Tag Archives: Health

The Rising Concern of Soft Drink Consumption in Children

Posted on March 26, 2018 by | Leave a comment

We’ve all been taught since we were kids that sugar is bad for not only your teeth and waistline but also your health. Now, more than ever, North Americans are feeling the effects of excessive sugar consumption. With over 50% of Canadians describing themselves as overweight or obese, one of the main culprits of this issue is the uptick in consumption of soft drinks.

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Figure 1: control soda consumption, especially in children. Source

Although most of us understand that soft drinks are bad for our health, we often fail to fully appreciate the scope of the damage that it can cause, especially to our children. Recently, a research group out of the US have discovered that the damage caused by excess consumption of soft drinks, especially in children, is greater than we think. In their study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, the researchers described soft drink consumption as having a correlation with “aggressiveness, lack of attentiveness, and isolation.” They reported that in a study of nearly 3000 children, “increased daily soda consumption where 43% of the kids consumed at least 1 soft drink a day led to an increase in aggressive behavior”. Their study accounted for both males(52%) and females (48%) as well as ethnicity where African Americans represented 50% of their study while the other 50% was made of Whites and Hispanics. Aggressiveness, the most concerning attribute affected by soda consumption was calculated to be up to 4.74 points higher(95% CI) in children with daily soda intake.

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Figure 2: Video discussing a study on soft drinking consumption being linked to aggressive behavior.

In a separate study, it was revealed that the risk of increased aggressiveness upon soft drink consumption was especially prevalent in children who lacked a consistent access to healthy and affordable food (King, 2016). Therefore, the importance of providing kids with a healthy meal everyday cannot be emphasized enough. If you are a parent guilty of microwaving dinners three days in a row, consider the effect it has on your children, not only physically but also mentally. Obviously, the prevention of soft drink consumption also cannot be understated. This applies for people of all ages. A good strategy that you can apply to combat soft drink consumption is to periodically restrict yourself; that is, if you consume 4 soft drinks a day, reduce that to 3, then 2, then 1, and eventually none. As a substitute consider drinking milk, or making yourself a healthy smoothie, or if you’re lazy, water is as good as any other option!

 

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How many calories are in that latte?

Posted on March 24, 2018 by | 1 comment

Many people look at nutritional information when grocery shopping. But do you know how many calories are in the food you eat out?

Do you know how many calories are in your favorite coffee? Photo by rport @flickr.com

Worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. Diseases associated with obesity and unhealthy lifestyles such as diabetes, heart disease, and some types of cancer have also dramatically increased. This poses a challenge for governments and public health agencies, as unhealthy habits and lifestyles are not easily changed.

New evidence suggests that including calorie labels in menus in restaurants helps reduce the calories people consume. Consumers often don’t even realise how many calories are in the food they order, so including the calorie information in the menu can help people make better choices.

The team of researchers looked at results from three separate studies, and concluded that including nutrient labels on menus can reduce the calories consumed by 12% per meal. This is the equivalent of walking into Starbucks, looking at the menu, and picking a Caramel Macchiato (250 Cal) instead of a Caffe Mocha (290 Cal, about 13% Calorie reduction). It may not seem like a dramatic change, but its a small step towards reducing calorie intake that adds up over several meals.

Researchers point out that there is still uncertainty surrounding this number. This is because other factors need to be studied as well as calories. Fat, sugar, and salt content are other pieces of information in nutritional labels but its effects on consumer behaviour have not been studied. Furthermore, little is known about the effects that nutritional labels have on consumers using vending machines due to lack of data.

More studies are required to fully understand this effect and how it can be used to improve consumers shopping and eating habits. It’s definitely a good start! Do you take into account nutritional information when dining out?

-Ana Brunner

 

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A Rare, Deadly, Little-Known Disease? What are the Chances?

Posted on March 19, 2018 by | Leave a comment

In February 2018, The World Health Organization (WHO) updated their list of priority diseases to research—diseases that most likely to lead to a global pandemic, including infamous diseases like Ebola (Figure 1), Middle East respiratory syndrome, and Zika. However, there’s one disease confusing many people, with the ominous name “Disease X”. Just what is this mysterious disease?

Figure 1: The Ebola virus magnified 108,000 times. Source: ARS Technica.

It turns out Disease X is the name given for an unknown disease, i.e. the WHO thinks it is likely a pathogen that we do not yet know about could cause the greatest devastation to humanity; this makes sense—if we don’t know how to respond to something, it would be probably have a dire impact.

