What Angelina Jolie and Michael Douglas have in common is that both are using their celebrity status to bring attention to the very realistic threat of cancer. For now, we must rely on celebrities to get the public's attention about important health threats. Both celebrities have provoked discussion, but where do we go from here?

As cancer patients become more informed about their illness and treatment options, I continue to be surprised by how many are unaware of the benefits of exercising during and after treatment. My patients have shown me first-hand what our studies have proven; that daily activity provides tremendous physical and psychological benefits.

The majority of sunscreens on the market today are more harmful than beneficial. Sunscreens are designed to decrease your risk of skin cancer and allow you to enjoy the sun without worry. Unfortunately, most modern day sunscreens may increase your risk of cancer and disrupt the functioning of your hormones.

My wife Karen was recently diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. We want to help but Karen gets frustrated when any of us try to do things for her, with the kids or around the house. I don't know how to be strong as the best husband, caregiver, and deal with my own fears about what's happening. Can anyone be a 'super caregiver'?

It was another busy week. We announced our top 75 Most Influential Canadian Mom Blogs, parents were fighting on the sidelines and everyone's talking a...

TORONTO - Ground is being gained on many fronts in the war against cancer, but one of the deadliest — liver cancer — is still on the rise, the Can...

Sometimes there are no magical answers. Sometimes it's just that life is unfair, and some of us get dealt a really shitty hand, while others may not. I wish there was a better explanation than that, a story you could tell your children when they ask why bad things happen to good people. I wish things could be different.

Personalized medicine to guide prostate and other cancer treatment decisions is advancing as new tests for the genetic signature of tumours come on th...

Saturday, I continued on my quest to be a normal young person in the city. After having a nice visit with some of my family, I took a lovely walk through my neighbourhood and around the park and surrounding area. My feet ached from wearing terrible sandals. A regular person kind of ache. Not a cancer ache.

It strikes like a bolt out of the blue. When you are diagnosed with cancer, you are suddenly thrown into a world of hospitals and doctors, a world of tests and treatments, a world of stress and anxious waiting. It happened to me in 2006, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and it turned my world upside down.

TORONTO - A new study shows almost half of terminally ill cancer patients die in hospital, even though most people say they don't want to spend their ...

Recently, a good friend of mine wrote me, wanting to introduce me to an esteemed colleague, and friend, who has cancer. She wanted me to meet him, and felt I would have a lot to share with him. She spoke to him about me as well. She shared this blog, and my history. She concluded with " Change is inevitable. Suffering is optional."

Sticky situation: In our daily lives, from work to the community and even within our very own family, we regularly receive news that may make us uncomfortable and will at times, leave us speechless and paralyzed. To enlighten you, and hopefully prepare you for what to say and do, here are some suggestions.

The memories of my mother are not of a cancer victim, they are not of a shaved head, or intravenous tubes, or a frail body. They are her wonderful spirit, her brave beautiful smile, and a loving acceptance of life that was contagious with everyone she touched. My mother didn't just talk the talk, she walked the walk.

As someone dealing with a pretty major crisis in her life, the pressure to remain positive at all times can be quite taxing. in those moments where it all comes rushing over me, I don't feel so chipper. And I don't think this makes me weak. I think it makes me human.

It's like I was out there in the world for so many years being motherless and then one morning I peed on a stick and suddenly I was a mother. I couldn't have known then that the hole in my chest would only get bigger and that my loneliness would be married to the fact that I was motherless. I will never know love like this again, I thought, as I sat next to her hospital bed for the last time.

What do you do when it's your girlfriend's birthday and she's several thousand miles away and recovering from brain surgery? A phone call, a card or a...

New research suggests obesity might be an autoimmune condition caused by an imbalance in the microbiota of the gut. Good germs could help to keep obesity at bay, while bad germs could lead to increased weight gain, even without the person eating more.

The second line of the serenity prayer is "to accept the things we cannot change." This sounds really easy but in reality can be quite difficult. A prime example of this is cancer. For those of us who contract cancer, we cannot change that fact. Once cancer is accepted, our attitude toward it changes.

Even though cancer is becoming more widespread among many families today, the fear and devastation that families feel when a loved one is inflicted with the disease has yet to recede. Cancer had always been something that "happened to other people" and "wouldn't be something that would affect us" for my immediate and extended family, until my mum was diagnosed with the disease.

For as long as I can remember, I have been an obsessive planner. I love to make plans, to organize, to prepare. And I'm quite good at it, too. Long-term goals, schedules. These are things I like. A fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants girl, I am not. With my cancer diagnosis, a lot of things came crashing down around me.