Definition*: Cognogen—Cog-no-gen: A belief that contributes to psychological or physical pathology*The term cognogen is a neologism. We are all familiar with the idea of diseases being caused by bacteria and viruses. We know that infectious disease can be transmitted person to person and across the population.  However, misguided beliefs can be as dangerous and transmissible as a bacteria and virus! Dr Johanna Murphy presented a fascinating Morbidity and Mortality round at Queen’s University on this topic last week.

Atrial fibrillation affects 350,000 Canadians and triples risk of stroke-Heart and Stroke Foundation Patient Centred Care (PCC), a phrase that means different things to different people. Too often it is used as code for health care delivered in a convenient location and/or delivered competently in a courteous and timely manner. These are unequivocally attributes of PCC.

This is the story of how we are beginning to perform live donor renal transplant (LDT) at Kingston Health Sciences Center (KHSC). Like many of the stories in this News Discovery and Innovation blog much of the high tech is built on a strong team of doctors (surgeons and physicians) from several Departments, nurses, and technicians. This story emphasizes a common series of barriers that must be overcome to create programs of innovation such as this one. Kidney failure is a big problem-for the patient and for society.

Q: What could be worse than having leukemia? A: Learning that there are long delays in accessing potentially curative therapy (and/or that to be treated you must go to the USA).

Miss. Claire

Despite the flaws and frustrations of our health care system and the challenges faced by our crowded hospitals, we should not lose sight of the miracles that are accomplished in academic health science centers every day.

"The most complex problems in our time can be solved with simple techniques, if we are able to dream." - Dr. Franz Freudenthal