Women’s mental health run
On May 25, runners will be tying their shoelaces for mental health.
The Shoppers LOVE. YOU. Run for Women is kicking off at Sir Wilfrid Laurier Park in Edmonton.
Tracee Pratt, executive director for the Lois Hole Hospital for Women, said the event is an important step in raising awareness about mental health.
“People don't recognize when being overwhelmed becomes an actual mental health illness and a physical disability,” she said.
By 2020, Pratt said severe depression will be the second leading cause of disability around the world, with women twice as likely to be impacted as men.
She said raising a person’s heart rate for 25 minutes can have the same impact on the brain as an anti-depressant.
“It reduces anxiety and improves mood and specifically enhances the action of endorphins,” she explained.
The event kicks off at 8:30 a.m., with youth under 12 years old doing a one-kilometre walk or run. At 9:15 a.m. the 10-kilometre run starts, and at 9:30 a.m. the five-kilometre run starts.
Pratt said she’s excited for the event.
“Aerobic exercise, like jogging, is recommended in most clinical guidelines to help treat mild to moderate depression,” she explained.
The Lois Hole Hospital for Women will be accepting donations throughout the morning, and registrants are encouraged to arrive at 7:40 a.m.
For those who participate, they’ll each get their own swag bag with over $100 worth of items inside.
For more information about the event, visit: https://www.runforwomen.ca/Cities/Edmonton/Race-Day-Information.aspx.
Measles outbreak
Alberta Health Services announced a measles outbreak in the Edmonton area on Monday. An individual with lab-confirmed measles travelled to parts of Sherwood Park, Nisku and Edmonton from May 9 to May 17.
The individual was first in Sherwood Park Mall on May 9 and 10 from 3 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
That person was also at the mall on May 11, from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The next day, the individual was at Smilie’s Village in Sherwood Park from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and again that same day from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
On May 15, they visited Shoppers Drug Mart at #500, 2020 Sherwood Dr., from 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. and on May 16 the individual was at Carmacks Construction at 701 25 Ave in Nisku, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The person then travelled to the Strathcona Community Hospital on May 16 at 8 p.m. and stayed until May 17 5:30 p.m.
On May 17, they arrived at the University of Alberta Hospital Emergency Department, and were there from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Those who came in contact with the individual between those times are no longer eligible for the preventative vaccine, as the vaccine would no longer be effective.
AHS is still recommending those who may have been exposed to review their immunization history and arrange for a measles vaccine if they haven’t received two doses of it.
The health organization is recommending people to monitor themselves for symptoms of the disease. If symptoms develop, they’re encouraged to call Health Link at 811 before visiting any health care centre.
Symptoms of measles include: a fever of 38.3° C or higher, cough, runny nose and red eyes, and a red blotchy rash that appears three to seven days after fever starts, beginning behind the ears and on the face and spreading down the body and then to the arms.
