Parts of Canada froze on Sunday after a blast of snow hit Manitoba and recorded up to negative 50 degrees Celsius in Saskatchewan. It was a record low since a minus 40 degrees was registered in the Canadian province in 1966.

Actual temperature in Saskatoon was minus 39 degrees, but the wind chill was measured at negative 45 degrees. The snowfall, which reached up to 25 centimeters caused power outages in parts of Saskatchewan for four hours on Saturday.

As the economic crisis leaves more people struggling to pay bill, doctors are urging people not to cut down on medical care in preference to paying for other things such as food, electricity or the rent or mortgage.

Many Americans with or without health insurance, or employed or unemployed, are finding it difficult to pay for medical care. Many have stopped taking medications as prescribed because of the difficulty in finding enough money to pay to have prescriptions filled and visits to doctors are down by 10 to 15 percent because of a lack of money.

Even if more Americans will tighten their belt in 2009, it will still be slim picking for diet marketers because of the many alternative, but less costly ways available for people to lose weight without spending too much or sacrificing food quality.

The culprit is the economic crisis which will make the job of weight watchers marketers more difficult. For the first quarter of 2008, over $50 million was spent by dieters on weight loss programs and products. This year the budget of many consumers for weight control is expected to be trimmed, conceded John LaRosa, research director of Marketdata Enterprises.

The America Red Cross said it is in need of blood donations nationwide to make up for a reduction in donations during the holiday season.

The organization said people historically don't donate as much blood during December and January.

The Food and Drug Administration is warning there may be a link between taking a popular osteoporosis drug and the development of cancer of the esophagus.

Diane Wysowski of the FDA wrote in a recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine that the agency has received 23 reports of people developing esophageal cancer between 1995, the year Fosamax debuted, and 2008. Of those patients, eight have died, Wysowski said.