RCMP uncovers plot to sell drones and equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
A new online calculator developed by Canadian researchers can help predict a person’s risk of developing chronic kidney disease.
The tool was developed by a team at The Ottawa Hospital to help people understand their risk factors and raise awareness as the number of people living with end-stage kidney disease continues to increase.
Nearly one in 10 Canadians have a type of kidney disease, which do not show symptoms until it's extremely severe, the Kidney Foundation of Canada states.
The registered charity says a person can lose more than 50 per cent of their kidney function before symptoms appear.
"We wanted to create a tool that can help people understand their risk, understand things that they can modify in their lifestyle that might help reduce the risk and to teach in general about chronic kidney disease," Dr. Manish Sood, a kidney specialist who co-led the development of the online calculator, told CTVNews.ca in an interview on Thursday.
Kidneys balance the electrolyte composition in bodies, and also control blood pressure and secrete vitamin D and erythropoietin, types of hormones, Sood said.
"Maybe most importantly, they perform an overall cleaning filtration function on our blood where they remove literally thousands of things," he said.
A number of factors can put people at risk of developing chronic kidney disease but the most common, Sood said, are high blood pressure and diabetes.
Sood, along with Dr. Ariana Noel, led the team that created the online calculator, which asks users questions about their lifestyle and habits. Using data from ICES, an independent Ontario health statistics non-profit, the team was able to determine how different factors add to a person's risk.
"We looked at data from 22,000 Canadians who completed something called the Canadian Community Health Survey," Sood said. "They (were) asked a whole bunch of factors about their life, diet, lifestyle. Then we were able to connect that data to their kidney function, and then mathematically, you can create models that tell you if you have these risk factors."
The calculator is a part of Project Big Life, a group of Canadian researchers, clinicians and data scientists creating simple risk quizzes for people to understand their health. Some of the calculators show risk factors for life expectancy, dementia and cardiovascular health.
Sood said his team created the tool for people to improve their understanding of their health, not make them anxious.
"We want to let people be informed...I feel personally, that's empowering," Sood said. "We want to know information as patients."
The kidney quiz launched last week takes three to five minutes to fill out. It asks people about how much alcohol they drink, how active they are and their basic medical history. The project was funded by the Kidney Foundation of Canada, the Ontario Regional Centre of the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute, and is supported by ICES.
Sood said the calculator took a few years to put together. He said the team took "an extra step" and tested the equation with a completely different population to ensure it could predict accurately whether someone is at risk of developing kidney disease. To do this, they tested the tool on people in the United Kingdom, which added more time to the overall project.
"It is quite accurate in predicting whether people will develop kidney disease, but people will then need a confirmatory test," Sood said. "So if you're at high risk, or if you're worried that you have developed it already…This is just kind of a preliminary screener to give you an idea."
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
A group of demonstrators were kicked out of the legislature after a second NDP motion calling for unanimous consent to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh failed to pass.
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Canadian pet owners are finding companionship beyond dogs and cats. Tigers, alligators, scorpions and tarantulas are among some of the exotic pets they are keeping in private homes, which pose risks to public safety and animal welfare, advocates say.
A Michigan woman was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder and other crimes after prosecutors say she drunkenly smashed her SUV into a boat club that was hosting a birthday party, killing two young siblings and injuring several other people.
Prince William and his wife Kate thanked the public for their messages which had been sent to mark the sixth birthday of their youngest son Louis on Tuesday.
Equifax Canada says it's exploring how rent data could factor in to credit scores to help make credit and financial services accessible to more people.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.