Integrating into a new society is never easy but Magdy Kamar, Pharmacist and Owner of High Street Guardian Pharmacy, is trying to help Syrian refugees navigate the complex Canadian healthcare system. Magdy can understand what it feels like being an immigrant; he immigrated to Canada from Egypt 25 years ago. He is fluent in Arabic and understands first hand some of the challenges when adapting into a new society. Syrian Refugees in Peterborough Peterborough currently is home

Spring is finally here after a long and enduring winter! You’re likely preparing your garden and spending more time outdoors being physically active. So how is gardening connected with insulin? If you thought insulin comes from plants, it doesn’t – very creative though! Gardening is a form of physical activity and any physical activities or exercises can affect your insulin and blood sugars dramatically. Picture this situation, you industriously worked on your garden for a

How can we tell whether our blood sugars are well controlled or not? Based on my experience, people with good control in their blood sugars have a certain characteristic or attitude. The following are 9 traits in people who have good control in their blood sugars. 1) You know what is your hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) You know who you are. And maybe you don’t remember this as the HbA1C and simply call it the 3 month average. Think of the blood sugar testing you do each day as a

Most medications are dosed based on milligrams or grams because it is a standard quantity of weight. For example, if you are on 500mg metformin tablets, you expect 500mg of metformin in each tablet. Have you ever wondered why is insulin dosed in units? What is a unit of insulin anyways and how come it is not dosed in the conventional milligrams of milliliters? Every time you twist the dial on your insulin syringe pen, the number you see in the viewing window is neither in

Navigating the Diabetes Medication Landscape The landscape of diabetes medications has never been more exciting and colorful than nowadays. Prior to the discovery of insulin, there was no treatment for diabetes. Nowadays, we are going through an evolutionary period likened to the Precambrian explosion when it comes to discovery of diabetes medications. Despite all the new medications coming out, the landscape of these medications has been increasing confusing. This articl

How to Increase Exercise (in real life) “You need to exercise more,” there are likely the words you hear too often from your Doctor or healthcare provider. You may even had initial success the first few weeks but then came the birthday party, the overtime at work, and that all-inclusive vacation. In the a few months during your follow-up appointment, you’re reminded of the same lecture with renewed faith and the cycle continues. Life happens, exercise is easy in our minds b