Redpath Waterfront Festival Returns to Toronto with a Splash!
The annual festival announces 2022 dates and programming
TORONTO, April 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Redpath Waterfront Festival (RWF) today announced its return to Toronto’s waterfront with its first in-person festival after two years. From September 17-18, 2022, visitors are invited to a ‘Water Weekend’ which will take place in HTO Parkand Sugar Beach. The Festival will celebrate the last weekend of summer by featuring unique on-land and on-water programs including Parks Canada, the Royal Canadian Navy and Theodore TOO Tugboat.
Last year, due to COVID-19, the Redpath Waterfront Festival was reimagined into a two kilometer socially distanced trail featuring augmented reality, art installations, and local promotions, called the Redpath Waterfront Trail. This year, the festival’s co-producers are excited to return to their roots with a unique two-day festival that will celebrate all-things water.
“After a challenging two years for everyone, we are thrilled to return to Toronto’s waterfront for a weekend of fun, alongside our amazing partners and local waterfront businesses,” said Lea Parrell, Co-producer of the Redpath Waterfront Festival. “From live entertainment to Theodore TOO, this year’s festival will show that the best of times are when you just add water!”
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS:
See an exciting lineup of local talent on the RBCxMusic Stage in HTO Park and the Bayside Village Stage in Sugar Beach.
Say ‘Toot Toot’ to Theodore TOO Tugboat, the 65-foot working replica of the original TV character.
Visit with the Parks Canada team to learn about protecting the ocean and snap a selfie with their giant inflatable Beaver.
Meet the Royal Canadian Navy crew and learn about what it takes to be a sailor.
Enjoy interactive cultural activities with Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Moccasin Identifier and Indigenous Tourism Ontario.
Enjoy delicious eats from local food trucks at the Billy Bishop Airport Picnic Lounge.
More details and programming to be announced in the coming months.
2022 festival partners include: Redpath Sugar, The Waterfront BIA, Tridel, Hines, First Capital, RBC Royal Bank, Billy Bishop Airport, Porter Airlines, Westin Harbour Castle and CTV.
Visit TOwaterfrontfest.com in the coming weeks for announcements and details. Follow the festival on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and use #AtTheWaterfront and #WaterWeekend.
ABOUT REDPATH WATERFRONT FESTIVAL: The Redpath Waterfront Festival (RWF) is an annual summer event that provides on-land and on-water programming with the goal of promoting Toronto as a premiere waterfront destination. With music, food, nautical programs and entertainment, the festival has something for everyone to enjoy. Every three years, the event welcomes a fleet of majestic tall ships to Toronto.
ABOUT WATER’S EDGE FESTIVALS & EVENTS: Water's Edge Festivals & Events (WEFE) is an Ontario not-for-profit organization created in 2011 with a mandate to be the driving force behind the successful Redpath Waterfront Festival and Sugar Shack TO in Toronto and promote waterfront destinations throughout Ontario with nautical festivals and events.
THE TORONTO CARIBBEAN CARNIVAL CELEBRATES THE 55THEMERALD ANNIVERSARYOF THE PARADE WITH AN EXCITING LINEUP OF EVENTS
(TORONTO, ON – April 20TH, 2022) After two years, it’s time to reconnect, celebrate, and embrace diversity with the Toronto Caribbean Carnival’s (TCC) return. Celebrating the 55th Emerald Anniversary of the Parade, the Toronto Caribbean Carnival introduces a brand-new theme for the 2022 festival season - EMBRACE THE CARNIVAL IN YOU.
The Toronto Caribbean Carnival invites everyone to come and experience the joy and freedom that permeates each of the Festival Events. The ethos is built on celebrating Caribbean culture through carnival arts, music, costume, dance, and cuisine. The Grand Parade is returning to Exhibition Place on July 30, 2022, with Mas Bands, Steel Pan Players, Calypsonians, and Traditional Mas artists.
Described as a living art form, the Toronto Caribbean Carnival showcases colorful, striking costumes and Caribbean art to reflect the past and present. The steel pan players liven up the streets with the melodies from the only instrument created in the 20th century, including Mas Bands, steel pan players, calypso artists, stick fighting, and stilt walkers.
