Category Archives: Biological Sciences

The Healthy Side to Coffee

Posted on October 14, 2013 by angelicareyes | 4 comments

Like many students at UBC, I rely on coffee to get me going throughout the day. I always have a tall americano from Starbucks in the morning and lately I’ve been getting a second cup in the afternoon as well. It’s come to the point where I’ve been told that I need to cut back and reduce my daily caffeine intake. But recent studies have shown that it may not be so bad for you after all.

Coffee. Image source: My Mzone

For example, did you know a cup of coffee has up to four times more antioxidants than green tea? In fact, scientists have discovered that it can contain more antioxidants than a typical serving of fruit, such as: blueberries, raspberries, and oranges. However, new research has shown the effectiveness of antioxidants may be lessened for those who add milk or cream to their coffee. This is due to the fact that when milk or cream is added, it binds to the antioxidants and therefore lessens its effectiveness.

Effect of Antioxidants. Image source: Lean it up

Antioxidants are very important for us because they help fight oxidation. This is a chemical process that occurs naturally in our body every day. When this natural process is disrupted, free radicals are created. These are highly unstable molecules that can cause damage to cells in the body if left uncontrolled.

Also, researchers have found that coffee can reduce the risk of stroke. A study at the Harvard School of Public Health followed a group of women over a 24-year period. The group consisted of 83, 076 women who participated in the Nurses Health Study that had no history of stroke, coronary heart disease, diabetes, or cancer. Their coffee consumption and amount of strokes were recorded from 1980 to 2004. They were able to conclude that those who drank coffee reduced their risk of stroke by 20%.

Cause of Stroke. Image source: Flickr

In addition, a study in Finland suggests that coffee offers protection against Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The researchers randomly selected 1409 participants and followed them over a 21-year period. They were specifically focused on the coffee consumption of participants at midlife and the occurrence of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia later on in life. Surprisingly, a 65% decrease in disease was found in people who consumed coffee daily.

So next time you think about kicking your coffee habit to the curb, remember all of these health benefits it’s linked to.

Coffee Beans. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Below is a video that describes in more detail the effects of antioxidants and caffeine in coffee.

References:

-http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/10/antioxidants-explained-why-these-compounds-are-so-important/247311/

-http://www.naturalnews.com/025737_coffee_risk_drinking.html

-Angelica Reyes

4 Comments

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

Tagged Alzheimer's disease, coffee, dementia, health benefits, stroke

Peanut Butter Sniff Test

Posted on October 12, 2013 by zphil | 3 comments

image source: wikipedia commons

According to the statistics of Alzheimer’s Society BC, approximately 70,000 British Columbians are suffering from Alzheimer’s or any brain-related disorder. What is Alzheimer’s? It is a neurological disorder affecting the cognitive ability (e.g. memory and thinking) and behaviour of an individual, and it worsens over time. The physiological cause of Alzheimer’s is the increase in the number of twisted fibers of protein within the brain cells and plaques between cells.

image source: flickr

There is no cure for Alzheimer’s; therefore, prevention and early detection are vital. Assessments of a patient suspected of having the disease includes physical and mental examination (e.g. MRI, or more generally speaking, a brain scan). The downside of a brain scan is the strenuous process of monitoring the patient and being on the waitlist, which takes months, leading up to the scan; however, there is a test still under study that could detect if an individual suffers from Alzheimer’s – it is called the PEANUT BUTTER SNIFF TEST. This test could be an alternative to brain scans. Also, this could allow for early detection of the disease, so preventative steps can be taken early.

Jennifer Stamps, a graduate student, and her colleagues from University of Florida used peanut butter to conduct an olfactory test ( article about the scientific research).

Her group of researchers found that Alzheimer’s-affected patients had a decrease in smell sensitivity in the left nostril. David Knopman of Mayo Clinic, quoted by Singh, stated that “The idea that smell is altered in Alzheimer’s disease dementia patients is well known, and this is nothing new.” As mentioned above, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s and the only treatment available is prevention. Early detection of the disease leads to taking a more aggressive approach to alleviate the symptoms. The peanut butter sniff test could already be a clinical procedure used as a preventative measure for Alzheimer’s; however it is not very accurate because there are compounding variables such as: “congestion in your nasal cavities that can reduce your smell on a temporary basis, a past head trauma, severe past sinus infections”, according to Bartzokis, quoted by Oransky.

There are numerous arguments made by other Alzheimer’s researchers against this study; however it is only at the beginning stages and Stamps is going to conduct more experiments to further develop her research. She also gave a warning: “Don’t try this at home. Having slight differences between your left and right nostrils is normal, and you might end up freaking out over nothing.” In other words, for now just enjoy your peanut butter on a piece of toast.

