2022-10-01 Reader's Digest Canada

reader’s digest

CONTENTS

on the cover: Features 40
photo by nikki ormerod
30 drama in real life
74
cover story Adrift

HOW TO BEAT When his boat struck a
DIABETES reef and sank into the
Caribbean, Don Cavers
Scientific break- jumped onto a life raft
throughs are now and watched as the
helping to prevent the ocean carried him
disease, and even put it away.
into remission.
BY GARY STEPHEN ROSS
BY SYDNEY LONEY
52
AMBER BRACKEN
heart

The Great Unknown

An unlikely friendship
helped my son grapple
with divorce, death and
life’s mysteries.

BY JOWITA BYDLOWSKA

58

curiosities

Orbisculation Nation

Their dad invented the
perfect word. After he
died, they started a
quest to get it into the
dictionary.

BY SADIE DINGFELDER
FROM THE WASHINGTON POST

rd.ca 1

reader’s digest 66 74

62 environment society

life lesson Flooded Out The Secret Sauce

Misguided The climate crisis left an Lebanese immigrants
Alberta town behind. made the mushroom
How to spot burger a menu staple.
bad advice. BY DREW ANDERSON
FROM THE NARWHAL BY OMAR MOUALLEM
BY CHRISTINA PALASSIO FROM QUENCH MAGAZINE

78

humour

My Hut

A backyard sanctuary
promised solitude.

BY CATHRIN BRADBURY
FROM THE TORONTO STAR

82

editors’ choice

Bound in Infamy

Guy Paul Morin’s con-
viction for the killing of
Christine Jessop remains
a notorious case of failed
justice. Thirty-six years
later, aided by forensic
genealogy and new
resolve, they found her
real killer.

BY MALCOLM JOHNSTON
FROM TORONTO LIFE

62 JEANNIE PHAN

(YOUNGLAI) BRENT GOODEN; (BLOOD PRESSURE GAUGE) Departments Humour 16
ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/MALERAPASO; (ILLUSTRATION) LAUREN TAMAKI
4 Editor’s Letter 7 medical mystery
6 Letters Life’s Like That
18 Points to Ponder 25 Cycle of Agony
39
big idea Laughter, the Best Doctors dismissed
her monthly suf-
10 Camera Ready Medicine fering as period
50 pain.
The challenge of
creating true As Kids See It BY SYDNEY LONEY
diversity in Cana- 61
dian TV and film. reader’s digest
Fright Night book club
BY STACY LEE KONG
22 96 Fayne
good news
ask an expert Ann-Marie Mac-
13 Five Reasons Donald returns
to Smile 16 Should I Stop with a Gothic
Travelling? spellbinder.
BY LISA BENDALL
We quiz Rachel BY EMILY LANDAU
10 Dodds, sustain-
able travel consul- 98 Brainteasers
tant. 100 Trivia
101 Word Power
BY COURTNEY SHEA 103 Sudoku
104 Crossword
health
rd.ca 3
20 Rewire Your Brain

How cognitive
behavioural ther-
apy treats depres-
sion.

BY ALLISON BAKER

22 News From the
World of Medicine

BY MARK WITTEN

reader’s digest DANIEL EHRENWORTH

EDITOR’S LETTER

Mothers and Sons

The Canadian writer Jowita Bydlowska has said
that she wasn’t prepared for the intensity of
the reaction to her 2013 memoir, Drunk Mom.
People who hadn’t even read the book had opinions.
Bydlowska tells how, three years sober, she begins
drinking again at a party to celebrate her newborn
son, Hugo. What makes the book so unforgettable
aren’t the nights filled with shame that follow but the
unshowy, honest way she describes them.

The same is true of her story in this issue, “The
Great Unknown” (page 52). Bydlowska, newly
divorced, befriends a crotchety peer at her addiction-
support group. Denis, who has a terminal illness,
becomes an unlikely mentor to eight-year-old Hugo,
helping him through the big changes in his life. But
there’s more. “Maybe I was harsh,” Bydlowska writes,
“but I had a vague notion of wanting to teach my son
about death, of showing him that death, like friend-
ship (or love that ends in a divorce), was part of life.”

Bydlowska’s story is about Hugo learning from
Denis, but it’s also, significantly, about a mother
growing closer to her son. Their bond is a reminder,

in a year with an overabundance of bleak head-
lines about war, crime and disease, that there’s
love and kindness in the world, even and espe-

cially from a parent who isn’t perfect.

P.S. You can reach
me at [email protected].

PUBLISHED BY THE READER’S DIGEST MAGAZINES CANADA LIMITED, MONTREAL, CANADA

Christopher Dornan chairman of the board
James Anderson publisher and national sales director

Barbara Robins vice president and legal counsel
Mark Pupo editor-in-chief

deputy editor Lauren McKeon art director John Montgomery
executive editor, deputy art director Danielle Sayer

digital Brett Walther graphic designer Pierre Loranger
senior editor Micah Toub content operations
associate editor Erica Ngao
contributing editors Rosie Long Decter, manager Lisa Pigeon
circulation director Edward Birkett
Samantha Rideout
editorial intern Talia Kliot contributors: Drew Anderson, Allison Baker, Lisa Bendall,
Derek Bowman, Cathrin Bradbury, Jowita Bydlowska, Sadie
proofreader Jonathan Furze Dingfelder, Daniel Ehrenworth, Nikki Ernst, Brent Gooden,
senior researcher Lucy Uprichard Emily Goodman, Steven P. Hughes, Malcolm Johnston,

researchers Ali Amad, Martha Beach, Susan Camilleri Konar, Stacy Lee Kong, Emily Landau,
Talia Kliot, Veronica Sydney Loney, Delphine Meier, Omar Mouallem, Ronit
Maddocks, Lucy Uprichard, Novak, Barbara Olson, Nikki Ormerod, Christina Palassio,
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Stephen Ross, Graham Roumieu, Julie Saindon, Courtney
copy editors Chad Fraser, Amy Harkness, Shea, Mike Shiell, Beth Shillibeer, Fraser Simpson, Lauren
Richard Johnson
Tamaki, Jeff Widderich, Mark Witten, Victor Wong

THE READER’S DIGEST ASSOCIATION (CANADA) ULC

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TRUSTED MEDIA BRANDS

Bonnie Kintzer president and chief executive officer

VOL. 201, NO. 1,193 Copyright © 2022 by Reader’s Digest Magazines We acknowledge
Canada Limited. Reproduction in any manner in whole or in part in English or with gratitude the
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rd.ca 5

reader’s digest

that it brought tears to my eyes. We
need more of these stories to appreci-
ate the animals that share the earth
with us.

— ROSEMARY SCHEFFER, Scarborough, Ont.

A DEVOTED READER
I have been a fan of Reader’s Digest for
many years. I’m now 75 years old and
I still keep stacks of them. The maga-
zine has brought suspense, laughter,
knowledge and much more into our
lives. Keep on publishing great stories.

— DONALD ZURAKOWSKI, Prince Albert, Sask.

CANUCK CHALLENGE ROYAL ERROR PUBLISHED LETTERS ARE EDITED FOR LENGTH AND CLARITY
“The Canada Quiz” (July/August 2022) In “The Crown & Us” (June 2022),
was a blast! I didn’t do very well but there’s a sentence that rather jars:
I’m nicely stocked up on Canadian “Who could imagine Elizabeth’s sec-
trivia for the rest of the year. ond child getting caught in the sordid
web of a sexual predator and his
— ELAINE KENDAL, Edmonton accomplice?” I’m assuming this refers
to Prince Andrew but he’s not Queen
UNCOVERING WILDLIFE Elizabeth’s second child. Her second
“The Wolf Who Trusted Too Much” child is Anne, the Princess Royal, who
(May 2021), a story about a beloved has been a very steadfast working
wolf who was killed by a hunter in member of the royal family for decades.
British Columbia, was so well written
— MARG MAZER, St. Albert, Alta.

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6 october 2022

LIFE’S LIKE THAT and if you think every-
one hates you, you
Lost in the Pug-kin Patch should take a nap,” and
I don’t think I’ve heard
a better life hack.

— @METADOXY

Slip of the Tongue
Someone thanked me,
and caught between
“okay” and “all right,”
I whispered “karate”
back at them.

— @BEARDEDSAFFA

Gourmet on a Budget
No sound cuts through
the ambience of a fine
dining restaurant quite
like the unmistakable
noise of my wallet being
un-Velcroed.

