Category Archives: Uncategorized

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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Changes to the kidney transplant waitlist

Posted on September 23, 2012 by | 2 comments

Kidneys are the body’s primary mechanism for blood filtration and waste removal.  Kidney failure leaves individuals with two options, a kidney transplant or dialysis.  Dialysis does filter the blood, but it does not fully replace kidney function.  This causes wastes to gradually accumulate and leaves patients with numerous painful side effects.  Therefore, kidney transplants are the only way to successfully return kidney function to normal.

 

This image shows a dialysis machine and is from Bryanking.net/dialysis

 

Unlike Canada, the United States and most of Europe has centralized national waitlists for kidney transplants, which take age and health into account.  Kidney transplant waitlists in Canada are dependent on which province an individual is in, and within the province they are further divided by region.

The nationalization of transplant waitlists would prevent the unequal wait times we see between provinces in Canada. For example, British Columbians are forced to wait three times as long as people from Nova Scotia or Quebec. B.C. residents’ wait-time is roughly 2145 days, where as Nova Scotia residents’ is 765 days and the national average is 1258 days.  The video below is a CTV news interview and it describes one individual’s life with kidney failure and Ontario’s transplant wait times.

This video is uploaded by LHSCCanada and is a CTV News interview

The Canadian government needs to reassess the way donated kidneys are distributed.  In the United States, the government committee that oversees kidney transplants is taking initiatives to make better use of the countries donated organs.   They have decided to push forward with distributing donated kidneys based on an individuals estimated age and health.  This would give younger individuals healthier and younger kidneys.  Despite criticism, this scheme has the ability to decrease the number of returning recipients to the waitlists.  On the contrary, Canadians’ ability to receive a transplant depends on where an individual is and how many people are competing for an organ.

This image essentially shows what happens with a kidney transplant and is from Medline Plus/kidney transplantation

 

Canada is in dire need of updating its waitlist guidelines.  From family experiences, I know the consequences of Canada’s regionally divided organ waitlists.  Dialysis does provide a temporary solution removing and filtering blood, but it is not permanent.  People’s lives become centered on their dialysis treatments, which occur 3 times a week.  Individuals’ with kidney failure are forced to endure pain and sickness as toxins and wastes accumulate and lead to frequent hospital visits.

 

-Ryan Sidhu

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Posted in Uncategorized

The Dark Side of Video Games

Posted on September 23, 2012 by | 1 comment

Imagine yourself playing a video game that was so enthralling, that you could not put away the controller, and after you finished you’ve realized that your entire day has passed by. Then you continue this behaviour the next day and so on and so forth. This is the dark side of gaming.

Video game addict from http://www.evilcontrollers.com

Playing too much video games can be extremely problematic and can even lead to addiction. The main issue that results from playing too much video games is the impact on life skills.

Are video game addictions real? Are they to be taken seriously? Watch these videos of Dr. Marc Kern (Addiction Expert, Director of Addiction Alternatives) examining the aspects this relatively new problem in human society. The first is simply on defining what a video game addiction is, the second is on why video games are so addicting, and the third is on explains the common effects of this addiction. (I found these videos all together in video, however the blogging program would not allow me to embed it)

YouTube Preview Image YouTube Preview Image YouTube Preview Image

The consequence of playing too much video games are examined by a study by Charlotta Hellström, at Uppsala University in Sweden, examined 7757 Swedish adolescents found that the found most common gaming-related consequence was getting less sleep.1 As we all know, getting less sleep can severely impact productively the next day. The second most common consequence from gaming was not having enough time to do school assignments.1 This consequence is probably the most significant to us university students. The other consequences that had arisen from gaming include, increased conflict with parents and/or siblings, not having time to spend with friends, and not having enough time or forgetting to eat.1 Although, video game addictions are not as life-threatening as other addictions, it does not mean that it should not be taken seriously. Video games are fun, and can be a good thing. However, too much of a good thing is bad for you. A common saying that should be applied to video games. Most things in life are best enjoyed in moderation.

References

1. Hellstrom, C., Nilsson, K. W., Leppert, J., & Aslund, C. (2012). Influences of motives to play and time spent gaming on the negative consequences of adolescent online computer gaming. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(4), 1379-1387. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2012.02.023

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The language of DNA

Posted on September 17, 2012 by | 2 comments

Within each and every living organism, there are millions of books describing things from “how to move” to “how to eat”. These books are written in DNA: language of life. Ultimately, DNA is how nature writes about how to live, and the readers are how all living (and some “dead things”) survive. Even your own body is reading from your own library as you read this blog.

But within this massive collection, we, as people, cannot read most of it because we do not yet understand the language.

However, what we have figured out, thanks to genetics, cellular biology, and biochemistry, are the basic letters of these books; we have the codon table.

Codon Table

The codon table encoding the 20 essential amino acids used in all walks of life. Obtained as a screen capture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_codon_table

What this codon table tells us is the 20 letters of the DNA alphabet, representing the 20 amino acids. When there are multiple letters together, they can spell a word, also known as a protein.

We have also figured out some parts of these books through areas called open reading frames. These areas use a process called transcription and translation, which is described in the following video found on youtube posted by redandbrownpaperbag.

YouTube Preview Image

We also have clues and insights into some other parts of these books, namely the promoter and termination sequences. These parts tell us where there is an open-reading frame, essentially acting as quotation marks to direct the cell’s attention to a specific location.

Despite all these advances in understanding the language, we know very little in reality.

First of all, there are no known “rules” to writing words, because a word can be as short as 2 letters to as long as a million letters.

Secondly, we do not have a clear picture of how different areas within the genome that are neither open reading frames nor promoters/terminaters interact with the cell, or why those books are there in the first place. These sequences are currently hypothesized as useless, but may be useful as the ENCODE project suggests.

Finally, some words, even with the same spelling, can have many different meanings when they are in different compartments of a cell, so figuring out what they actually mean is quite difficult.

The secret language of DNA might one day be uncovered; someone who can speak “DNA” might be able to take a piece of DNA and then tell us exactly what that DNA is used for, which can advance science from treating and preventing disease, finding new applications for cells (i.e. sustainable fuel), or even figure out what consciousness is. Knowing how to read DNA can open up a brave new world in understanding life as we know it.

Just like how the discovery of the Rosetta Stone lead us to understand the Egyptian language, we may be able to slowly construct our own Rosetta Stone, through genetics and biochemistry, to unravel the mystery of DNA.

The hope is that one day, understanding an organism will be as simple as reading a book.

– Tony Hui

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Uncategorized

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