The Toronto Caribbean Carnival celebrates freedom, diversity, and inclusion. A tradition in which recently emancipated ex-slaves organized themselves in bands and portrayed masquerade characters. Every year, the Toronto Caribbean Carnival takes place on Emancipation Day weekend, which commemorates the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834.
As one of the largest festivals in Canada, the Toronto Caribbean Carnival brings in thousands of people worldwide, taking place over four glorious weeks for an all-out spectacle of visual and performing arts. Participants are encouraged to "free up" and enjoy themselves!
The Festival Management Committee, producers of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, have curated an exciting program of events leading up to the Grand Parade:
Toronto Caribbean Carnival Official Launch - July 7, 2022
Junior King and Queen and Junior Steelpan Showcase - July 10, 2022
Junior Carnival - July 16, 2022
OCPA Calypso Showcase - July 24, 2022
King & Queen Showcase - July 28, 2022
OSA Pan Alive - July 29, 2022
Grand Parade - July 30, 2022
Carnival Flavours - July 31, 2022
Awards Gala - September 17, 2022
For more information on the 2022 calendar of events or participating with a Mas Band, please visit https://torontocarnival.ca/.
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Toronto Caribbean Carnival
The Toronto Caribbean Carnival is recognized as a significant international cultural festival, the largest of its kind in North America. The Grade Parade was first established in 1967 as part of Canada's 100th Anniversary celebrations by Caribbean immigrants as a cultural gift to Canada. Produced by the Festival Management Committee, the Toronto Caribbean Carnival is “On de Road Again” this year to celebrate the Parade’s 55th anniversary, showcasing the best in Caribbean Arts.
Surgeon Reveals Steps That Speed Up Recovery and Ensure Lasting Results After Knee Replacement
Knee replacement is still one of the most common orthopedic surgeries. However, to protect the new prosthesis post-op and recover faster, orthopedic patients need to have certain pre-surgery examinations and not rush into high-impact activities after the procedure.
April 4, 2022. The demand for knee replacement surgeries continues to surge with over 700Korthopedic surgeries performed in the U.S. alone each year. However, the rising numbers of the procedure also call for making sure people are able to benefit from a well-functioning prosthetic joint and improved quality of life for long years.
Prof. Sarunas Tarasevicius, a surgeon at Nordorthopaedics Clinic, a leading international orthopedic center in Kaunas, Lithuania, offered insights for orthopedic patients on what speeds up post-op recovery and how to take care of the new joint.
Pre-surgical examinations—the first step to a speedy recovery
The surgeon emphasized the importance of pre-op examinations that contribute to a fast post-surgical recovery and a longer prosthesis life. One of these measures for primary or revision knee replacement surgery is long-standing X-rays—an examination of the entire limb with a fully extended knee joint.
According to prof. Sarunas Tarasevicius, this type of examination allows the surgeon to have a better view of the mechanical axis and gives the idea of how to restore it. At the same time, it helps the surgeon to make more precise cuts, resulting in a much more accurate reconstruction of the knee.
What (not) to do after knee replacement surgery
People who undergo knee replacement procedures should be aware that the longevity of their new prosthetic joint and overall post-op well-being depends largely on individual recovery plans. The surgeon’s first advice is to be patient about the recovery and not to rush the healing process.
“The surgery reduces the knee pain but the recovery is quite long, and the first three months post-surgery might be quite difficult for a person—they might experience some swelling, redness, certain levels of pain, and some mobility issues,” prof. Sarunas Tarasevicius said.
However, the discomfort is temporary as soft tissues surrounding the knee require time to adapt to the prosthesis. Therefore, on the first days after the surgery, the person should actively control pain and swelling, and keep the operated limb extended and elevated when sitting. Afterward, they should slowly ease into active knee flexion and extensions exercises. Also, it is important to build self-confidence in walking with crutches so as to incorporate daily exercises and speed up the recovery process.
At the same time, orthopedic patients should avoid certain activities that might reduce the implant functioning period—high-impact sports involving jumping up, landing, and pivoting. Also, the surgeon urged orthopedic patients to keep up with their physiotherapy sessions.