— @MISERYTRICKERY

SONNY AND MIJA (INSTAGRAM @THE.PUG.TWINS) AI Faux Pas Not-So-Green Thumb Business of the House
My friend sent me a Did I “kill a plant,” or My husband calls our
picture of her kid, and I did the plant just not Bluetooth speaker “Mr.
looked at it and said, have what it takes to Speaker” and addresses
“That’s not a good pic- thrive in this fast-paced it as though we are in
ture.” Siri sent that back environment? Parliament.
as a message, so I’ll be
moving to another — @SARAHCLAZARUS — @TOKS_W
planet where there is
no technology. My wife told me, “If you Send us your original
hate everyone, you jokes! You could earn $50
— @CCRUNS should eat something, and be featured in the
magazine. See page 6 or
rd.ca/joke for details.

rd.ca 7

Jasper

Waterfalls

Glacier
Skywalk

The Check out Tamara’s full story
Columbia at readersdigest.ca/Nissan
Icefields

Lake
Louise

reader’s digest

BIG IDEA

Creating true diversity in Canadian TV and film

Camera Ready

BY Stacy Lee Kong

photograph by brent gooden

F ROM THE OUTSIDE, it looked mission to increase diversity in the
like Amanda Lo was living her Canadian TV and film industry. The
dream. She had worked in Can- group provides training, support and
ada’s film and TV industry for almost access to networks, and also advocates
a decade, sometimes even leading her for fair hiring practices and equitable
own independent projects. But she work policies. In Lo’s case, its four-
wasn’t where she really wanted to be: month screenwriting program helped
the writers’ room of a popular show, her to develop new skills and finally
where she could tell big stories about put pen to paper in a writers’ room.
queer Chinese women like herself. “I Today, she has worked on both CTV’s
felt like there was no space for me,” she Transplant and an upcoming show
says. “I was very close to giving up on called The Spencer Sisters.
a career in writing.”
It’s exactly this type of success story
Then, in fall 2021, she made a break- that director, producer and Daytime
through with the help of BIPOC TV & Emmy award-nominated writer Nath-
Film, a national organization on a alie Younglai was imagining in 2012

10 october 2022

Nathalie Younglai
helps writers
and directors get
their big break.

rd.ca 11

reader’s digest

when she founded BIPOC TV & Film. Younglai would like to see a future in
At the time, Younglai wanted to be a which equality and inclusion are the
TV writer but it felt impossible—espe- norm. As she puts it, “More series by us,
cially when many insiders were not about us, green-lit and run by us.” In
only denying the industry’s stark lack 2020, in partnership with Bell Media,
of diversity, but also that the lopsided CBC, Corus and Rogers, the organiza-
storytelling was a problem at all. “It tion started HireBIPOC, a coast-to-
was very isolating,” Younglai says. coast Rolodex of Black, Indigenous and
“It felt like every writing room in Can- racialized creatives and crew members.
ada was white.” It now has more than 8,000 members,
and employers—HGTV and Disney
“I WANT TO SEE among them—are increasingly using
MORE TV SERIES it to hire diverse cast and crew. And
THAT ARE BY US, recently, the organization partnered
ABOUT US, GREEN-LIT with CBC and the Canadian Film Cen-
AND RUN BY US.” tre to kick off the CBC-BIPOC TV & Film
Showrunner Catalyst, which will pro-
The year she founded the organiza- vide up to five senior-level writers per
tion, only 4.1 per cent of Canadian year with the tools they need to achieve
screenwriters identified as visible showrunner status.
minorities, and only a handful of that
small fraction were women. Now, All of this is in addition to the orga-
thanks to the work of people like nization’s advocacy work, spearheaded
Younglai, the dismal respresentation by executive director Kadon Douglas,
is beginning to shift. who has worked extensively in the doc-
umentary industry. One of the group’s
In 2019, the number of screenwriters most recent victories was to help trans-
who identified as visible minorities form the Canadian Independent Film
had risen to nine per cent, according and Video Fund into the Canadian
to a report from the Writers Guild of Independent Screen Fund for BPOC
Canada. More racialized people are Creators. In its new form, the fund
telling their own stories—from Domee will help racialized creators produce
Shi’s hit Pixar movie Turning Red to the screen-based works and has already
CBC shows Diggstown, The Porter, Sort made the difference in several films
Of and Run the Burbs—and audiences and shows. “The ultimate goal is radical
are cheering. industry transformation,” Douglas
says. “We are revolutionizing what
Canadian content is and who gets to
tell Canadian stories.”

12 october 2022

Patients can use GOOD NEWS
exoskeletons to
move more freely. Five Reasons to smile
BY Lisa Bendall

HELPING WHEELCHAIR USERS WALK

COURTESY OF WANDERCRAFT france One per cent of the Western walking is one of the most complex
world’s population uses a wheelchair, things in robotics,” says Constanza.
amounting to over 11 million people in
Europe and North America alone. Jean- Ten years ago, he partnered with two
Louis Constanza, a robotics engineer other engineers; one had family mem-
in Paris, is the father of one of them. bers with the same disability as Oscar
When 17-year-old Oscar was a child, he and had been working on a concept
asked his dad to make him a robot that for a self-balancing exoskeleton that
could help him walk. Constanza knew could be controlled hands-free. The
that other companies were making trio formed Wandercraft and released
bionic exoskeletons that people with a prototype in late 2016. Three years
disabilities could wear for just that rea- later, Wandercraft was selling exoskel-
son, but there were limitations. Users etons to rehabilitation centres, where
needed crutches to keep their balance, patients could reap the health benefits
and they risked falling. “Humanoid of being upright, such as improved
posture and fewer pressure sores.

rd.ca 13

reader’s digest

The team, backed by investors, is to address the problem, and they were
now working toward their next goal: a not geared to kids.
personal exoskeleton that can be used
around the house or outside, giving So, in 2019, Hazelzet created the hero
people more freedom. The effort is Captain Fanplastic, along with a school
worth it, says Constanza. “We see peo- program that includes stories, craft
ple’s smiles when they stand up for the making and outdoor litter collection—
first time in the exo. Their perspective branded as a “treasure hunt”—to show
on life changes in a split second!” primary-school children how easily they
can make a difference. The program has
Encouraging Kids to Reduce been used in South African and Dutch
Plastic Waste schools, and in 2020 it became available
online. Hazelzet aims to reach 173,000
south africa When creative director students by the end of next year.
Ruben Hazelzet moved to South Africa
from the Netherlands in 2016, he was Learning Opportunities for
awed by the country’s beautiful natural Women Behind Bars
landscapes but dismayed by the con-
siderable amount of plastic clogging united states Women are incarcer-
the oceans and rivers. Every year, about ated in the United States at a higher
79,000 tonnes of plastic waste ends up in rate than in any other founding NATO
South Africa’s waters. Hazelzet realized country, yet they have fewer job train-
that few discussions about pollution ing programs compared to men who
focused on what individuals could do are in prison. A new group at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technolo-
gy’s Educational Justice Institute is ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/DEVONYU
addressing this imbalance. In a pilot
project last year, Brave Behind Bars
taught in-person and online classes
in computer and career skills to 30
women in various New England cor-
rectional facilities.

The education they receive will help
them succeed once they’re back in the
community: according to a report by
the non-profit policy think tank RAND
Corporation, inmates enrolled in edu-
cational programs were 43 per cent less
likely to reoffend later.

14 october 2022

In a testimonial, one graduate wrote: and clothes, while the municipal gov-
“It helped me believe in myself and ernment covered the rest. It wasn’t the
my abilities.” first time an Austrian city subsidized
repairs to reduce the amount of waste
A New Program to Fix headed to landfill, but it was simpler—
Citizens’ Broken Stuff consumers didn’t have to save receipts,
submit forms or wait to be reimbursed.
austria Have you ever thrown away a
broken lamp or coffee maker because it In April of this year, Austria’s federal
was too expensive to repair it? In 2020, government offered a similar subsidy
the city of Vienna launched its Repara- for broken electronics, covering half
turbon (“Repair Voucher”) program to the repair cost up to a maximum of
avoid this very thing. Citizens paid half 200 euros. By the time the program
the cost of repairs, up to a 100-euro max- concludes in 2026, it’s estimated that
imum, on electronics, bikes, furniture 400,000 items will have been fixed
instead of scrapped.

ACTS OF KINDNESS

A Former Refugee Shares Love of Soccer

COURTESY OF HUSSEIN MOHAMUD HUSSEIN When Hussein Mohamud Hussein Within two years, enrolment soared
came to southwest London in 1999 from less than 15 to over 150. Rec-
as a nine-year-old Somalian refugee, ognizing that the kids’ families
he struggled with the new language might also need support, Hussein
and environment. As a teen, he sur- founded a charity, East African Asso-
vived living on the streets and sleep- ciation, to offer activities such as
ing on night buses until a teacher at
his school gave him the support drop-in ESL, fitness classes
he needed. “The only happi- and resume writing.
ness in my life was when I saw The group is in con-
people playing football and I stant need of funding,
asked to join them,” he but the rewards roll in.
remembers. Some of the earliest FC

In 2016, Hussein formed a members are teenagers
community football (soccer) now and are training to be
club, the Streatham FC, and coaches themselves. Says
invited low-income Hussein: “We’ve empow-
children to play. ered them, and it gives me
immense pride.”

rd.ca 15

reader’s digest

ASK AN EXPERT

Should I Quit
Travelling?

