Author Archives: JayPark

Daylight Saving Time and Heart Attacks!

Posted on November 7, 2016 | 2 comments

Monday, November 7, 2016. The standard time has returned and we gained an hour of our time back. It is nice to sleep in and have one more hour of sleep, but have you wondered why we do this?  George Hudson first proposed Daylight Saving Time (DST) a century ago and countries adapted this system to save energy (1). Now you must be wondering: how does changing the time on a clock save energy?

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Figure 1: The clock is moved forward an hour (left) in March.  It is called the Daylight Saving Time (DST).  When the time is moved back an hour (right) in November, it is called the Standard Time.  Photos and edits by Daniel FR, Plenz (Original by Daniel FR, SVG by Plenz) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Let’s say the sun is shining from 8 AM to 6 PM.  By moving the clock forward, now the the sunlight hours become 9 AM to 7 PM.  Now sunlight lasts until 7 PM (which is later than 6 PM), creating an illusion of longer sunlight hours even though the total hours of sunlight have not changed.  Countries adapted DST thinking if it was bright outside until late night, it would encourage people to go outside and enjoy the sun instead of using electricity in their homes.  Also, if the sun was up until late night, people wouldn’t bother turning on the lights because it was already bright, further reducing the energy consumption.  However, does DST really save energy?

 

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It turns out that this question is very hard to answer.  Many scientists disagree with each other: some say it does and some say it does not.  However, the consensus is that the effects of DST on electricity usage is minimal (0.5-2%) (2).  Scientists also concluded that DST also does not encourage physical activities (3) in any way.  Clearly, DST is not serving its purpose; however, there is something that scientists suspect that DST may be responsible for.

According to a study conducted in 2014, the day following the DST in the spring (the clock is moved forward and we lose an hour of our time), the number of heart attacks increased by 24% (4).  Vice versa, when the clock was moved backward and we gained an hour of our time, the number of heart attacks decreased by 21% (4).  The hours of sleep and sleep quality are deeply correlated with heart attacks (5) and scientists suspect suddenly losing an hour of our sleep in the spring caused this increase.  On the other hand, gaining an hour of sleep is thought to be decrease the number of heart attacks after DST in fall.  Many other studies came to the same conclusion (6, 7) that DST may be influencing the number of heart attacks.

Daylight Saving Time (DST) seems like another ridiculous tradition that just does not work any more for our modern society.  Its ability to decrease energy consumption is questionable and it may put people at higher risks of heart attacks.  Plus, no one needs more confusion calculating the time difference between time zones.  Although I love gaining one hour of sleep in the fall, it’s clear it is time to ditch DST.

-Jay Park

REFERENCE

1. CGP Grey,. Daylight Saving Time Explained https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84aWtseb2-4&t=191s (accessed Nov 7, 2016).

2. Aries, M.Newsham, G. Effect of daylight saving time on lighting energy use: A literature review http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421507002273 (accessed Nov 7, 2016).

3. Zick, C. Does Daylight Savings Time Encourage Physical Activity?: Journal of Physical Activity and Health: Vol 11, No 5 http://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/10.1123/jpah.2012-0300 (accessed Nov 7, 2016).

4. Sandhu, A.; Seth, M.; Gurm, H. Daylight savings time and myocardial infarction (accessed Nov 7, 2016).

5. Andrechuk, C. Ceolim, M. Sleep quality and adverse outcomes for patients with acute myocardial infarction J Clin Nurs 2015, 25, 223-230.

6. Kirchberger, I.; Wolf, K.; Heier, M.; Kuch, B.; von Scheidt, W.; Peters, A.; Meisinger, C. BMC Public Health 2015, 15.

(7) Toro, W.; Tigre, R.; Sampaio, B. Daylight Saving Time and incidence of myocardial infarction: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design. Economics Letters 2015, 136, 1-4.

