/oss/taxonomy/term/6296/all en /oss/article/medical-history/life-and-death-soviet-era-search-longevity <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-the-life-and-death-of-a-soviet-era-search-for-longevity">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>Want to prolong life? To start with, you need three corpses from healthy young men accidentally killed in within the previous 12 hours.</p> Fri, 20 Sep 2024 22:41:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10088 at /oss /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition/another-bullet-fired-highly-processed-food <p>Elie Metchnikoff drank sour milk every day. He believed that the lactic acid bacteria found in fermented foods like yogurt, especially the <i>Lactobacillus bulgaricus</i> strain, helped to promote longevity by preventing potentially disease-causing bacteria from proliferating in the intestines. He attributed the long life of Bulgarian peasants to their daily consumption of yogurt.</p> Wed, 11 Sep 2024 16:54:56 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10071 at /oss /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition-general-science/should-you-be-worried-about-eating-burned-toast <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/the-right-chemistry-should-you-be-worry-about-eating-burned-toast">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> Fri, 06 Sep 2024 21:30:09 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10065 at /oss /oss/article/medical-student-contributors/serotonin-syndrome-too-much-good-thing <p>Serotonin, or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), is a neurotransmitter that plays a crucial role in various bodily functions, including mood regulation, behavior, memory, and gastrointestinal balance. Often dubbed the “happy” neurotransmitter, serotonin helps maintain a balanced emotional state—though it's not always as uplifting as the nickname suggests.</p> Fri, 06 Sep 2024 13:57:10 +0000 Hosna Akhgary 10059 at /oss /oss/article/medical/study-gets-heart-controversial-chelation-therapy <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-study-gets-to-the-heart-of-controversial-chelation-therapy">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>Chelation therapy is the process of removing heavy metals from the body. It can be used to treat a child with lead poisoning or remove excess iron from the blood of someone with thalassemia. What it can’t do is treat heart disease, and the recent TACT2 trial should hopefully put the final nail in the coffin of this idea. </p> Fri, 30 Aug 2024 21:29:05 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 10054 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/no-tolerance-igg-food-intolerance-tests <p>“But where’s the harm?” we are so often asked. When your baby dies and has to be resuscitated in the emergency room, I’d say the harm has a Vegas-sized neon arrow above it.</p> <p>An infant boy in Hong Kong had a really bad reaction to being introduced to cow’s milk at eight months of age: vomiting, difficulty breathing, and a generalized skin rash. The doctors performed an allergy test by pricking his skin and sure enough the boy was allergic to a protein in cow’s milk. Hurray for modern science.</p> Fri, 30 Aug 2024 02:02:34 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10050 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-history/genghis-khan-hiding-inside-your-dna <p>Genghis Khan is more legend than man. We’re not even sure when he was born: historians agree it’s somewhere in the decade that spans 1155 and 1167. That birth has itself been mythologized. Stories tell of a ray of light impregnating his mother; the baby, named Temüjin, was apparently born holding on to a piece of clotted blood, an omen of his later conquests. His death in 1227 is shrouded in rumours both kind and denigrating. Genghis Khan was struck by lightning. He died of an arrow wound that led to a systemic infection. He was castrated by a princess.</p> Fri, 23 Aug 2024 13:51:15 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10044 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-history/book-natural-healers-really-hate <p>To the conspiracy-minded alternative health practitioner, everything was great until the Flexner Report was published.</p> Fri, 16 Aug 2024 03:19:23 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10038 at /oss /oss/article/medical-environment-did-you-know/whipping-some-science <p>Want to add a bit of extra delight to that cake or sundae? No need to bother with whisking some cream when you can just reach for that aerosol cannister of whipped cream. Just squeeze the little trigger and perfectly whipped cream gushes out! For the propellant action you can thank nitrous oxide, also known as “laughing gas.” That term was coined by the great English chemist Humphry Davy upon noting that “this gas raised my pulse upwards of twenty strokes, made me dance about the laboratory as a madman, and has kept my spirits in a glow ever since.”</p> Tue, 13 Aug 2024 20:25:13 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10026 at /oss /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition/coffee-brain <p>Most nutritional studies are observational meaning that researchers observe what happens in a given population as a result of consuming a food or beverage without any sort of intervention on their part. Such studies usually depend on participants filling out questionnaires about the amounts of specific foods consumed as well as the frequency of consumption. This is problematic because of faulty recall, inability to estimate amounts, and a tendency to report what the subject thinks should have been eaten as opposed to what was actually consumed.</p> Wed, 07 Aug 2024 14:25:36 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10019 at /oss /oss/article/medical-student-contributors/cloudy-chance-sunburn <p>Imagine stepping outside on a cloudy day, feeling confident that your skin is safe from the sun's rays simply because the sun is hidden behind a layer of clouds. This common belief can be misleading and potentially harmful. The truth is, even on those overcast days, up to 80% of the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays can still reach your skin, so sunscreen is your skin's best friend, rain or shine.</p> Fri, 26 Jul 2024 17:28:16 +0000 Hosna Akhgary 10011 at /oss /oss/article/medical-general-science/studying-organic-chemistry-can-pay <p>One of the fundamental reactions we teach in organic chemistry is “nucleophilic substitution” in which an atom or group of atoms in a molecule is exchanged for another one. Quite logically, the substituted atom or group is known as a “leaving group.” The ease with which a leaving group can be displaced by the substituting species, or “nucleophile,” is variable and depends on several factors including the strength of the bond with which the leaving group is attached to the rest of the molecule.</p> Fri, 26 Jul 2024 14:51:32 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10010 at /oss /oss/article/medical-student-contributors-did-you-know/seawater-really-antidote-cuts-and-scrapes <p>Recently, a carpet burn removed the epidermis, the top layer of my skin, of my upper middle finger. It left a large open wound on my hand. Fortunately, I was close to the ocean so I could swim in the seawater to speed up the healing process, or so I thought.</p> Fri, 19 Jul 2024 12:29:17 +0000 Daniela Padres 10005 at /oss /oss/article/student-contributors/dos-and-donts-burn-first-aid <p>Burns, injuries to the skin caused by heat, radiation, electricity, friction, or chemicals, are among the most common and painful injuries. Throughout history, a variety of unusual and sometimes bizarre treatments have been used for burns. One of the earliest documented treatments comes from ancient Egypt, recorded in the Ebers Papyrus around 1500 B.C.</p> Fri, 12 Jul 2024 17:29:03 +0000 Hosna Akhgary 10001 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-environment/there-are-safe-sunscreens-no-safe-tans <p>When it comes to health matters, scientists rarely make statements that do not begin with “may.” But here is one. Excessive exposure to sunlight causes skin cancer! There’s no “may” about it. And here is another one. Chemical protection can effectively reduce exposure. Uncertainties do, however, emerge when it comes to deciding on which specific chemicals to use. Activists claim that some sunscreens are unsafe and blame regulatory agencies for not looking after the welfare of the public, while manufacturers profess that their products have been thoroughly tested for safety and efficacy.</p> Wed, 03 Jul 2024 02:33:48 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9993 at /oss