We quiz Rachel Dodds,
sustainable-travel
consultant

BY Courtney Shea

illustration by lauren tamaki

Given the negative impacts of travel— Just how bad is air travel?
on the environment and on commu- It’s bad. Aviation is responsible for as
nities visited—should we give it up? much as 12 per cent of global carbon
I don’t think that’s the answer. Travel is emissions and a little more than three
a wonderful way to become less igno- per cent of emissions in Canada. Avoid-
rant about the world around us. It can ing a single flight is the equivalent of
give us empathy toward people from going car free for a year. If you have to
different cultures, and it can be an fly, try to fly direct, since most emis-
opportunity to put money into the sions happen at takeoff and landing.
economies we visit. The focus needs to
be on how we can travel better. If you’re What else should we consider before
flying to Amsterdam from Canada for booking a ticket?
a weekend and then back to Paris two Some people abandon basic decency
weeks later, that might be worth recon- when they are away. There is even a
sidering in terms of environmental term for it: holiday hedonism. They will
impact, which is one of the key prob- consume more, drink more, urinate in
lems we talk about with modern travel. public, treat staff poorly. Recently, a

16 october 2022

tourist threw his e-scooter down the What happened to the romantic idea
Spanish steps in Rome, causing thou- of getting off the beaten path?
sands of dollars in damage. This kind Adventure travel still exists and that’s
of behaviour creates tension between where we see those positive aspects
local populations and visitors. In Bar- of travel. Iceland launched a campaign
celona, there have been laws enacted where the whole idea was to experience
to curtail the effects of overtourism. At the country through the eyes of a local—
one point, there was graffiti visible avoiding the tourist traps and getting a
from the city’s famous Park Guell that real sense of the society and how they
read: “Why call it tourist season if we live. But that is a small segment of trav-
can’t shoot them?” ellers. Most people have two weeks off
a year and just want to plant their butts
It all sounds so depressing. How did on a beach with a pina colada. But if
we get here? they knew that sometimes the staff are
Travel has been going on forever. The making less than a dollar a day and
first explorers were travellers, and over- have to take a three-hour bus ride to
all, humans have an interest in seeing get to work because tourism has laid
other places. But the invention of jet waste to local housing, would they still
aircraft in the 1950s was a game changer. want to do that?
At that time, we had 25 million interna-
tional tourists per year, and today that What are some tips to travel more
number is closer to 1.4 billion. Travel ethically?
has gotten cheaper and more accessible There are lots of services and websites
and, at the same time, people in previ- now that provide information on which
ously developing countries like China, resorts pay fair wages, or list the best
India and Russia have become more locally owned shops and restaurants.
middle class—which means more of Remember that we vote with our wal-
them are travelling. Also, it’s not even lets. If nobody goes to swim with dol-
about the destination anymore. phins in captivity, those businesses
won’t exist anymore. If 100 people ask
Meaning what? a cruise director for locally run tours,
We’re no longer looking for authentic- where they can put money in the local
ity or uniqueness. We want to eat and economy, that cruise would change its
drink and party and get the photo of destructive practices.
the popular landmark for Instagram.
Look at the ads for a lot of these tropi- Rachel Dodds is a professor at the Ted
cal destinations—you have no idea Rogers School of Hospitality and
where that beach is. Tourism Management.

rd.ca 17

reader’s digest

POINTS TO PONDER

IN THE Uniformity does not
NEXT equal discipline, or
CENTURY, operational effectiveness,
WATER any more than the
WILL colour or length
BECOME of your hair defines
MORE your commitment or
IMPORTANT professional competence.
THAN OIL.
–Gen. Wayne Eyre, Canada’s
–Bob Rae chief of the defence staff, ON

LOOSENED DRESS RULES IN THE

CANADIAN ARMED FORCES

The more I teach, the more I realize (ST-ONGE) ALEXANDRE TÉTREAULT; (GEN. EYRE)
that everybody has a story and that all CORPORAL JONATHAN KING © 2021 DND-MDN CANADA

those stories form a community.

–Novelist Lisa Moore, WHO IS ALSO AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY

We must break I TRAVEL WITH MY
the culture of OWN MAPLE SYRUP.
silence in sport.
–Mezzo-soprano
–Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Sport, Rihab Chaieb, WHO

SPEAKING AGAINST THE NON-DISPARAGEMENT HAS PERFORMED WITH
AGREEMENTS THAT SOME ATHLETES MUST THE CANADIAN OPERA
SIGN TO RECEIVE SPORT CANADA FUNDING
COMPANY AND HAS
ALSO TOURED EUROPE

AND THE U.S.

18 october 2022

Life is weird.

–Markham, Ont., actor Iman Vellani, WHO PLAYS MS. MARVEL,

SPEAKING ABOUT HER NEW REALITY AS A SUPERHERO STAR

WE SPENT THREE MONTHS BEING
HEROES. AND NOW WE GET CURSED AT

BECAUSE OF THE WAIT TIMES.

–Monica Dey, a charge nurse at Milton District Hospital,

SPEAKING ABOUT BURNOUT IN HER PROFESSION

(RASUL) ALIA CENIZA RASUL, MONOGRAPHY; (VELLANI) MATT CROSSICK/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO IT MEANS Chess is a game
EVERYTHING TO BE where people

AN INSPIRATION with disabilities
TO YOUNG GIRLS, can beat
TO SHOW THEM
THAT THEY CAN DO people without
ANYTHING IF THEY disabilities.

WORK HARD. –Gilbert Perez, THE ONLY CANADIAN TO

–Chloe Primerano, WHO AT 15 BECAME COMPETE IN LAST YEAR’S WORLD CHESS

THE FIRST FEMALE SKATER DRAFTED CHAMPIONSHIP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

INTO THE CANADIAN HOCKEY LEAGUE

I can’t wait for people to
understand where I come

from anymore, so I’m
telling the story myself.

–Alia Rasul, a Filipina Muslim comedian,

ON HER NEW SOLO COMEDY SHOW

rd.ca 19

reader’s digest

HEALTH How did cognitive behavioural
therapy (CBT) become one of the
Rewire most prominent forms of therapy?
Your Brain In the early 1960s, American psychol-
ogist Aaron T. Beck began studying the
Cognitive behavioural effectiveness of psychoanalysis—
therapy can be as effective the type of “talking cure” that most
people associate with therapy—on
as meds for treating patients with depression in an effort to
depression validate the treatment in a more scien-
tific way. His research showed that the
BY Allison Baker psychoanalytic view of depression—
that it is repressed aggression turned
illustration by delphine meier inward—was inaccurate. Instead,
Beck found that negative thoughts in
20 october 2022 the present influence our responses.

According to Beck, these “automatic
thoughts” are affected by our core
beliefs, or the central ideas that we have
of ourselves. For instance, if someone
who believes that they’re a failure does
poorly on a test, their response might
be, “Of course I failed, because I’m a
failure—so what’s the point of trying?”
They may feel depressed and unmoti-
vated and consequently don’t adapt in
ways that could produce better out-
comes. When they fail again, their neg-
ative core belief is “proven.”

Beck developed CBT to help
patients recognize negative thought pat-
terns, to question and evaluate them,
and then to adjust their behaviour in
response. CBT has since become the
most researched form of psychotherapy
and is now considered the gold stan-
dard in evidence-based treatment for
anxious and depressive disorders.

