Wallace Integrated Health Centre

08/06/2026

Did you know that you don't always have to come to the clinic in person for your appointments? For most concerns telemedicine is a great way to connect, and save you a commute. Think of it on snow days, or if someone is home sick and you can't leave the house!

07/30/2026

📊 BMI gets a lot of bad press, but it is still commonly used in medicine. Is BMI Actually a Good Measure of Your Health? Let's Break It Down! 🏥

✅ THE PROS OF BMI:
• Quick & easy — calculated in under a minute!
• Non-invasive screening tool
• Great for large-scale population studies & epidemiological research
• A BMI over 30 is 80-90% accurate in predicting obesity
• Widely used in obesity research and insurance coverage decisions

❌ THE CONS OF BMI:
• Doesn't distinguish between fat and muscle mass — an athlete could be misclassified as "obese"!
• Ignores how body fat is distributed throughout the body
• Can UNDERESTIMATE fat mass in elderly individuals, those with low bone/muscle mass, and certain ethnic groups (e.g., Asian populations) — leading to missed diagnoses
• Can OVERESTIMATE risk in people with higher bone density or skeletal muscle mass — leading to unnecessary treatments
• Overdiagnosis risks can result in unwarranted use of drugs, surgeries, and technologies

💡 THE BOTTOM LINE:
BMI is a useful FIRST STEP in health screening, but it should never be the only tool used to assess someone's health. Think of it as the starting point — not the finish line! 🏁

07/23/2026

🚨 Let's bust a major menopause myth! 🚨

Did you know that Menopausal Hormone Therapy (MHT) does NOT cause weight gain? In fact, women on MHT actually experience a 2-3% INCREASE in resting energy expenditure compared to those without estrogen. Yet fear of weight gain remains the #1 reason women avoid it. Let's change that narrative! 💪

So why DO so many women gain weight during menopause? Here's the real story:

⚡ It's not hormones directly causing the gain — it's how menopause MAKES YOU FEEL that changes everything. Hot flashes, mood swings, and body pain can trigger increased caloric intake AND reduce how much you move.

📉 The drop in estrogen accelerates fat mass gain and shifts where your body stores fat — hello, belly fat! During the menopausal transition, women gain an average of 1 pound per year, with 20% of women gaining 10+ pounds.

🥩 Estrogen loss also increases protein breakdown in muscles, triggering your body to seek out MORE food to compensate — making weight management even harder.

The bottom line? Menopause makes it HARDER to maintain a healthy weight, but MHT isn't the villain here. In fact, it may actually help! Talk to your doctor about what's right for you.

07/16/2026

One frequent myth in women's health is around systemic (or whole body) menopausal hormone therapy and local vaginal estrogen. It's far too common to have people, even doctor's and pharmacists question whether a woman should use one or the other, or both.

The Menopause Society guidelines are very clear, these two formats do very different things, and it is absolutely safe and often necessary to use both.

Systemic estrogen (patches, gels, pills) are great for treating symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disturbance and more. Sometimes they also help with local vaginal symptoms such as dryness and pain, but not always.

This is were local estrogen shines, for local symptoms! It is low dose and very safe.

So don't let anyone tell you different, you are allowed to have both!

07/09/2026

We're excited to announce that we will have an RMT available at the clinic starting in August 2026. More details to follow, stay tuned!

07/02/2026

Iron Deficiency: Is Your Body Running a Deficit? 💰🩸

Imagine your body has an iron bank account.

Every day, you make withdrawals. Your body uses iron to produce healthy red blood cells that carry oxygen, support energy, and keep your brain and muscles working at their best.

Normally, you also make deposits through the foods you eat.

But what happens if your withdrawals are bigger than your deposits? Every month, your period makes a withdrawal. For most women, those withdrawals are manageable because they're balanced by deposits from the iron they absorb through food.

But if you have heavy periods, you're making much larger withdrawals month after month.

Eventually, your iron account starts running a deficit.📉
At first, your body quietly uses up its savings (your iron stores). You may not even be anemic yet, but you might already notice:
✨ Feeling exhausted even after sleeping
✨ Brain fog or trouble concentrating
✨ Reduced exercise tolerance
✨ Hair shedding
✨ Restless legs
✨ Feeling cold more often

If those large monthly withdrawals continue without enough deposits, your iron account becomes overdrawn, and iron deficiency anemia can develop. That's when symptoms often become even more noticeable.

Here's the important part: Heavy periods are not something you just have to "put up with." If you're soaking through pads or tampons every 1–2 hours, passing large clots, bleeding for more than 7 days, or your periods are affecting your quality of life, it's worth speaking with your healthcare provider.

Checking your iron levels—and treating both the iron deficiency and the cause of the heavy bleeding—can help restore your energy and improve your quality of life.

And if you aren't having regular periods and are iron deficient, then you need to find out why.

Don't ignore the monthly withdrawals. Your iron bank account deserves attention too. ❤️

06/26/2026

So pleased to see the new fresh water pool being used for great community activities!

A free drop-in summer aquatics program begins next week!

Love to dance? Staring July 2, join us Thursdays at 11 a.m. at The Cove Beach on Lakeside Drive for Aqua Dance Fit.

This fun, 45-minute class combines easy-to-follow dance moves, upbeat music, and the natural support of the water to help improve balance, mobility, coordination, and overall fitness.

No dance experience is required. This weekly class is suitable for seniors and adults of all fitness levels.

Please bring swimwear and a pool noodle for additional support and balance.

06/24/2026

So excited to announce that we are now carrying Iris brand moisturizer and lubricant!!! If you’ve been looking for a quality, Ontario made product, with clean ingredients, that really works, Iris is for you.
Purchase one or the other individually, depending on your needs, or bundle both and save!
These products pair especially well with your Vagifem, Imvexxy or other local estrogen.
Plus, who doesn’t love supporting small, women owned businesses?
💧

06/18/2026

Ontario switched from the Pap test to primary HPV testing for cervical cancer screening in March 2025 because HPV testing is better at finding people who are at risk of developing cervical cancer before abnormal cells appear.

Here's the key difference:

Pap test (cytology): looks for abnormal cells on the cervix.
HPV test: looks for high-risk strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes almost all cervical cancers.

The rationale is that HPV infection usually occurs before cell changes develop. By detecting the virus itself, screening can identify risk earlier and more accurately. HPV testing has higher sensitivity (it misses fewer precancerous lesions) than Pap testing.

Because the HPV test is more accurate:

Most people who test negative can safely wait 5 years between screens instead of 3 years.
There are fewer false alarms and unnecessary follow-up procedures.
More precancerous changes are detected before they progress to cancer.

For patients, the experience is almost the same. A clinician still collects a sample from the cervix using a speculum and brush. The main change is what the laboratory tests for after the sample is collected.

✅ Researchers are even exploring at-home HPV testing kits — imagine screening from the comfort of your own home!

06/12/2026

🚶‍♂️ Exercise Is Now Being Recognized as a Treatment for Colon Cancer!

Groundbreaking Canadian-led research has found that a structured exercise program can significantly improve survival for people treated for colon cancer. The international CHALLENGE trial followed 889 patients and found that regular, moderate exercise reduced the risk of cancer recurrence and new cancers by 28% and lowered the risk of death by 37%.

Participants didn't need extreme workouts—many simply added about 2.5 hours of moderate activity per week, such as walking, cycling, or pickleball. Researchers say these findings could change the standard of cancer care worldwide.

The takeaway? Movement isn't just good for recovery—it's a powerful part of treatment.