But imagine this: we now know Disease X is a terrifying disease, with only mild symptoms the first few days, but is quickly followed by much more unpleasant symptoms and death, partially because we don’t know how to deal with it yet. We also know it’s a relatively rare disease.

Say you live in a village of 100 people, and the village’s water supply was infected so that anyone in the village has a 1% chance of contracting the disease. You don’t feel very well, so you take a test correctly identifying 95% of people with the disease. You then get the test, which identifies you as having the disease. At this point, you would probably be quite worried. How certain is it that you have the disease? You might think there’s a 95% chance—but fear not—it’s much lower than that! This is where Bayes’ Theorem (Figure 2) comes in handy.

Figure 2: Bayes’ Theorem (tailored for our example)

D represents you contracting the disease, and + represents being tested positive by the exam. P(D|+) would then be the probability of testing positive if you had the disease,  P(+) the probability of having the disease, and  the probability of a positive test (which consists of testing positive given that you have the disease, and testing positive when you don’t, i.e. a false positive). Plugging in these numbers, it turns out there is only a 16% chance of having the disease if you test positive!

This seems counterintuitive, but think about this: the test would likely identify someone with the disease, but also incorrectly identify 5% of the population as having the disease (Figures 3-4).

Figure 3: In a population of 100, 1 person will have the disease, while 5 people will be falsely identified. Graphic obtained from clker.com.

Figure 4: Your chances of having the disease are 1 in 6, or 16%. Graphic obtained from clker.com.

So if the test on average identifies 6 people as having the disease, how certain can we be that they actually all have the disease? That number would be 16% of 16% of 16%… six times: 0.002%, or basically zero.

In reality, most tests are less accurate than 95%. For example, a mammogram has a 18% chance of a false positive of breast cancer in healthy women.

Bayes’ Theorem has many applications in fields such as epidemiology (the study of the distribution of health and disease) and computer science. It’s so powerful, in fact, that this way of thinking has been given a name: Bayesian logic. So the next time you’re absolutely certain of something, you might want to think twice.

-Cliff Ng

 

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City noise linked to heart disease

Posted on March 6, 2018 by | 1 comment

Figure 1 shows motorcyclists as a source of noise pollution. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Every day, on our way to school, to work, or even to run errands, we’re exposed to all kinds of city noise. Loud noise from construction sites, sirens, public transportation and heavy road traffic can be an annoyance to many of us. When it comes to constant exposure to these kinds of noises, we usually worry about the damage it can make to our ears. But now, a recent review, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on Feb 5, 2018, explores the connection between high levels of city noise and cardiovascular disease, showing  that noise pollution is more than simply just a disturbance but also a threat to our health at the cellular level.

Video: Noise Pollution Is Much Worse For You Than You Think by Tech Insider

Although there isn’t much evidence that noise directly causes heart problems, it is the symptoms from chronic stress induced by noise, such as increased blood pressure and heart rate, which ultimately lead to unfavorable effects on the cardiovascular system. According to German researcher Thomas Münzel, after compiling previous research on noise pollution and heart health, he found that high levels of noise activate the sympathetic nervous system involved in the fight or flight response. As a result, this causes a steep increase in the stress hormone, cortisol (Figure 2), causing harm to the vascular system.

Figure 2 shows the structure of the stress hormone, cortisol. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Münzel and his team tested their claim by building animal models based on the result of exposing of mice to aircraft noise at a mean sound pressure level of 72 decibels for several days. Some of the factors they tested were systolic blood pressure and vasoconstriction, the constriction of blood vessels. According to Figure 3 and 4, as the number of days exposed to aircraft noise increased, systolic blood pressure as well as vasoconstriction in mice increased.

Figure 3 shows that as mice are exposed to aircraft noise for longer periods, their systolic blood pressure increases. Data obtained from paper.

Figure 4 shows that vasoconstriction in mice increases with the number of days they are exposed to aircraft noise. Data obtained from paper.

An increase in these symptoms associated with the vascular system can increase arterial stiffness and clog arteries. These results from mice can be extrapolated to humans to show that frequent exposure to loud noises cause symptoms that can lead to cardiovascular disease. Though not much can be done by the general public and doctors besides avoiding exposure to loud noises, Münzel believes that change is in the hands of the politicians to ensure new developments are taking place to reduce the noise level in cities.