What does CBT entail, and how do I How does CBT compare to
know if it’s right for me? medication?
CBT is a structured and focused pro- Depression is often treated with medi-
cess, typically lasting between 12 and cations, including selective serotonin
20 sessions, with the ultimate goal of reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). But accord-
providing patients with the tools they ing to a recent article published in the
need to become their own therapists. Cognitive Therapy and Research journal
CBT therapists often assign homework reviewing the past 50 years in CBT
to help patients analyze their thoughts research, CBT is at least as good as
in between sessions. Journaling, for medication in most cases. In fact, the
example, can help a patient keep track researchers reported that depressive
of triggering events and recognize neg- patients successfully treated with CBT
ative thought patterns. were less than half as likely to relapse
than those treated with medication. One
While CBT is considered a first-line possible explanation, they said, is that
treatment for anxiety and depression, depression is an “evolved adaptation
it has also been shown to be effective that served to keep our ancestors rumi-
for substance use disorders, anger nating about complex social problems
issues and eating disorders. Research until they arrived at a solution.” There-
also suggests that CBT can be benefi- fore, the researchers noted, interven-
cial for conditions that might be con- tions that facilitate a similar type of
sidered more physical than psycholog- reflection are more likely to be suc-
ical, like irritable bowel syndrome and cessful than ones, like medication, that
fibromyalgia, by helping patients simply suppress symptoms.
manage their response to pain. “Any
human ailment that can be improved However, Dubord notes that some
by better thinking and better habits conditions—schizophrenia, bipolar dis-
can be helped by CBT,” says Greg order and persistent forms of depres-
Dubord, director of CBT Canada. sion (in which symptoms last for a year
or more)—almost always require med-
However, due to the short-term ication combined with therapy.
nature of the treatment, CBT may not
be appropriate for those who want to When considering CBT as a possible
focus exclusively on past issues or alternative to medication, Dubord sug-
want ongoing supportive counselling. gests people keep in mind the amount
In those cases, conventional talk ther- of homework involved and whether
apy or group therapies may be pre- they have the time to put in that effort.
ferred. Patients should talk to their And if you’re already on medication,
health care provider to determine the any changes should be done in consul-
type of therapy best suited to them. tation with your physician.

rd.ca 21

reader’s digest

Sleep Deprivation
Skews How We
See Others

REAL BENEFITS FROM A According to a Swedish ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/GUVENDEMIR
GRADUAL DIGITAL DETOX study, tired people are
terrible at reading other
Over 3.5 billion people worldwide spend an average people’s facial expres-
of three hours a day glued to their smartphones—on sions. Researchers
social media, texting, checking emails—and accord- found that after one
ing to a German study, there’s good reason to cut night of no sleep, the
down. Researchers found that people who lowered exhausted participants
their usage by one hour every day were happier, were more likely to
spent more time being physically active, were less interpret an angry face
depressed and reduced anxiety symptoms by over as less trustworthy than
30 per cent. Cutting back was also more effective well-rested folks were,
than total digital detox: people who had spent one in part because a sleep-
hour less per day on smartphones during the one- deprived brain reacts
week intervention were more likely to successfully more strongly to nega-
change their habits over the long term than abstain- tive stimuli. Partici-
ers, who had put their smartphones aside for a week. pants also rated neu-
tral and fearful faces as
less attractive follow-
ing one night of no
sleep. This is because
people spent less time
analyzing facial expres-
sions after a sleepless
night, which could lead
them to misinterpret
the faces or overreact
to them. Unfortunately,
when we do this, it can
lead us to withdraw
socially. So next time
you’re feeling sensitive
in this way, it’s proba-
bly time for a nap.

22 october 2022

(BLOOD PRESSURE GAUGE) ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/MALERAPASO; (BAG) PAPIN LAB/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM; Mental Illness Leave Luxury Change the Way You
(MAN) ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/GOODBOY PICTURE COMPANY Affects Blood Logos Behind Think About Pain
Pressure
A University of Michi- How patients talk to
According to a study gan business school themselves about their
from Australian and study found that people chronic pain can either
Malaysian researchers who forgo displaying increase or diminish
published in BioMedi- luxury brands and their suffering, accord-
cal Engineering, paying other conspicuous signs ing to new research from
attention to your men- of wealth are more the University of Colo-
tal health is important likely to be perceived as rado. For the study,
for your heart health, cooperative team play- some participants with
too. The researchers ers. In the study, those back pain underwent
found that people with who appeared on social eight one-hour sessions
anxiety, depression and media proudly wearing of pain reprocessing
panic disorders show such brands as Prada therapy (PRT), a method
greater blood pressure and Gucci—or who that helps patients to
variations during the posted about their lav- parse the difference
day, and their blood ish cars, food and between pain hurting
pressure doesn’t drop travel—were regarded and causing harm. They
the usual 10 to 20 per as more self-interested then learn to replace
cent at night to allow and less collaborative the negative message
their heart to rest. These than people whose pro- that pain is dangerous,
abnormal blood pres- files didn’t showcase which immobilizes
sure fluctuations can their status. Therefore, them and worsens
lead to heart disease if your goal is to be symptoms, with the
and organ damage. invited onto a team or positive message that
into a social circle, pain can be okay—and
embrace modesty. gentle physical move-
ments can heal rather
than harm. In the end,
66 per cent of the peo-
ple who received the
treatment became
totally or nearly
pain-free.

reader’s digest

Women Benefit Most From
Personalized Dementia Prevention

After age, gender is the most important risk factor Tailor Vitamin C (WOMAN) ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/DIGITALSKILLET; (ORANGE JUICE) ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/MISTIKAS
for developing Alzheimer’s disease: two out of Intake to Your
three patients are women. Although scientists have Weight
long thought this was the case because women
tend to live longer than men, a Neurology study For your vitamin C reg-
suggests sharp declines in estrogen levels during imen, it’s best to take
and after menopause are another key risk factor. your weight into
account. New Zealand
Thankfully, according to a study published in the researchers recom-
Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, per- mend a 60-kilogram
sonalized prevention programs focused on lifestyle person consume 110
changes—such as healthy eating, exercise and low- milligrams of vitamin C
ering stress—are especially effective for women. per day through a bal-
anced diet, while some-
While women and men in the study improved one weighing 90 kilo-
in thinking, memory and judgment equally over grams needs an extra
18 months, participation in the personalized pro- 30 milligrams to achieve
grams led to greater reductions for women in over- their optimal dose of
all heart disease risk and blood biomarkers. (Pre- 140 milligrams a day.
venting heart disease and diabetes are key ways
to decrease dementia risk.) Brisk Walking Slows
Biological Aging
This builds on previous research showing that
regular exercise is even more beneficial for A British study of over
women, with moderate physical activity—such as 400,000 adults found
that fast walkers—with
brisk walking—improving a walking pace of more
cognition by 14 per cent than 6.4 kilometres
in women and five per per hour—could be
cent in men. expected to live about
16 years longer than
It’s not yet known why slow walkers.
women respond better to
personalized prevention
programs, but the evidence
is clear: for women, initiat-
ing and maintaining a
healthy lifestyle before and
during mid-life has a big
impact on brain health.

MEDICAL MYSTERY

Cycle of Agony

Doctors dismissed
her monthly suffering

as period pain

BY Sydney Loney between the disease and oral contra-
ceptives, it wasn’t a permanent fix.
illustration by victor wong
In 2017, after Dyal had been on the
N IRVANIE DYAL HAD always had pill for 10 years, her family doctor in
painful periods. The now 41-year- Toronto told her it was time to stop.
old accountant recalls how, in She did—and the pain returned. Every
university, her friends would bring her 21 days, Dyal would spend hours curled
heating pads to help her feel better. up in the fetal position, hugging her
Some days she could barely make it to abdomen. “It felt like someone was
class. Dyal went to a doctor who cutting my insides with a knife,” she
told her it was “just period pain” and says. Over-the-counter medication did
put her on the birth control pill to stop nothing to relieve the pain. Nor did
her menstrual cycle. But because Dyal herbal teas and other naturopathic
has a family history of breast cancer remedies. The only thing that seemed
and studies show a potential link to help was a warm bath.

Over the next two years, the pain
worsened. It became so intense that

rd.ca 25

reader’s digest

Dyal had to schedule her life around her scared,” she says. “It was surreal.” She
period, knowing that for four days every was told it could be cancer, or maybe an
month, she couldn’t make any plans infection in her liver. Given her family
and had to take time off work. And with history of cancer, she was terrified.
the pain came bloating. In 2019, Dyal
was determined to attend a friend’s Dyal was discharged but returned
wedding but felt too uncomfortable to the next day for more tests, including
enjoy herself. “I looked like I was four another ultrasound and a CT scan. She
months pregnant.” A physical exam with remained in the hospital for four days,
a gynecologist didn’t yield any answers. but doctors couldn’t figure out what was
Once again, the pain was attributed to wrong. Ascites is most often associated
her menstrual cycle. with cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver,
heart failure or cancer. Lab tests found
WITH THE PAIN CAME only that the fluid was “hemorrhagic,”
UNCOMFORTABLE or bloody. Dyal was referred to a liver
oncologist, who ruled out cancer; a
BLOATING. “I LOOKED rheumatologist, who ruled out Crohn’s;
LIKE I WAS FOUR and a gastroenterologist, who used an
endoscope to explore her stomach but
MONTHS PREGNANT.” couldn’t find anything amiss.

