The Medical Record: Health and the Holidays

Published: Dec. 20, 2023, 6:05 p.m.

THE MEDICAL RECORD: HEALTH AND THE HOLIDAYS\n\nIt\u2019s time to talk about your health, and there are some holiday related issues we should be aware of. The latest numbers show that less than 15% of us have the updated Covid vaccine - this as we are gathering with friends and family in the midst of the viral soup of Covid, RSV and influenza - which is already clogging hospital emergency rooms. Also, there is an annual spike in heart attacks around the holidays. Why is that and what can you do to protect yourself? And what time are you having your Christmas feast? There\u2019s new work that tries to answer the question: is it bad to eat late at night?\n\nLibby Znaimer is joined by Dr. Alisa Naiman, Family Physician and Founder and Medical Director of The Medical Station in Toronto; Dr. Malcolm Moore, Medical Oncologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre; and\xa0 Dr. Fahad Razak, General Internist at Unity Health Toronto to discuss.\n\n\nMIDDLE-EAST PROTESTS TARGETING MALLS AND A SPIKE IN ANTI-SEMITISM\n\nThere was a very disturbing incident at the Eaton Centre last weekend when masked kaffiyeh wearing protesters stormed the shopping mall to protest an ad from the Spanish clothing chain Zara, wwhen a shopper took issue with that one of them uttered a death threat.\xa0It happened right in front of a police officer but nothing was done.\xa0This comes amid the spike in anti-Semitic hate crimes we have been reporting in our news. And they aren't just targeting Jews.\xa0Some pro-Palestinian protesters are calling on their supporters to...quote...Shut down Christmas.\n\nLibby is joined by Noah Shack, Vice President, Countering Antisemitism & Hate at UJA Federation Of Greater Toronto; and Councillor James Pasternak,\xa0Ward 6 York Centre to unpack all this.\n\nA LOOK AT PERSONAL FINANCES IN THE NEW YEAR\n\nDropping mortgage rates and other interest rates are generally good news, but for Zoomers who are in saving mode, not so much. This is probably a good time to lock in some excellent GIC rates, and we may have to hurry before they fall.\n\n\nLibby Znaimer is joined by personal finance expert Barry Choi for a conversation about personal finances ahead of the New Year.\nListen live, weekdays from noon to 1, on Zoomer Radio!