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Teixobactin, a new arsenal against bacteria

Posted on October 17, 2016 | Leave a comment

Pneumonia, meningitis, gonorrhea, cholera, Lyme disease, syphilis, strep throat, gastritis, ulcers, and the plague. These are just some common illnesses caused by a bacterial infection. Although only less than one percent of all bacterial species are harmful, they are experienced killers with powerful biological weapons. How powerful? The plaque alone is estimated to have killed 200 million people during 14th to 17th century (3) !  Luckily, humans are now armed with antibiotics, which are chemical compounds that target and kill bacterial cells without harming our cells. With the accidental discovery of world’s first antibiotic penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928, humans have been able to combat bacteria since (6).  However, things are changing fast. Bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics.
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Antibiotic resistance is a serious issue that affects everyone and it’s not a problem of the future. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) which cause strep throat and tuberculosis respectively are just two of many bacterial species that are resistant to common antibiotics (11).  Antibiotic resistant bacteria infect over 2 million people a year and killing them require stronger antibiotics or alternate methods (11). The availability is limited for these alternatives and they are more expensive which can be a huge financial burden on the patient. Furthermore, over 25 thousand people are killed from the bacteria, proving how dangerous even a minor infection could be without the help of antibiotics (7).  Due to these reasons, health organizations around the world have made discovery of new antibiotics a top priority. With combined effort, a new class of antibiotic was discovered first time in 30 years: Teixobactin (4).

 

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Each class of antibiotic has a unique way it kills bacteria. For example, β-lactam antibiotic such as penicillin attach to the bacterial cell wall, a protective casing that the bacteria produce. When attached, the antibiotic gets in the way of making the cell wall and the bacteria die off because it cannot survive without a cell wall (8). Unlike penicillin and all other antibiotic classes, Teixobactin kills bacteria by binding to the materials that bacteria need to make their cell wall (lipid II and lipid III) (4).  Because there isn’t any material for the bacteria to use to build a cell wall, they die off.  So far, the drug has shown to successfully kill antibiotic resistant MRSA and MTB (4) and because Teixobactin attacks multiple different weak points of bacteria (bind to both lipid II and lipid III), experts suggest that it will take 3o years or more for bacteria to develop resistance to it. (5) However, the researchers who discovered Teixobactin have yet to test the drug on humans and they still face challenges mass producing the drug. (7) They estimate that the drug may be available to the market in 5 years.

 

Jay Park

References:

(1) Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria (accessed Oct 18, 2016).

(2) Antibiotic Resistance of Tuberculosis http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/2009/02/new-trickes-for-an-old-foe-the-threat-of-antibiotic-resistant-tuberculosis/#.WAVjKujhBFw (accessed Oct 18, 2016).

(3) BBC News | HEALTH | De-coding the Black Death http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1576875.stm (accessed Oct 18, 2016).

(4) Ling, L.; Schneider, T.; Peoples, A.; Spoering, A.; Engels, I.; Conlon, B.; Mueller, A.; Schäberle, T.; Hughes, D.; Epstein, S. et al. A New Antibiotic Kills Pathogens Without Detectable Resistance. Nature 2015, 517, 455-459.

(5) Sarah Knapton,. First new antibiotic in 30 years discovered in major breakthrough http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/14/first-new-antibiotic-in-30-years-discovered-in-major-breakthroug/ (accessed Oct 18, 2016).

(6) Alexander Fleming Discovery and Development of Penicillin – Landmark – American Chemical Society https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/flemingpenicillin.html (accessed Oct 18, 2016).

(7) New Antibiotic Kills TB, MRSA Without Building Resistance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oavgheHGPFw (accessed Oct 18, 2016).

(8) ß-Lactams: Mechanisms of Action and Resistance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBdYnRhdWcQ (accessed Oct 18, 2016).

(9) What causes antibiotic resistance? – Kevin Wu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znnp-Ivj2ek (accessed Oct 18, 2016).

(10) Antibiotics: List of Common Antibiotics & Types – Drugs.com https://www.drugs.com/article/antibiotics.html (accessed Oct 18, 2016).

(11) Antibiotic resistance http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/antibiotic-resistance/en/ (accessed Oct 18, 2016).

 

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Oxygen Water and Reasons to Avoid it

Posted on October 10, 2016 | 2 comments

Have you heard of “oxygen water?” This self-explanatory drink contains a higher concentration of oxygen than normal water. The manufacturers of oxygen water such as GP8 oxygen water and OXiGEN all claim their products have many health benefits such as an improvement in an athlete’s performance; however, is this true? In short it isn’t.

 

When people are vigorously exercising, they are always out of breath. Why is that? Oxygen is an essential fuel needed to generate energy (ATP) in the human body. This process of making energy in our bodies is known as cellular respiration.