By the spring of 2020, the bloating had By now Dyal, who was unmarried,
stopped dissipating when her period was worried about her fertility and tried
did. Then the pain spread to her back. freezing her eggs, but due to all the
She also found she could eat only small fluid, doctors were able to retrieve only
amounts before she felt full. Her doc- one. She froze it anyway. In November
tor sent her for an ultrasound. “They’re 2020, she underwent an exploratory
not allowed to tell you anything, but surgery, and doctors discovered that
the technician looked scared,” Dyal once again her abdomen was full of
says. “She left to get her supervisor.” bloody fluid. She also had tea-coloured
patches of tissue on her liver, colon and
The ultrasound revealed that Dyal inside the lining of her stomach. The
had ascites, a buildup of fluid in the surgical team suspected the test ruling
abdomen. She was sent to the ER, where out cancer may have been wrong, or
doctors “tapped” her stomach, insert- that it was an infection. They biopsied
ing a long needle and removing a litre several of the patches and were sur-
of dark brown fluid. “I was lying there prised when the lab results came back
watching it happen, and I was so positive for endometriosis. Dyal was
referred to one of the gynecology teams
at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

26 october 2022

Endometriosis is a condition in which more about it,” says McGrattan. “If you
tissue similar to that normally lining don’t know to look for it, you won’t
the uterus begins growing outside of find it.” McGrattan hopes the discovery
it. Prevalent in roughly 10 per cent helps ensure women like Dyal won’t
of Canadian women, it can typically have to wait years for a diagnosis.
take around seven years or longer for
patients to be diagnosed because it is 10 PER CENT OF
so often dismissed as “normal” period WOMEN WILL HAVE
pain. Pain during the menstrual cycle ENDOMETRIOSIS—AND
is the most common symptom; fluid IT CAN TAKE YEARS TO
buildup is not. After the surgery, the GET A DIAGNOSIS.
fluid in Dyal’s abdomen continued to
accumulate. “I couldn’t lie down because Doctors are still working toward
the pressure made it hard to breathe,” determining an exact cause of endome-
she says. “I had to prop myself up on triosis and finding a definitive cure, but
pillows to sleep.” there are medications that keep the
pain at bay. These medications can also
Not long after that, Dr. Meghan increase fertility. “We counsel patients
McGrattan, an advanced gynecologic that it’s a chronic disease and that the
surgery fellow at Mount Sinai, removed treatment goal is to help them feel as
almost three litres of fluid from Dyal’s well as possible,” McGrattan says. When
abdomen. In the dozens of patients Dyal learned that the lab test confirmed
she’d tapped over the years, McGrattan she had endometriosis, not cancer, she
had never seen ascites associated with felt only relief. “I wish I could go back
endometriosis. She did some research and tell my younger self that it isn’t nor-
and discovered that cases like Dyal’s mal to be in that much pain,” she says.
are rare. Only about 127 endometriosis “I might have pushed harder.”
patients worldwide have presented
with the same fluid buildup. “Endome-
triosis is not a well-understood cause of
ascites, but we are continuing to learn

Phantastic Philosophy

Halloween wraps fear in innocence, as if it were a slightly sour sweet.

NICHOLAS GORDON, POET

A mask tells us more than a face.

OSCAR WILDE

rd.ca 27

THE 2022 READER'S DIGEST

TRUSTED
BRANDTM
AWARDS

PLATINUM | 10+ YEARS

Sun Care Product Pharmacy/Drug Store Life Insurance
Company

GOLD | 5–9 YEARS

Sensitive/Dry Interior Paint Bottled Water Pet Food
Skin Lotion

CLASSIC | 1–4 YEARS

Healthy Cereal

Pads/Liners Allergy Reliever* Meal Kit
Exterior Paint Delivery
Exterior Stain Travel Insurance Incontinence Service
Company Product
Automobile
Mattress-in-a-box Allergy Reliever* Insurance
Company

T rust is critical today, from the service that Canadians identify as
people we encounter, to the being reliable, durable, credible
products and services we use. and holds a good reputation.

Celebrating its 14th year in 2022, So, when you are shopping for,
the Reader’s Digest Trusted BrandTM or researching your next product
study polled 4,000 Canadians to or service, check out the most
identify what brands Canadians’ Trusted BrandTM winners below,
trust most across 35 product and look for the Trusted BrandTM
and service categories. A trusted seal. A symbol of trust. Voted by
brand signifies a product or Canadians.

Hybrid Car Passenger Car Headache Pain
Manufacturer Manufacturer Reliever

Beauty Retailer Non-Dairy Tea Arthritis Pain Grill
Beverage Reliever

Home Insurance Cold Symptom
Company Reliever

Cash-Back Cooler Pediatric Fever
Rebate Company & Pain Reliever
Laundry
Sparkling Health & Dental Detergent Food Delivery
Water Insurance Service
Company
Allergy Reliever*

Remaining 2022 Winner: Ford (Pickup Truck category)

reader’s digest
30 october 2022

COVER STORY

HOW Scientific
breakthroughs
are now helping
to PREVENT
BY Sydney Loney the disease,
and even
photograph by put it into
remission
TOnikki ormerod
BEAT
BETES
rd.ca 31

reader’s digest

IN 2005, amount of sugar in your blood) or isn’t
SUJAY able to use the insulin that it produces.
NAZARETH, Too much sugar in your bloodstream
puts your organs, nerves and blood
a 25-year-old IT technician in Delta, vessels at risk and, left untreated, can
B.C., suddenly felt thirsty all the time. lead to everything from heart and kid-
He began losing weight without try- ney disease to blindness and nerve
ing, and he was tired no matter how damage that can result in limb ampu-
much sleep he got. Nazareth described tation. Diabetes can reduce your life-
his issues to his doctor, who ordered a span by anywhere from five to 15 years.
blood test. The test revealed he had
type 2 diabetes. But it wasn’t a diagno- Rates of the disease are rising in Can-
sis he wanted to deal with, so he didn’t. ada—11.7 million of us currently have
diabetes or prediabetes, largely because
“I felt a lot of fear and confusion, so we’re living longer and are increasingly
for the first nine years, I just hid from more sedentary. “The primary cause of
it,” he says. “I took my medication and type 2 diabetes is the natural aging
tried to give up sugary things, like pop, process,” says Dr. Tom Elliott, medical
but I wasn’t as careful as I should have director at BCDiabetes in Vancouver.
been.” Nazareth also avoided doing the “As you get older, your hair goes grey,
bloodwork his doctor routinely asked your skin wrinkles and your cells don’t
for because he was pretty sure the reproduce as quickly, including the beta
results wouldn’t be good. It wasn’t until cells that make your insulin.”
his daughter was born in 2016 that he
decided it was finally time to tackle his Still, a diabetes diagnosis isn’t as
disease. “I realized that I wanted to be dire as it was even five years ago.
around for her,” he says. “It just struck Thanks to new treatments and tech-
me, like okay, I need to smarten up now nology, not to mention the promise of
and start taking care of myself.” He only additional breakthroughs on the hori-
wishes he’d started sooner. zon, many specialists who treat the dis-
ease believe we may soon have the
A type 2 diabetes diagnosis means science to beat diabetes.
your body isn’t producing enough
insulin (the hormone that controls the WHO GETS
DIABETES?

You have a higher risk of developing
diabetes before you reach senior citizen
status if you are more than 40 years old,
are overweight, smoke, aren’t physically

32 october 2022

(LAPTOP) ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/SASHKINW; (DIETITIAN) ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/FCAFOTODIGITAL active, have high blood pressure or have up to 10 years before receiving a dia-
a family history of the disease (espe- betes diagnosis—all the more reason
cially a parent or sibling). Because not to skip routine checkups.
you can have type 2 diabetes without
showing any signs or symptoms— PREVENTION
and because making certain lifestyle POSSIBILITIES
changes might help prevent you from
developing the disease in the first Almost 6 million Canadians have pre-
place—the Public Health Agency of diabetes, which means that your blood
Canada and the Canadian Task Force sugar levels are higher than normal,
on Preventive Health Care created an just not high enough to give you a full-
online calculator where you input blown diabetes diagnosis.
everything from your body mass index
(BMI) to your exercise habits to help you Not every patient with prediabetes
identify your odds of becoming diabetic. progresses to type 2, although most
will if no intervention is made, says Dr.
“Once you know your risk, then you Tamara Spaic, an endocrinologist at St.
can make changes, control your blood Joseph’s Health Care in London, Ontario.
sugar levels and avoid the dreaded long- “We know that through diet, exercise
term complications that come with and weight loss, you can actually pre-
diabetes,” Elliott says. In addition to vent diabetes from developing.” Stud-
lifestyle changes, there are several new ies show that 150 minutes of exercise
medications on the market that can
help control weight and keep your Digital sessions with a
blood sugar in check. personal health coach

