Category Archives: Issues in Science

Vitamin Pills: A Waste of Money ?!

Posted on October 8, 2012 by | 8 comments

These days,  if you walk through every pharmacy store , you will see a variety and abundance of different vitamin pills due to the widespread use of these supplements.However, are people really aware of the effects of these pills? There are controversies over using these supplements.

Human body needs 13 types of vitamins to work properly : A, C, D, E , K and the eight B vitamins. Each of the vitamins has different advantages for our bodies and can be found in different nutrients. Most of the people take vitamin pills since their daily diets do not provide enough natural vitamins for their bodies.

“People use vitamin pills to compensate for their unhealthy diets”

(picture from: https://blogs.ubc.ca/communicatingscience2012w109/files/2012/10/vitamin-pills1.jpg )

However, studies show different results for popping vitamin pills.

One category of studies associate benefits with vitamin supplement consumption. For example, a number of studies show that these supplements improve cognitive skills and decrease the rate of mental decline.

The second category of studies show no effects associated with supplement consumption.For instance, a study was done over the course of eight years with about 8,000 participants.The overall health conditions of the participants who took the real pill daily (which contained vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, selenium  and zinc,) and the ones who took the placebo pills daily ( the pill with the same appearance of the real one but without the capacity to function) showed almost the same trend .

The third category of studies, in contrast, show that consuming vitamin pills can be harmful. For example, according to two of the studies, the likelihood of  developing different types of cancer such as malignant cancer( the most severe type of skin cancer) and breast cancer was more in participants who took particular types of vitamin supplements. Another study also suggests that using supplements such as multivitamins increases the mortality rate.

What should we do despite all the contradictory results from different studies about the cons and pros of taking vitamin supplements ? According to an article ,having a healthy diet is the most important step . However, taking one multivitamin tablet as well as vitamin D tablet per day can help people who do not have an optimal diet, but the important thing to remember is that we should not over use vitamin supplements.The article argues that the disadvantages of the supplements are outweighed by their advantages.Another article states that foods contain natural vitamins as well as other plant substances such as  phytochemicals ( plant chemicals that prevent disease) that cannot be put in the vitamin pills ;Therefore, it is much better to have a healthy diet rather than taking vitamin pills.

In the video below,uploaded by ” psychetruth” ,Dr. Vincent Bellonzi gives more information about whether we should take vitamin supplements or not.

 

 

 

 

(www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa6-jmVhbcU&feature=related)

Maryam Goharian

 

Sources:

benefits:  http://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/news/daily-multivitamin-tablets-can-boost-memory-study/65391/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2078861/Taking-multi-vitamin-pills-does-health.html

http://www.medicinenet.com/melanoma/article.htm

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/4829/vitamin-pills-do-more-harm-good

http://www.health-alternatives.com/vitamins-nutrition-chart.html

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vitamins/index.html

http://www.phytochemicals.info/

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/dietandnutrition/feature/vitamins.htm

 

 

picture from:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/communicatingscience2012w109/files/2012/10/vitamin-pills1.jpg

video from:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa6-jmVhbcU&feature=related

8 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Uncategorized

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Global Warming: Victims to our Ignorance

Posted on September 24, 2012 by | 1 comment

Global Warming and the Arctic region

Everyone has at least once, in their lifetimes, have heard of the term “global warming,” especially nowadays, when it has become a major issue. Anthropogenic activities are the largest contributors to the increment in global temperature. On average, the Earth’s surface temperature has increased by 0.6℃ since the 19th century and is to further increase. This increase has a critical impact in the Arctic, where glaciers are receding and sea ice is disappearing. The CBC News has announced that the Arctic ice would vanish in 10 years; thus, primarily affecting the Arctic ecosystems.

An analysis from the CryoSat-2 satellite indicates that 900 cubic kilometres of Arctic ice has disappeared each year since 2004. At such a rate, scientists warn the Arctic could be ice-free in 10 years.

The melting of the Arctic sea ice. Photo by Kathryn Hansen/NASA/Reuters on CBC News

Let’s dive into the Arctic by familiarizing ourselves with the organisms that lives there. Many creatures, from algae to polar bears take shelter in this region. Starting at the microscopic levels of life forms, algae are affected by the continued thinning of the ice. In the Arctic, most of the algae under the ice have died out. Paul Nicklen, a biologist and a photographer at National Geographic, states that “[sea] ice acts like a garden… losing that ice is like losing the soil in a garden.” During the spring, when the sun shines on the ice, the phyto-plankton  start the food chain. On the top of this food chain is the most famous Arctic animal, the polar bear.

The Arctic food chain. Picture by Michael Kline on Dogfoose Magazine Art

How are our activities affecting this circle of life?

Human activities produce pollutants. These pollutants such as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, such as methane cause the increase in global temperature. They collect in the atmosphere like a blanket, causing the heat to trap, warming up of the Earth. The accumulation of these toxic pollutants leads to the loss of the Arctic ice, tremendously affecting the ocean temperatures. Most of the sunlight is reflected back to space by the ice caps, but with the absence in ice, the sunlight will be absorbed by the Earth. Therefore, increasing the ocean’s temperature and resulting in release of more methane, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere, further accelerates global warming and raises sea levels. These fast changing habitats are profoundly affecting wildlife.