“Foregoing physiotherapy is one of the biggest mistakes after knee replacement surgery, and, unfortunately, many people are guilty of this due to pain and reduced mobility,” prof. Sarunas Tarasevicius added. “However, continuous range of motion in the knee joint highly affects the well-being and successful results after the procedure. When the knee joint is not flexed enough, it causes scarring and painful joint contractures.”
Therefore, to prolong the implant's functioning duration, the surgeon urged to continue with life-long muscle strengthening exercises that keep the muscles moving and help the new implant to work better. However, before engaging in any physical activity after knee replacement surgery, people should consult with their physicians.
ELNA Medical Enhances Virtual Care Offering and Adds 34 Points of Care with Investment in Ontario Telemedicine Services Leader MD Connected
The integration of MD Connected's telemedicine services supports ELNA Medical's omnichannel growth strategy, while providing Canadians with greater access to comprehensive medical services.
MONTREAL, March 29, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Montreal-based ELNA Medical ("ELNA"), Canada's largest integrated network of medical clinics, announced today its investment in MD Connected, a leading telemedicine service provider that connects patients with medical practitioners via a wide range of systems.
Founded in 2017, MD Connected's unique model includes fully digital and human-assisted telemedicine clinics, virtual care and COVID-19 testing at 34 clinics located within Rexall Drugstores, Metro and other well-known pharmacies in Ontario.
"This investment in an important virtual care provider supports ELNA's omnichannel growth strategy, while expanding access to integrated medical services for hundreds of thousands of Ontarians," said Laurent Amram, President and Founder of ELNA Medical.
ELNA Medical operates in Ontario under the banner of its wholly owned subsidiaries Medicentres Canada and York Medical, acquired in December 2020.
"Providing our patients with the very best in easily accessible quality care has always been the cornerstone of our mission. With other upcoming openings in the pipeline, MD Connected's extensive reach makes it an optimal fit for ELNA, and our partnership will allow it to scale rapidly beyond Ontario," added Laurent Amram.
"With a longstanding tradition of excellence in primary and specialty care, ELNA's broad Canada-wide network will allow for the continued expansion of MD Connected's virtual and telemedicine services across the country. We are proud to partner with ELNA to leverage one another's expertise and bring our collective patients a best-in-class personalized healthcare experience," said Venky Weylagro, CEO and President of MD Connected.
ELNA Medical is Canada's largest integrated network of medical clinics. Focused on comprehensive care, ELNA offers a vast array of primary and specialty medical services, therapies and procedures at 95 clinics and points of care. ELNA combines its extensive medical offering with access to over 1,500 diagnostic tests, thanks to its sister company, CDL Laboratories, a leader in round-the-clock medical diagnostics for three decades. Treating more than 1.4 million Canadians every year, ELNA is true to its innovative spirit and mission of providing easily accessible and personalized medical services of the highest quality. Leveraging state of the art technologies, and strategic partnerships with renowned industry leaders, ELNA strives to provide better healthcare outcomes for Canadians.
MD Connected Ltd. launched in 2017 with a mission to reduce barriers to accessing exceptional healthcare for all Canadians. MD Connected Ltd. is a virtual healthcare provider that uses advanced technologies, highly trained medical practitioners, and a secure telecommunications platform to conveniently unite healthcare professionals with patients. MD Connected has over 30 locations and has conducted hundreds of thousands of virtual visits to date.
SOURCE ELNA Medical
Find Your Voice as a Patient or Advocate to Reduce Medical Mistakes
New York, NY, March 29, 2022 — The first thing a person should do if they or a loved one is diagnosed with a serious illness is consider themselves “unofficially part of their care team,” advises Melissa Mullamphy. “You can’t put a price on advocacy and family.”
As hospitals recover from staffing shortages and other COVID disruptions, it’s more important than ever for patients and their loved ones to find their voices and use them, adds Mullamphy, whose own mother’s cancer battle was fraught with frustration, medical missteps and endless bureaucracy.
Not in Vain, A Promise Kept isMullamphy’s candid account of her mother’s journey and the family’s roller coaster of emotions. Readers will witness the mistakes that compounded their pain, the small victories that gave them hope, and above all, the love that kept them going during an indescribably difficult time.