As with so many diseases, the
sooner you discover that you’re sick,
the better your treatment options
will be. The most common symp-
toms of diabetes include increased
thirst, feeling weak and tired, blurry
vision, frequent urination, sudden
unexplained weight loss and slow-
healing sores. After following over
27,000 people for up to 11 years,
Japanese researchers published a
study in 2018 that found you might
show early warning signs, including
a high BMI and insulin resistance,

rd.ca 33

reader’s digest

each week divided over five days can sugar the more they ripen. He’s also ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/RYZHKOV
reduce your risk by as much as 60 per learned how to keep his stress levels
cent. Even though it isn’t easy, the fact down by taking walks and getting exer-
you can have that much control over cise. “It hasn’t been that hard to make
your health and change the outcome changes. You just get into a routine,” he
is good news, Spaic adds. says. “My wife started doing it with me.
We go to the basement after breakfast
To help patients with prediabetes to do weights for half an hour, and now
navigate the lifestyle changes necessary I walk for about two hours a day.” Lang’s
to prevent the disease from progressing 12 months in the program are almost
further, Diabetes Canada launched the up, but he’s already down to his target
Canadian Diabetes Prevention Pro- blood sugar level—and holding.
gram. Dr. Harpreet Bajaj, director of late-
phase research at LMC Healthcare in LIFESTYLE CHANGES
Toronto, is the study’s principal inves-
tigator and began recruiting partici- Once Nazareth decided to do some-
pants three years ago to explore the thing about his diabetes, he began see-
effect that 12 months of one-on-one ing an endocrinologist. But by then,
digital sessions with a personal health even dramatically adjusting his lifestyle
coach—such as a dietitian—might have wasn’t going to be enough to get his
on patients with prediabetes or who blood sugar under control. Not only did
are at risk for type 2 diabetes (the results he need insulin injections, he had also
will be released in 2023).
Low-calorie, low-carb
The Canadian Diabetes Preven- and high-protein foods
tion Program is modelled after a
similar initiative in the United States
that led to a 58 per cent reduction in
prediabetic participants developing
type 2 diabetes. “We’re hoping to
find something similar,” Bajaj says.

Peter Lang, a retired math teacher
in Cobourg, Ont., is one of the study’s
participants. Lang, who is 74, was
diagnosed with prediabetes four
years ago. The program, he says, has
taught him which foods to avoid—
including white rice, cheese (with
the exception of cottage cheese),
and bananas, which get higher in

34 october 2022

developed diabetic retinopathy, caused British Columbia found that after just
by damage to blood vessels in the ret- 12 weeks of following a meal plan of
ina, that required monthly injections low-calorie, low-carb and high-protein
of corticosteroids into his eyes to pre- foods, more than one third of the 188
vent serious vision problems, includ- participants with type 2 diabetes no
ing blindness. longer needed medication.

Still, in addition to his medication, he “For the longest time, diabetes was
worked hard at shutting down his sugar considered a chronic inevitability, a
intake and increasing his physical activ- disease that would progress and cause
ity. He cut down on empty carbs, like serious complications no matter what
white bread, switched to Coca-Cola we did,” says Spaic. “Now we think we
Zero, reduced his consumption of junk can put people into remission, akin to
food and began walking every day. what is done in cancer care.”
“During this time I was also diagnosed
with an autoimmune condition,” he NEW DRUGS
says. “And it got me thinking. I can’t
control my autoimmune condition, Spaic is involved in some of the latest
but I can control my diabetes.” diabetes remission research, which
involves treating the disease aggres-
Weight loss has always played a sively from the outset, as opposed to
major role in controlling diabetes, and the conventional approach of start-
new research suggests it may be even ing patients off with a few lifestyle
more important than controlling blood
sugar. Last year, an international SGLT2
panel of diabetes experts published inhibitors
a paper in The Lancet recommend-
REUTERS/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO ing that physicians shift their focus
to weight first, blood sugar second.
(The researchers found that drop-
ping 15 per cent of a person’s body
weight was more beneficial than
lowering their glucose.)

While there are new medications
that can help patients with diabe-
tes lose weight, Canadian research-
ers have also been exploring how
diet change might help put the dis-
ease into remission. In 2021,
researchers from the University of

rd.ca 35

reader’s digest

changes—less sugar, more exercise, tion, for at least three months, patients
reduced stress—and waiting to see will have completely normal blood
what happens to their blood sugar as sugar levels without any need for med-
a result. These so-called REMIT stud- ication,” Spaic says. While her own
ies are designed to propel people with research is ongoing, other similar stud-
type 2 diabetes into remission. ies are showing a lot of promise.

Patients are treated with glucose- Although a combination of weight
lowering medications, or the same med- loss, diet and exercise will always be at
ications combined with insulin, on top the core of diabetes care, Spaic says that
of intensive lifestyle changes, such as some of the newer classes of drugs
adopting a strict low-calorie diet. “We that have been approved by Health Can-
hope that after this intensive interven- ada in the last five years are having a
major impact on treatment because
New Hope for they do more than just lower glucose.
TYPE 1 DIABETES One class—called GLP 1 receptor ago-
nists—helps with weight loss, while
Type 1 diabetes is an autoim- another—SGLT2 inhibitors—reduces
mune disease in which the pan- the risk of heart and kidney disease.
creas is unable to produce insulin.
Once called juvenile diabetes, “People with diabetes don’t die from
because it usually develops in high sugar levels. They die from cardio-
children and teens, the disease vascular diseases,” Spaic says, explain-
can surface at any age. As with ing that about two out of every three
type 2 diabetes, studies identify- patients in coronary units have diabe-
ing new genes and research tes, while two out of five patients in
experimenting with stem cells dialysis units have it. “To be able to give
show promise when it comes to patients a medication that will decrease
treating, and maybe one day cur- their risk of heart and kidney disease
ing, type 1 diabetes. The most by 20 to 30 per cent is huge.”
exciting recent development for
people with type 1 diabetes is the NEW TECH
arrival of the artificial pancreas in
Canada, which combines a con- Thanks to these new classes of diabetes
tinuous glucose monitoring medications, Nazareth no longer takes
(CGM) device with an insulin insulin and is down to a weekly injec-
pump that automatically delivers tion of a GLP 1 receptor agonist that
insulin to a patient based on their lowers his blood sugar and helps with
blood sugar levels. weight control by suppressing his
appetite. He also tracks his blood sugar

36 october 2022

COURTESY OF LILLY GLP 1 receptor method for testing blood glucose a
agonists thing of the past. CGM devices are
accurate and reliable, although the
with a continuous glucose monitor sensors last only 10 to 14 days, and
(CGM), another relatively recent devel- they are expensive. Not all prov-
opment in the world of diabetes man- inces cover them. (Elliott success-
agement that is still evolving. fully lobbied to get them covered by
BC Pharmacare in 2021.)
A CGM is a small wearable device
with a toonie-sized sensor attached “All of a sudden, you’ve got a
to a tiny needle that penetrates the device that tells you immediately if
top layer of your skin and tests your you made a good dietary choice. It
blood sugar levels every few minutes, shows you what happens if you exer-
then sends the reading to a separate cise, and it shows you what happens
receiving device, like a smartphone. if you get into a fight with your part-
ner,” he says. “Just like that, we’ve
“CGMs are something I would never got the key to the kinds of behaviour
have dreamed possible when I was first modification that each person with
diagnosed,” Nazareth says. The read- diabetes needs to do.”
ings let him know if he needs to adjust
his medications, activity level or food New CGM models—smaller and
intake—all in real time. even more accurate—will be arriving
on the market in the next year or two,
Elliott says CGMs have, thankfully, Elliott says.
almost made the old “finger poke”
NEXT STEPS

It costs the Canadian health care system
about $30 billion a year to treat people
with diabetes, which may explain why
the government invested more than
$15 million in diabetes research in
2021. But all the new research into new
treatments and tools won’t make a dif-
ference if diabetes patients can’t access
or afford them. Laura Syron, Diabetes
Canada’s president and CEO (who was
diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2017),
pushed for a Canada-wide framework
in a bill that was made law last year.