Can we save the Arctic?

Some warming is inevitable, but we can definitely reduce the rate of it. First, we need to be aware that the Arctic is home to many organisms, ranging from the algae to the polar bears. This is very important because if the Arctic ecosystem fails, we, too, are ultimately affected. The oceans are our life support system. Once we realize that, we can make a difference and save the Arctic and its animals. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) suggests that we can save the Arctic and our planet by by conserving energy. Changing to fluorescent light bulbs will not only reduce 700 pounds of CO2, but also reduce your energy bill. Also, we can change our cars to hybrid gas-electric engines cut global warming pollution by one-third or more.

photo

Polar bears are dependent on sea ice for survival. Photo by rubyblossom on Flickr

The following video clip shows the seriousness of effects of global warming on polar bears.

YouTube Preview Image

 

-MinJi Yoo-

 

 

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Posted in Issues in Science, Science in the News, Uncategorized

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BPA: Can we limit our exposure?

Posted on September 18, 2012 by | 2 comments

Here we are, yet again, discussing BPA and the effects of exposure to the nasty chemical. BPA (bisphenol A) is a chemical which mimics estrogen in the human body. It has been linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, sterility, diabetes and recently: obesity (Wikipedia, 2012). Not only has the chemical been found to be harmful when ingested, it has also been discovered to have a high dermal absorption coefficient; in other words, it is easily absorbed by the skin. So why is it still being ingested by millions of people and estimated to be present in 93% of us? (Prosolia, 2012)

The Canadian government was the first to recognize BPA as a toxin in 2010 and the United States’ FDA finally followed suit this year and banned the use of the chemical in baby bottles and sippy cups (The New York Times, 2012). Unfortunately, BPA is still being used today as a lining for aluminum cans (Science Daily, 2012). Many companies have recently added the tag ‘BPA free’ to their products to keep consumers buying, but are we really aware of the amount of BPA we ingest daily and how to prevent it? Did you know that the new plastic Canadian bills have the highest BPA levels measured in comparison to 9 other countries’ currencies? Research suggests the BPA content in thermal paper rolls, such as those used to print receipts in retail stores, can be passed onto bills simply by contact (Prosolia, 2012).

YouTube Preview Image

The epidemic of obesity in children and adolescents, and its potential causes, has been widely talked about but it has not yet been tied to a specific environmental chemical. A recent study has made history by being the first to use a nation-wide sample of children and adolescents to observe a correlation, if any, of BPA with obesity. The sample size was 3000 children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 19. The participants were randomly selected to have urine analysis of BPA concentration in order to find any correlation between their BPA levels and obesity. The significant finding: white children and adolescents with high BPA concentrations in their urine were 2.6 times more likely to be obese over those with low BPA concentrations. According to researchers, these results are significant enough to show a correlation between BPA levels and obesity, but the direct process of how the chemical may affect obesity, if in fact it does, is not known.  The study was well controlled, making sure to account for everything from caloric intake to the chance of other phenols, such as soaps and sunscreens, being the cause for correlation. The researchers suggest that the best way to limit BPA exposure in children would be to eliminate it from aluminum cans (Science Daily, 2012).

http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Study+finds+connection+between+cans+bottles+childhood+obesity/7259888/story.html (accessed September 18, 2012)

Whether BPA attributes to obesity or not, there has been enough research done to show its harmful effects. Why isn’t it banned from all products used in food production? Or banned completely due to its ability to be absorbed so easily by the skin? I am proud of Canada for being the first nation to recognize BPA as a toxin and to eliminate it from baby products, but why is it still being fed to children, adolescents and adults? So much more needs to be done.

-Kady McCappin

Sources:

Science Daily. “Higher Levels of BPA in Children and Teens Significantly Associated With Obesity.” http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120918111125.htm (accessed September 18, 2012)

The New York Times. “F.D.A. Makes It Official: BPA Can’t Be Used in Baby Bottles and Cups.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/science/fda-bans-bpa-from-baby-bottles-and-sippy-cups.html?_r=0 (accessed September 18, 2012)

Wikipedia. “Bisphenol A.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A#Canada (accessed September 18, 2012)

Youtube. “Uncovering Bisphenol A – Covert Depopulation.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFPXxSmLZgE&feature=related (accessed September 18, 2012)

Prosolia. BPA In Currencies:

  1. Chunyang Liao and Kurunthachalam Kannan, High Levels of Bisphenol A in Paper Currencies from Several Countries, and Implications for Dermal Exposure , 2011, Environ. Sci. Technol. In press.
  2. Wolfgang Volkel, Nataly Bittner, and Wolfgang Dekant, Quantation of Bisphenol A and Bisphenol A Glucuronide in biological samples by High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry, Drug metabolism and Disposition, 2005, 33:1748–1757.

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science Communication, Science in the News

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