Each chapter in Not In Vain, A Promise Kept represents one month from her mother’s diagnosis to her passing. Mullamphy recalls the experiences with vivid detail (the names of doctors and nurses have been changed), hoping to prompt others to ask the tough questions and learn by her example.
“My goal in writing this book is to keep the promise that I made to my mom … to share her story so others don’t go through what she and my family went through,” Mullamphy says. “You can have input, control and make a difference in your loved one’s healthcare.”
Mullamphy shares shocking lapses in her mother’s care, including blood clots the doctor fails to notice, the confusion surrounding her mother’s DNR order, the time she found her mother wearing another patient’s bracelet and the unspeakable heartbreak of learning that all along, the hospital had used the wrong type of chemotherapy drug for her mother’s specific cancer.
Not In Vain, A Promise Kept is not without moments of hope, such as when the family is told the tumor has shrunk and when her mother’s last-ditch surgery to remove the tumor is declared “wildly successful.”
Ultimately, Not In Vain, A Promise Kept pays homage to a life well-lived and a woman well-loved, and it’s Mullamphy’s aim to help other patients and their loved ones find their voices, understand their rights and learn how to navigate a deeply complex, imperfect healthcare system.
“Use your voice, and remember that you are not there to make friends,” she adds. “Sometimes you have to be the biggest mouth in the room, but speaking up can save your loved one’s life.”
Author Melissa Mullamphy has a master’s degree in clinical psychology and has worked in psychiatric emergency rooms and step-down houses. Forever a student of mental health, she has also worked with many nonprofits, including those benefiting military veterans. For almost 20 years, she worked as a domestic operations manager for a major corporation. Following her experience with her mother’s cancer diagnosis and treatment, she began blogging about current events as they relate to healthcare.
Since 1992, April has been Stress Awareness Month. As a nation, we have good reason to be stressed. We have reached the two-year anniversary of the Covid 19 Pandemic, war rages in Ukraine, gas prices are off the charts, many of our cities are filled with violence, and corporations are understaffed, forcing many of us to work longer hours. This is the perfect recipe for stress that
can eventually impact multiple aspects of the body and mind. Learning how to cope with stress while finding healthy ways to deal with challenging situations can lead to a positive life. Long-term stress can cause more than mental issues. Anything ranging from headaches to stomach disorders and depression, even severe issues like stroke and heart disease, can be rooted in stress.
How should you manage stress when you begin to feel overwhelmed?
Our expert, Dr. Haley Perlus, sports and performance psychology Ph.D.outlines ways to slay stress.
Find your purpose
One way to manage stress is to find your purpose and recognize what speaks to you. If you want to follow your passion for photography, start a page that displays your work. Build a community around you based on shared interests. Surround yourself with positive people. Turn hurt into healing, if you had a tough childhood, volunteer to become a big brother/sister.
Your stress levels can decrease significantly by finding something you enjoy and taking advantage of it.
Shut off that Smartphone
Many of us are overly dependent on our phones or computers. Using them too much or too long can increase stress levels, and studies have shown this. Excessive smartphone use has been linked with mental health disorders and depression. When used too close to bedtime, it can impede falling asleep.
Exercise
Exercise is nature’s drug. All too often, when we are stressed out, people tell us to rest and relax. While there’s nothing wrong with that, sometimes, what we need to do is get moving. There is science beyond why exercise reduces stress and even anxiety. It reduces levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. It kicks up the production of endorphins which are mood elevators. That is why you often hear the phrase, “runner’s high.”
Learn to let go
It's important to recognize when a situation is out of your control and shift your focus to something you can control. For example, if you're waiting to hear back on a job opportunity, there's no longer anything you can do but wait to hear from the employer. Instead, shift your focus to things you can control, like cleaning your space, clearing your head and continuing to pursue other jobs in the meantime.
Accept what you need
What situations make you feel mentally and physically frustrated or uneasy? Learn how to recognize your triggers and how you can avoid them. Once you become self-aware, you can avoid them when it's reasonable and cope when you can't.
Manage time
Prioritizing activities you enjoy can help you make the most out of your time. Creating a day-to-day schedule can help ensure you don't feel overwhelmed by everyday tasks and deadlines while allowing yourself to make time for what you enjoy doing. This can help create a healthy balance between work and fun!