rd.ca 37

reader’s digest

“We have a national strategy for “It’s an exhausting disease, a con-
cancer and one for mental health, but stant worry where you can never stop
we didn’t have one for diabetes.” The monitoring yourself,” Syron says. “But
framework will help turn the patch- just 100 years ago, a diabetes diagnosis
work of programs across the country was a death sentence. When insu-
into a single unified network that can lin was discovered, it was a huge leap
share information and best practices forward, but since then we’ve seen
when it comes to everything from only incremental changes—until now.”
prevention and quality of care for
patients to ensuring Canadians get Lately it seems as though every month
equal access to the latest treatments. a new diabetes study is released, many
of them Canadian. In January, a new
Next, her goal is to change the con- clinical trial from researchers at the
versation around the disease. Syron is University of Alberta found that insulin-
tired of how diabetes is portrayed in producing cells grown from stem cells
the media, and that when the disease can be safely implanted into the abdom-
is mentioned in a newscast, the cam- inal wall of a patient with diabetes. It
era inevitably cuts to a shot of an over- was a small trial, but 35 per cent of the
weight person eating ice cream. There patients who received the credit card–
is a persistent, misguided perception sized implants showed signs of insulin
that if you have diabetes, it’s your production in their blood within six
fault, she says. Syron would like to see months of the implant, and 63 per cent
greater compassion for people with showed signs of insulin production a
the disease and more widespread year later.
understanding that there are multiple
factors that cause it. All of this momentum, from invest-
ment to research, gives diabetes doctors
“When I was diagnosed, I felt like I’d hope that someday there will be a cure.
failed, like I’d eaten too many french “That’s something that we have to con-
fries,” Syron says. “I stigmatized tinue to strive for,” Spaic says. “Every
myself.” Over the years, reactions to generation likes to say we will have one
her disease have ranged from apathy in 10 to 15 years, but considering how
(“You’re lucky it’s not something today’s diabetes research is expanding
worse”) to blame (“You brought this our understanding so exponentially,
on yourself”). I’m sure that cure will come.”

Fine Distinction

When you start the game, they don’t say “Work ball!” They say, “Play ball!”

WILLIE STARGELL, FORMER PITTSBURGH PIRATE

38 october 2022

LAUGHTER One day I hope to be a
bouillonaire.
the Best Medicine
— @DOCATCDI

I’m not one to let people make the switch to the Outdoor Bird
off the hook, except metric system. A free-range chicken is
maybe the ones who easy to spot due to its
get too close when I’m — @A_SIMPL_MAN backpack and rugged
casting. little hiking boots.
The four seasons are
— @JUSTMEBUTNOT1 depression, allergies, — @SONICTYRANT
tomatoes and spooky.
Passwords are like The man at the tuxedo
underwear. Don’t share — @MOLLYFITZ store kept hovering
them, hide them under around me, so I asked
your keyboard or hang Tupperware Thief him to leave me alone.
them from your moni- If you rob a container He said, “Fine, suit
tor. Above all, change store, does that count yourself.”
them frequently. as organized crime?
— REDDIT.COM
— GCFL.NET — @EMILY_MURNANE
Send us your original
Conversion Fail Soup Savings jokes! You could earn $50
An inchworm is just a I’ve started investing in and be featured in the
centipede that didn’t stocks, mainly beef, magazine. See page 6 or
chicken and vegetables. rd.ca/joke for details.

LEIF NORMAN THE BEST JOKE I EVER TOLD

By Allie Pearse

As a vegetarian, I hate when people order meat
and turn to me and say, “Sorry!” Why are you
saying sorry to me? Am I next?

Allie Pearse is a Toronto stand-up comedian and writer on
Letterkenny. Follow her on Instagram, @allie_pearse.

rd.ca 39

DRAMA IN REAL LIFE

When his boat struck a reef and
sank into the Caribbean, Don Cavers
jumped onto a life raft and watched

as the ocean carried him away

AD

BY Gary Stephen Ross

illustrations by steven p. hughes

40 october 2022

reader’s digest

RI F T

reader’s digest

AT ,
FIRST

GL A N C E

it seemed like a good deal: a 12-metre could probably sell it in Florida for more
Ericson 38-200 sailboat for US$45,000. than he’d paid.
Named Starlight II, the boat was moored
at the Puerto Velero marina near Bar- Cavers and Gaitan-Burns set sail from
ranquilla on the Colombian coast. Don Colombia in late November. Things went
Cavers, then 76, bought it in early 2021, smoothly until, two days later, halfway
intending to fly from his home near to Puerto Rico, Starlight’s electrical sys-
Shuswap Lake in the British Columbia tem failed: no light, no GPS, no auto-
interior and test it out. The pandemic navigation, no way to charge devices.
made that impossible, so he didn’t Cavers was unperturbed but Gaitan-
actually see the boat until he arrived Burns, alarmed, his phone almost out
in Colombia in November. It was more of juice, sent emergency emails to Cav-
weathered and rusted than he’d imag- ers’s daughter, Annelise Grube-Cavers,
ined, but his life of adventure, sailing in B.C., saying they had no power and
and farming had made him a jack of all needed help. She contacted the Colom-
trades, able to fix almost anything. bian coast guard and gave them Star-
light’s coordinates. A vessel soon found
Cavers and his stepson, Omar Gaitan- the boat and accompanied it back to
Burns, planned to sail Starlight 1,200 the marina for repairs.
kilometres to Puerto Rico. There, Cav-
ers would meet up with other family At the marina, it took Cavers a week to
members. They’d all sail around the find and install a new alternator (which
British Virgin Islands for a couple of turns mechanical energy into electric-
weeks before the others returned home ity). Gaitan-Burns had to head off to a
and he carried on to Miami. If he chose wedding, so this time Cavers set sail on
not to keep the boat, he thought he his own. Heading north at nightfall,
into wind and heavy waves, he made

42 october 2022

steady progress. The next day, changing As the waves subsided to two metres
course to the east, he noticed that the or so, Cavers realized his mainsail was
boat was moving sluggishly through damaged. He went below deck and
the heavy, rolling, four-metre seas. managed to get the autopilot working
again. Everything was covered in salt,
Donning his headlamp and check- including Cavers himself. Every surface
ing below, he saw why: salt water was was conductive, and as he tinkered he
sloshing back and forth on the floor. kept getting jolted by the 12-volt bat-
Each time a wave broke across the tery system. It was like touching a horse
deck, water sprayed down through fence, except you didn’t know when it
the closed hatches—the seals needed was coming.
replacing. The maps and papers he’d
laid out were a sodden mess. The bilge SOMETIME THAT
pump had failed, so the sea water had NIGHT, CAVERS WAS
nowhere to drain.
STARTLED AWAKE
This wasn’t going to be much fun. WHEN STARLIGHT
Bucket in hand, Cavers braced his STRUCK A REEF.
lower back against the hull and began
to bail. Waves pummelled the boat as On day four aboard the disabled
it headed north on autopilot. It was yacht, the weather calmer now, Cavers
like trying to stay on a bucking bronco. passed within sight of a fishing boat.
By the time the water was mostly He waved and hailed it on his hand-
bailed, he’d badly scraped his lower held VHF radio. He had enough Span-
back and buttocks. ish to make his plight known—“No
power, I need a location!” Maritime
The next day, the electrical system law obliges every captain to help any
failed again. Bummed out and boat or seaman in distress, but the
exhausted, he felt a surge of adrena- crew ignored him—likely fishing ille-
line. Without auto-navigation, he had gally and worried about revealing their
to hand-steer through the wind and location. Half an hour later, it hap-
cresting seas. The problem was how to pened again with another boat. Angry
keep his hands on the wheel as the and disheartened, he went below and
boat rolled and pitched. Some 16 or 18 fell into an exhausted sleep.
hours passed. When exhaustion over-
took him, he hove to—set the foresail Sometime that night, Cavers was
and mainsail in opposition to each startled awake when Starlight struck a
other—to stall the boat. That let him
doze off for a time before his head
bobbed, jerking him awake. Steer the
boat! If it capsizes, game over.

rd.ca 43

reader’s digest

reef. He did a quick inspection as the yacht and wait through the night for
boat rocked and rose and crashed down help, but the boat crashed about unpre-
again. Could he break free of the reef? dictably and the anchor, loose on deck,
Using an auxiliary battery, he got the threatened to damage the dinghy. It
motor started. Maybe, if he timed it was too dangerous. When the dinghy
right, he could power off just as a wave line snagged on the reef, he had to trans-
lifted the boat. He got the bow turned fer himself and his provisions to the
into the surf, but when he put the life raft and cut it free. He was now at
engine in gear the boat’s rudder, hung the mercy of wind and current.
up on the reef, tore a hole in the stern.
Water flooded in. In the raft, rocked by the waves, Cav-
ers thought of what he should have
IN THE RAFT, ROCKED done—stored his electronics in the dry
BY THE WAVES, bag, grabbed some canned food and
put the oars in the dinghy so he could
CAVERS THOUGHT have rowed toward the lighthouse. At
ABOUT WHAT HE least he’d got hold of a bumper floating
SHOULD HAVE DONE. away from the wreck, which helped him
get more comfortable.
No choice: abandon ship. Cavers,
wearing his life jacket, found his hand- Cavers was completely played
held VHF radio, emergency locator out. His shorts and T-shirt were
beacon, computer, a rain coat, flare sodden and rank. His back and butt
gun and a bit of food—nacho chips were badly abraded, but he was
and crackers. He stuffed everything safe, and the night air was pleas-
into his dry bag and loaded it, along antly warm. When he looked back
with a precious 20 litres of water, into to where he’d spotted the lighthouse,
the dinghy he’d brought along for an he could see only dark, rolling waves
emergency. He also had a life raft in a and the vast, starry sky.
clamshell case as a last resort. He set it
to inflate—it was no bigger than a cof- The raft was drifting in the oppo-
fin—then tied it to the dinghy. site direction.