-Annelie

References:

  1. Münzel, T.; Schmidt, F. P.; Steven, S.; Herzog, J.; Daiber, A.; Sørensen, M. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2018, 71 (6), 688–697.
  2. Macmillan, A. Noise Pollution Increases Risk for Heart Disease http://time.com/5135279/noise-pollution-increases-heart-risk/ (accessed Mar 6, 2018).
  3. Bever, L. Why car horns, planes and sirens might be bad for your heart https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/02/06/why-car-horns-and-other-common-loud-noises-may-be-bad-for-your-heart/?utm_term=.407c72ef8392 (accessed Mar 6, 2018).

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Recent study shows alarming effect of junk food on immune system

Posted on January 22, 2018 by | 1 comment

Before walking to the counter and ordering that McDonald’s combo meal you’ve been craving for, think twice on the effect that burger will have on your body. It’s no surprise that eating too much junk food is bad for our health and can cause weight gain, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart disease. However a recent study shows its startling, irreversible effects on our immune system that are not so obvious.

Figure 1 shows a typical fast food meal. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany discovered that our immune system reacts to junk food the same way it reacts to a bacterial infection – by constantly fighting against new attack. Although the idea of rapid inflammatory response sounds like we are increasing our immunity to infection, prolonged activation of our immune system actually causes inflammation which can lead to diseases such as arteriosclerosis, clogging of the arteries.

The results were published on January 11th, 2018 in Cell and showed that after exposing mice to a “Western diet” consisting of high fat and high sugar foods for 4 weeks, the number of immune cells that help the body fight against infection increased significantly in the blood. Meanwhile, mice that were put on a healthy diet had much lower levels of immune cells.

When the mice were taken off the “Western diet”, the high levels of immune cells in the blood disappeared. The study also revealed that certain immune cells in the mice experienced permanent changes in their genes causing the immune system to be continually activated even after feeding the mice a healthy diet. These immune cells contain complexes known as “inflammasomes” which recognize any foreign substances that invade our body resulting in the constant release of inflammatory responses.

Figure 2 shows a normal artery with normal blood flow compared to the narrowing of the artery due to build-up of plaque. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Even a minor stimulus can release a strong inflammatory response which can be very harmful in the long term. Immune cells are a major contributor to the thickening of arteries – a disease known as “arteriosclerosis”. An activated immune system continuously releases immune cells that migrate to the arterial walls. Accumulation of immune cells in the arteries leads to the development of plaque, greatly limiting the flow of oxygen-rich blood from the heart to other tissues in the body as shown in Figure 2.

Scientists have yet to study the mechanism of how inflammasomes can detect the presence of foreign substances brought by the Western diet. For now, immunologist Eicke Latz stresses the importance of educating youth about the consequences of eating unhealthy food as it is “only in this way can we immunize children at an early stage against the temptations of the food industry”.

As for the rest of us, making small changes to our diet can substantially reduce the effects of unhealthy food in the long run. Here are some tips on how to incorporate healthy food into your daily lives:

HEALTHY LUNCHES by Cyril Izarn Source: Vimeo

-Annelie Reyes

References:

  1. Christ, A.; Günther, P.; Lauterbach, M. A.; Duewell, P.; Biswas, D.; Pelka, K.; Scholz, C. J.; Oosting, M.; Haendler, K.; Baßler, K.; Klee, K.; Schulte-Schrepping, J.; Ulas, T.; Moorlag, S. J.; Kumar, V.; Park, M. H.; Joosten, L. A.; Groh, L. A.; Riksen, N. P.; Espevik, T.; Schlitzer, A.; Li, Y.; Fitzgerald, M. L.; Netea, M. G.; Schultze, J. L.; Latz, E. Cell 2018, 172 (1-2).
  2. Pietrangelo, A.; Carey, E.; Holland, K. 13 Effects of Fast Food on the Body https://www.healthline.com/health/fast-food-effects-on-body#1 (accessed Jan 22, 2018).
  3. Fast Food Makes the Immune System More Aggressive in the Long Term http://www.selectscience.net/industry-news/fast-food-makes-the-immune-system-more-aggressive-in-the-long-term/?&artID=45630 (accessed Jan 22, 2018).
  4. Woollard, K. J.; Geissmann, F. Monocytes in atherosclerosis: subsets and functions https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2813241/ (accessed Jan 22, 2018).
  5. White Blood Cells https://www.diabetes.co.uk/body/white-blood-cells.html (accessed Jan 22, 2018).

 

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