Practice relaxation
Deep breathing, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation are good ways to calm yourself. When you take time to focus on your needs and get a mental break, you can look at things from a fresh perspective. Taking a break when necessary to refocus can benefit you in the moment and in the long run.
Dr. Haley Perlus knows what it takes to overcome barriers and achieve peak performance. As an elite alpine ski racer, she competed and trained with the best in the world, pushing herself to the limits time and time again. Now, with a PhD in sport psychology, Haley continues to push boundaries and drive peak performance, helping athletes and Fortune 100 executives reach their goals.
Haley works with individuals and teams to manage and expand their energy capacity while increasing resilience, focus and drive. Dr. Perlus is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, professor, author and consultant to Division I athletes. She has spoken at many events some of which include VISTAGE, Tec Canada, Elite Fitness and Performance Summit and Trilogy Athletes. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado lecturing on applied sport and exercise psychology at the graduate level. She has authored several books including The Ultimate Achievement Journal and The Inside Drive and her articles have been featured in publications such as Thrive Magazine, Fitness Magazine, IDEA Fitness Journal, EpicTimes, Telluride Inside, MyVega and BeachBody®.
Dr. Perlus earned her PhD at the University of Northern Colorado with an emphasis on social psychology of sport and physical activity, her MS at the University of Florida in sport pedagogy and her bachelor’s degree at the University of Western Ontario in kinesiology. Haley loves both water and snow skiing, and hiking. Her favorite meal is anything that requires only chopping or blending.
Move Past Mental or Physical Suffering With 5 Simple Steps
Boca Raton, FL, March 29, 2022 — Is it possible to find effective relief from emotional or physical suffering in as little as one hour? Andrew Hahn, Psy.D., and Joan Beckett, L.M.H.C., have been cultivating their revolutionary Life Centered Therapy (LCT) for decades, and they say it can be used as a blueprint for transforming most problems.
“There’s a lot of suffering in the world, and I think we have a very, very simple, powerful way that — in every hour you do this work — you get freer from your suffering, and you get results,” Dr. Hahn said in a recent interview.
In their new book, The One-Hour Miracle: A 5-Step Process to Guide Your Self-Healing, the authors explain how to apply Life Centered Therapy to heal from pain that is physical (such as chronic pain, asthma, addictions); emotional or mental (including depression, PTSD, OCD, paranoia); relational (releasing destructive patterns); and spiritual (alienation, despair, inertia). And sometimes, according to the authors, the transformation takes just one hour.
Filled with testimonials from real people who have benefitted from this approach when other methods failed to help, The One-Hour Miracle provides readers with an entirely new way of understanding their suffering, giving them inspiration and hope that they can create miracles in their own lives.
“The One-Hour Miracle includes a protocol that allows people to facilitate this process on their own by finding the root cause of their suffering and shifting it,” the authors said. “This framework helps them live engaged lives of freedom, peace, joy, wisdom, and vitality.”
The authors provide readers with clear, step-by-step instructions that can be implemented immediately to achieve authentic transformation. Additionally, therapists reading this book will have enough information to start using the approach with their own clients.
About the Authors Andrew Hahn, Psy.D., a licensed clinical psychologist and podcast host of Guided Self Healing/Fearless Living; and Joan Beckett, L.M.H.C., MBA, M.A., C.A.G.S., a licensed mental health counselor and former divisional controller of a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company, are thought leaders in the field of consciousness and spiritual, energy and somatic psychology. They are principals of the Life Centered Therapy Institute.
The One-Hour Miracle: A 5-Step Process to Guide Your Self-Healing Publisher: HCI Books Release Date: April 5, 2022 ISBN-10: 0757324150 ISBN-13: 9780757324154 Trade Paperback, 304 pages Available from Amazon.com, BN.com and other online retailers
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The COVID Lockdown Strategy: What Can We Learn From the Data?
St. Paul, MN, March 28, 2022 — For the past two years, COVID numbers related to cases and deaths have dominated media outlets, but one key data point has been noticeably absent in the eyes of biochemist and immunologist Hugh McTavish, Ph.D.: How many COVID deaths did the lockdown strategy prevent?