In the distance, he could make out a on an organic farm near Armstrong,
lighthouse, perhaps on a small island. B.C., Annelise Grube-Cavers raises
Ten kilometres distant? Fifteen? Impos- livestock with her partner. Her dad
sible to tell. He wanted to stay with the had promised he’d check in each
morning at 9 a.m. On his first day
solo he had done so. Since then,
however: nothing. She knew he
had an Iridium Go, a device that

44 october 2022

enabled global voice and data, but she agents who use their investigative skills
wasn’t sure it was working properly to find overdue, missing and stolen
and he’d never been the most reli- boats. It wasn’t really an emergency,
able communicator. Grube-Cavers said, but her father
should probably have reached Puerto
Now, after four days of silence, she Rico by then. The Tuttles instructed
was worried. Her dad was in good shape Grube-Cavers to call the coast guard in
for his age, but he’d had a hip replace- Puerto Rico right away.
ment, needed his knee replaced and
was alone on an unfamiliar yacht that Eddie Tuttle was unequivocal: “You
had previously had problems. He’d have to have him declared missing,” she
always been good at getting out of emer- said. “Alert every possible authority”—
gency situations, true, but he was also meaning the U.S. Coast Guard in Miami,
good at getting into them. Canadian embassies in the Caribbean,
emergency consular services in nearby
Grube-Cavers contacted an organi- countries, anyone who could help.
zation called Boatwatch.org, which is
run by spouses Glenn and Eddie Tuttle Guided by the Tuttles, Grube-Cavers
in Florida. The Tuttles are retired FBI became the point person for concerned

rd.ca 45

reader’s digest

family and friends. Over the following The secret, he knew, was not to panic.
days she spent hours at her computer One thing after another. Ration the
and on her phone, navigating the ter- chips and crackers. Adjust the flaps to
ritorial complexities that arise when protect against wind and water. Try
someone from B.C.—presumed to be to get comfortable. When he got hun-
sailing from Colombia, a sovereign gry, he took a slug of water. His poste-
nation, to Puerto Rico, a U.S. protector- rior wounds had become infected, so
ate, on a yacht registered in Canada— he kept his shorts lowered. A small
goes missing, perhaps in Cuban waters. bucket served sanitary purposes.

NINE DAYS AFTER In his dry bag he found a survival
LOSING POWER, manual in French, and he began jour-
CAVERS HAD FINALLY naling in the white spaces: When you
ACTIVATED HIS have absolutely nothing to do but wait,
EMERGENCY BEACON. it makes for a long day. Evenings passed
gradually into darkness, glazed med-
six days after setting sail from Colom- itation into unconsciousness, night back
bia, now adrift on the Caribbean, the into morning. Cavers lost track of what
weather clear and sunny, Cavers had day it was. Constantly playing out res-
ample time to reflect. He reminded cue scenarios in my mind. Not much
himself that he’d been in tight spots else for it to do.
before. He’d once suffered a compres-
sion fracture of a cervical vertebra fall- He was drifting southwest. When a
ing off a ladder. Near-fatal amoebic bit of debris floated by, he timed its
dysentery as a young man travelling in progress. It was moving, he reckoned,
Afghanistan. He’d tried to enter Cam- at maybe three knots. The life raft was
bodia just as Pol Pot took over in 1975 drifting more slowly. At this rate, he
(a day earlier and he might not have estimated, he might cover 25 nautical
gotten back out). Sailed up from Mex- miles a day. If he was more or less
ico in eerie calm and narrowly avoided where he imagined, he might wash up
hurricane-force winds. Ran into prob- in southern Mexico, or perhaps Hon-
lems flying his little Murphy SR 2500 duras, in three weeks or so.
monoplane and ended up in a ditch,
tangled in barbed wire, during an emer- Cavers noticed that the antenna on
gency landing. his locator beacon was broken. Was it
sending out an emergency signal? He
replaced the broken antenna with the
one from his hand-held radio and
noticed a button that said HOLD FOR 5
SECONDS. He tried it, but the unit didn’t
do anything different—or so he thought.

46 october 2022

In fact, nine days after Starlight lost which interrupts the radios of ships in
power, and three days after he’d taken the area of the beacon’s last location.
to the raft, he’d finally activated his
emergency beacon. The AMVER alert buoyed Grube-
Cavers’s spirits. She’d been imagining
cavers’s device was sending a signal to the worst. Had her father been waylaid
a SARSAT satellite, which tagged the in Colombia before even leaving? (The
beacon’s country of registration before marina confirmed he had set sail.) Was
relaying the signal to a rescue net- piracy on the open seas a possibility?
work on the ground. Since Cavers had
a Canadian-tagged beacon, personnel Was he still alive?
at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre
in Trenton, Ont., swung into action. The GROGGY, HE
JRCC deals with about 4,000 emergency REALIZED THAT A
alerts a year, most of them maritime HUGE BULK CARRIER
incidents. They sought to establish the WAS BEARING DOWN
beacon’s location and who it belonged
to, and then to alert the appropriate ON HIS RAFT.
rescue agencies. Their task was com-
plicated by the fact that the beacon’s cavers’s life raft was stabilized by a
registration hadn’t been changed over cone-shaped drogue—a sea anchor
from the boat’s previous owner. It took shaped like the windsock at an airfield.
them a day to track down Cavers’s fam- Because it could destabilize the raft
ily in B.C. and let them know they’d in heavy weather, he hauled it in
received the signal—a huge relief. each evening.

Since the signal was coming from On his fifth day adrift, growing weaker,
Cuban territorial waters, Trenton relayed he noticed minnows caught in the
the location to that country’s coast drogue’s mesh. Never been a big fan of
guard. The Cubans were not especially sashimi, he wrote. Six tiny fish on a
helpful. They later claimed to have soggy cracker made a meal, his first bit
sent a vessel to the reported position of protein. Not sure I want to lose any
but found nothing and considered the more weight, he thought. He took a sip
matter closed. of water and dozed off.

Trenton was also in touch with the On the open sea, a ship’s whistle is
U.S. Coast Guard in Miami. When generally a warning to a smaller vessel
the next day brought no news, it was to get out of the way. Jolted awake,
time to issue an AMVER (automated groggy, Cavers realized that a huge bulk
mutual-assistance vessel rescue) alert, carrier was bearing down on his raft.

rd.ca 47

reader’s digest

A rescued Cavers safely
aboard the Bulk Pangaea

Having no way to evade the ship, he Bakhar, had answered the AMVER alert COURTESY OF DON CAVERS
unzipped the raft’s flap and fired up one and changed course to search the loca-
flare, then another, and got on his radio. tion of Cavers’s beacon. They’d found
him between Cuba and Jamaica.
“Cargo ship! Cargo ship! This is life raft
from pleasure craft Starlight. I’m adrift.” mid–afternoon on December 14, Miami
Coast Guard called Annalise Grube-
“This is Bulk Pangaea,” someone Cavers in B.C. to report that a freighter
replied. “We see you.” had responded to the AMVER alert for
Starlight. The freighter was 16 kilome-
“I can’t get out of your way!” tres from the beacon’s last location
“That’s OK,” said the crewman. “We’re and heading for it.
here to rescue you.”
Overwhelmed with gratitude and At last! Hope! But then, inevitably,
relief, Cavers admired the seamanship came the sobering questions. Was the
of the Russian captain and his Filipino beacon still on the boat? Had the yacht
crew as they brought a vessel the length gone down, and her dad with it? Was the
of two football fields to rest alongside his beacon floating free in the Caribbean?
little orange raft. The Bulk Pangaea,
registered in Panama, was returning She didn’t have to wait long for an
empty to Jamaica after hauling bauxite answer. Less than two hours later,
to Louisiana. The captain, Vladimir

48 october 2022