wreak havoc on physical and mental health. Cairo Gregory was just 15 when she got ovarian cancer. Chemotherapy meant she lost her long curly hair just when she started to love it. She struggled to find a suitable wig through the hospital. She says the healthcare system must do more to help women deal with hair loss, especially young Black women like her.

Esther Schreiber felt like the luckiest woman when she married her sweetheart Eddi. They enjoyed a busy life until he was diagnosed with young onset dementia a decade ago. Now he's almost completely non verbal. The caregiving demands are all-consuming but she draws inspiration and support from other spouses.

Primary care providers don’t always recognize menopause symptoms for what they are, focusing instead on whether they’re a sign of a more serious problem. Not all know that menopausal hormone therapy is a safe and effective treatment for many women. We explain why that’s the case, and the range of treatments that can help women.

When famed British neurosurgeon Henry Marsh was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, he was forced to confront aging and his own mortality. Marsh reflects on both in his book, And, finally: Matters of Life and Death. 

Primary care providers don’t always recognize menopause symptoms for what they are, focusing instead on whether they’re a sign of a more serious problem. And not all know that menopausal hormone therapy is a safe and effective treatment for many women. We explain why that’s the case, and the range of treatments that can help women.

Canada’s nursing shortage is so dire that many provinces are stepping up efforts to recruit nurses from the Philippines. And as producer Stephanie Dubois discovered from Manila, that recruitment process is a well-oiled machine with a lot of players involved. From the Philippines government, to recruiters, to nursing schools, the message to nurses is clear: better opportunities only exist abroad.