“Lockdowns were just a catastrophic mistake — one of the worst public policy disasters and mistakes ever,” Dr. McTavish said in a recent interview. “They threw 1 in 5 Americans, 19.3 percent to be precise, into moderate to severe depression.”
Calling the dramatic uptick in depression, drug overdoses and suicides “entirely predictable,” Dr. McTavish delivers an unflinching look into deaths of despair, “lost time of life” and other unsettling consequences of the lockdown response in his new book, COVID Lockdown Insanity. In it, Dr. McTavish reveals the staggering human toll of long-term isolation coupled with the shuttering of lifelines like churches and workplaces.
Dr. McTavish’s careful examination of the scientific evidence related to COVID-19 transmission and his analyses of both the human and economic costs of the lockdown strategy illuminate the dysfunctionality of the government’s policy response. In the end, he lights a path toward making more enlightened decisions that offer hope of real solutions.
In the book, Dr. McTavish dissects the data that shows:
- The COVID lockdowns threw 63 million Americans into major depression.
- All evidence suggests that the lockdown response to COVID failed to decrease COVID deaths at all.
- Even if the lockdowns prevented 200,000 COVID deaths, which they probably did not, the lockdowns caused three times more loss of life in increased suicides, drug overdose deaths, cancer deaths and heart disease deaths than they saved in prevented COVID deaths.
- For every 1 COVID death prevented, the lockdowns caused these harms: 1/3 of a death of despair (suicide or drug overdose); 316 people thrown into major depression; 127 people out of work; 350 students out of school; 1,640 people denied the right to live their lives as they wish and made at least a little less happy.
- Mask wearing has “little or no effect” on COVID cases or deaths.
- Hand washing and hand sanitizer use is the best intervention and could dramatically reduce COVID deaths, but this was underemphasized.
- Asymptomatic people very rarely spread COVID.
- Children do not spread COVID, and closing schools had no effect on COVID spread at all, and we knew that by the summer of 2020, and CDC staff wrote a paper saying so in January 2021.
In conclusion, Dr. McTavish says, “Lockdowns have no advantage at all. If you think life is better than death, a long life is better than a shorter life, happiness is better than depression, more money is better than less, education is better than ignorance, child abuse and domestic abuse are bad things, and more personal freedom is better than less, then you agree the lockdowns were a mistake.”
Hugh McTavish is a Ph.D. biochemist and immunologist and a patent attorney. He has authored 18 refereed scientific journal articles and is the inventor of 21 U.S. patents. He has also written two prior books on public policy and nature. He has started two pharmaceutical companies off his own inventions. He lives near St. Paul, Minnesota.
For more information, please visit www.hughmctavish.com (where you can read COVID Lockdown Insanity for free) or COVID-Sanity.org, or follow him on Twitter (@covid-sanity).
COVID Lockdown Insanity: The COVID Deaths It Prevented, the Depression and Suicides it Caused, What We Should Have Done, and What It Shows We Could Do Now to Address Real Crises
What Can Modern America Learn From Ancient Israel? Bible Scholar Explains
Orlando, FL, March 28, 2022 ― Christians believe that on Good Friday, Jesus died in place of the sinful believers who put their trust in his salvation, and rose from the dead on Easter — a preview of what’s to come on the Day of the Lord. The end-time prophecies in the Bible apply to all nations of the world. But do they have anything specific to say about the U.S.A.?
In his book, What the Bible Has to Say About the U.S.A.: The Old Testament Speaks to Americans Today, Bible scholar and veteran Christian author David S. Heeren takes readers on a fascinating exploration into the book of Hosea, where he draws striking parallels between ancient Israel and modern America. Heeren details the cultural characteristics that the two nations share during their periods of decline, centuries after their initial settlements, namely: Money vs. Morality, Lawlessness, Humanism (the deification of humanity), Liberalism, Globalism, Life vs. Convenience, New Age (and other religions that Heeren calls “hostile to Christianity”), God’s love (the book’s most important chapter), Cunning Commerce, Sexual License and Environmentalism.
Heeren compels readers to ponder questions such as, Are we headed for a crisis even worse than COVID? Will moral deterioration result in upheaval that could impact all levels of American society? What can Christians do to prevent a total collapse? And how should we prepare for whatever lies ahead?