Simple Overview of Cellular Respiration. It requires oxygen, sugar (food) to make energy, carbon dioxide and water. As shown above, oxygen is a necessary component in the process. Image created by Jay Park, public domain source: http://imgur.com/a/hqKCh

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When people are breathing hard, they are trying to get more oxygen in their lungs to fuel their bodies into motion. What if there was an alternate way of getting oxygen inside your body than breathing? Oxygen water manufacturers claim that drinking their product will increase the oxygen levels in your body. Unfortunately, this is no where near the truth.

 
With the popularity of oxygen water growing in both professional and amateur athletes, a few teams of scientists decided to challenge the science behind oxygen water. One of those scientists was Dr. Piantadosi who tested whether or not consuming oxygen water improved athletic performance. The study concluded that oxygen water did not improve any athletic abilities. Many other studies that tested oxygen water’s ability to enhance athletic ability all came to the same conclusion.

 
Unlike the aforementioned studies, Schoenberg and his team were determined to figure out if oxygen water was harmful by investigating the relationship between oxygen water and oxygen radicals. Oxygen radicals are a type of free radicals.  Free radicals have an unpaired electron and this makes the radicals highly unstable and reactive. When they are present in our body, they can damage and even kill the cells they come in contact with; therefore, having high levels of oxygen radicals is harmful.

 
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The scientists hypothesized that participants who drank oxygen water will have more oxygen radicals in their blood.  Their hypothesis was correct. Volunteers who drank oxygen water had higher blood oxygen radical levels than normal for thirty minutes after drinking oxygen water. With this finding, the team concluded that oxygen water may be harmful to the consumer.

 
The scientific community has made it clear that oxygen water is not what it claims to be. Hopefully with the power of science behind your back, you will avoid wasting your money on oxygen water!

 

Jay Park.

Reference:
1. Haque, Rabiul. Free Radical Injury (HD). 2015. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
2. Piantadosi, C A. “”Oxygenated” Water and Athletic Performance * COMMENTARY”. British Journal of Sports Medicine 40.9 (2006): 740-741. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
3. Schoenberg MH, et al. “The Generation Of Oxygen Radicals After Drinking Of Oxygenated Water. – Pubmed – NCBI”. Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.
4. Teacher’s Pet. Cellular Respiration. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.

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Oxygen Water and Reasons to Avoid It

Posted on September 25, 2016 | Leave a comment

Have you heard of “oxygen water?”  This self-explanatory product that you may have passed by unsuspectingly at a grocery store or a gas station contains higher levels of oxygen than normal water.  The manufacturers of oxygen water such as GP8 oxygen water and OXiGEN all claim their products have many health benefits, one of them being an improvement in an athlete’s performance; but is this true?  In short it isn’t.

OGO Oxygen Water, courtesy of Flickr Commons

Oxygen is an essential ingredient needed to generate energy in the human body.  When vigorously exercising, athletes are always in short of oxygen; therefore, they breathe heavier and faster to get more oxygen in their lungs.  What if there was an alternate way of getting oxygen inside your body than breathing?  Oxygen water manufacturers say that their products will increase the blood oxygen level because there is an extra supply of oxygen in the body from drinking oxygen-rich water.  Unfortunately, this is no where near the truth.

With the popularity of oxygen water growing in both professional and amateur athletes, a few teams of scientist decided to challenge the science behind oxygen water.  Dr. Piantadosi tested whether consuming oxygen benefited athletic performance or not.  The study concluded that oxygen water did not improve any athletic abilities and Dr. Piantadosi stated: “oxygenated water fails both quantitative analysis and practical physiological tests of exercise performance and recovery.”

Radical Oxygen, courtesy of Wikimedia

Oxygen Radicals, courtesy of Wikimedia

Another study investigated the effects of oxygen water but approached the subject slightly different.  Schoenberg et al. (2006) were determined to figure out if oxygen water was more harmful than beneficial.  The team suspected that drinking oxygen-rich water will generate oxygen radicals and when tested, they were right.  Oxygen radicals, which are unstable form of oxygen that damage or even kill our cells, were higher than normal in the volunteers who drank oxygen water up to 30 minutes after consumption.  From these results, it is clear that oxygen water should be avoided.  Unlike the claims made by the manufacturers, they do not enhance physical endurance or athletic ability and they do more harm than good.

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