“He (God) no more wants to see American civilization crumble than He desired the collapse of ancient Israel,” Heeren explained. “So we should not ignore prophetic details that seem relevant to our imperiled nation. Reproduction of conditions could result in repetition of consequences.”
In the book’s final chapter, Heeren brings the discussion full circle, with a description of a great spiritual revival — as prophetic as some of the Bible's end-time texts that anticipate the very same thing.
“Prophet Zechariah said one-third of all human beings will rise into heaven on earth’s final day,” Heeren added. “According to recent estimations by evangelists Billy Graham and D. James Kennedy, the number 33 percent is way too high. That number, according to Kennedy and Graham and others, probably right now is less than 10 percent. Talk about revival!”
Author David S. Heeren is an award-winning journalist and author of 18 books. A personal prayer identical to that of Isaiah (Is. 6:8) led him to change his career emphasis from sports writing to Christian writing in 2007. Since that time, he has published nine books with Christian themes, five of which deal with biblical end-time prophecy. His book, The High Sign, which identifies the most likely sign of Jesus’ Second Coming, received a double-four-star (perfect) rating from the Online Book Club — the highest rating awarded by the club. Heeren was recently approved for inclusion in Who’s Who.
His upcoming Christian novel, Year of Our Lord, has been praised byliterary critic David Dickerson as “by far the most exciting in the In His Steps series.”
As Temps Heat Up, Experts Fear More Deaths from Opioid Abuse
Baltimore, MD, March 28, 2021 — There’s no question that the pandemic caused a troubling upward trend in addiction disorders, and a recent study predicts an additional 1.2 million drug overdose deaths in the next decade, with people in the Black community bearing the brunt of the opioid epidemic.
Opioids help people manage chronic pain — and that’s a good thing. What went wrong?
“In the mid-1990s, more and more practitioners were using opioids as a first-line agent to reduce pain,” explains Dr. Paul Christo, Associate Professor in the Division of Pain Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “And that, unfortunately, led to an increase in the use of opioids for chronic pain and probably increased the use for those who really didn’t need them.”
Dr. Christo wants to remind those battling addiction to make use of valuable telemedicine and tele-mental health services, and adds that it’s important for clinicians to advocate to their patients that online treatment options — including telehealth prescriptions for critical medications — are available.
The opioid epidemic today progressed in three phases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first involves deaths caused by prescription opioids, the second, an increase in heroin use, and the third, a surge in the use of synthetic opioids or fentanyl. Experts say the U.S. is right in the middle of the third phase of the epidemic, due to the increasing availability of fentanyl and increasing rates of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids.
According to a recent study there were 632,331 drug overdoses between 1999 and 2016. Most of these deaths (78.2 percent) were drug overdoses with known drug classification. Moreover, 21.8 percent were unclassified drug overdoses. A further investigation revealed that for unclassified drug overdoses, 71.8 percent involved opioids, translating to 99,160 additional opioid-related deaths.
There were over 70,000 drug overdose deaths in 2017, according to an estimate from the CDC. Based on findings from the new study, over half of those deaths — about 47,000 — are suspected of having involved opioids.
Another study on opioid overdoses found that the number of drug overdose deaths decreased by 4 percent from 2017 to 2018. In 2018, more than 67,000 people died from drug overdoses, making it a leading cause of injury-related death in the United States. Almost 70 percent involved a prescription or illicit opioid of those deaths.
“COVID-19 impacted the drug supply chain by closing borders on some regions, and it led to the higher death rate,” Dr. Christo explained. He added that drugs become more challenging to get, and the potency of overdose goes up. It also impacts the price, everything goes up, and in that sense, it becomes more deadly each day, according to Dr. Christo.
About Dr. Paul Christo
Dr. Paul Christo serves as Director of the Multidisciplinary Pain Fellowship Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is the author of Aches and Gains, A Comprehensive Guide to Overcoming Your Pain. Dr. Paul Christo also hosts an award-winning, nationally syndicated SIRIUS XM radio talk show on overcoming pain called, Aches and Gains®. For more information about Dr. Paul Christo. Please visit www.paulchristomd.com.
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