-Ziharrphil Magnaye

References:

Alzheimer’s Society BC, Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s Society UK, Journal of the Neurological Sciences, Shots, MedPage Today

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News

Tagged Alzheimer's disease, dementia, disease, health, neurology, treatment

Are chicken nuggets chicken?

Posted on October 7, 2013 by cherrylo | 3 comments

Thankfully, the answer is yes. I’m sure most people have seen the picture of the pink slime that was said to be the ‘meat’ of chicken nuggets; however, Dr. Casey Owens has proved it to be a false claim. So what is the problem with chicken nuggets? It is the meat content that raises concern.

Image: Yipski

As I was reading an article published a month ago, I, an occasional chicken nugget consumer, felt a little bit cheated on by the fast-food chains that serve chicken nuggets. The researchers, who wrote this article, performed what they called “autopsies” on chicken nuggets of two different fast-food chains in Jackson, Mississippi and examined the stained samples to determine the types of chicken cells in the nuggets. Only muscle tissue from the breast and thighs were considered meat. In the first type of chicken nugget, around 50% of meat was found in the sample; the rest were fat, blood vessels and nerve fibers. In the second type of chicken nugget, around 40% of meat was found and the rest were fat, bone fragments and connective tissue. Researchers concluded that the chicken nuggets contained mostly fat.

The head researcher, Dr. Richard Deshazo, said that fast-food companies turned the lean-protein-rich white chicken meat, considered to be the healthier parts of the chicken, into something unhealthy by “adding in a mixture of chicken parts, battering it and frying it.” Being high in calories, fat, salt and sugar, fast-food chicken nuggets are a danger to people’s diets and waistlines, especially in a generation of high obesity, heart attack and diabetes rates.

Although this study does make me realize how unhealthy chicken nuggets are, it does have a relatively small sample size. Some fast-food chains do advertise that they use 100% white meat for their nuggets. More research on claims made by fast-food chains will benefit people’s health.

References:

The Autopsy of Chicken Nuggets Reads “Chicken Little”

“Pink Slime” in Chicken Nuggets?

by Cherry Lo

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News

Tagged chicken nuggets, fast-food, health

Sharks are taking a bite out of antibiotic resistance

Posted on September 30, 2013 by nsmyrnis | Leave a comment

: Figure 1
Source Wikipedia :http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/File:Ritalin-SR-20mg-1000×1000.jpg

In our fight to eradicate infectious disease and through the rigorous use of antimicrobial agents, our medical practices have inadvertently created new strains of heavily drug resistant bacteria or super bugs. What is the most concerning aspect of this superbug development, however, is that the root cause isn’t poor sanitation on the part of the patients or hospitals but the misuse and overuse of antibiotics and disinfectant. This brings to light a new question, should we really be inhibiting the spread of pathogens (and in turn drug resistance) by prescribing even more antibiotics? Or is there another simpler solution, where their growth is limited non-chemically?

: Figure 2: Sharklet vs. sharkskin Source Sharklet Technologies: http://sharklet.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/compare-photo.gif

That was the realization that researchers happened upon through their observations of none other than sharks. They were able to determine that a shark’s skin not only possesses hydrodynamic qualities but antimicrobial properties as well. Yet what is so intriguing about this discovery is that a shark’s bacterially resistant exterior was due only to its skin’s microscopic shape and texture, and not to any sort of chemical reagents found on the skin. A shark’s skin consists of something known as dermal denticles (second image in Figure 2), which are a miniscule network of diamond shaped scales. The riblets found on these scales as well as their spatial arrangements are what discourages microbial habitation, making shark’s skin a non-chemical bacterial growth inhibitor. Following this research, scientists proceeded to synthetically replicate sheets of these dermal denticles, eventually creating a product known today as Sharklet (first image in Figure 2).

: Figure 3: Flat vs dentricle surface adhesion; Source Sharklet Technologies: http://sharklet.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/img-research-results.jpg

Sharklet makes use of a diamond shaped (dentricle) pattern of riblets, each one measuring to approximately 20 micrometers in length, to create a disruptive surface that discourages biofilm formation (colonized bacterial cell growth). It does so by possessing a surface on which bacteria must use great amounts of energy to successfully adhere and reproduce. This high stress environment does not encourage bacteria to take up residence, causing them to dissociate to either colonize a more favourable environment or perish. After much initial testing, Sharklet has been shown to greatly reduce bacterial bioadhesion and growth in comparison to non-dermicle (eg. flat) surfaces, making it a viable option for device and surface coverings that are frequently handled in hospital environments.

Granted, Sharklet should not be seen as a cure to a patient’s bacterial infection but rather as a method to reduce the spread and transmission of bacteria. This reduction would correlate to a decrease in the amounts of infected individuals, which in turn would lessen the overall use of antibiotics and disinfectants, giving bacteria less of an opportunity to develop antibiotic resistance.

-Natasha Smyrnis

References: Sharklet Science, Antibiotic Resistance in the 21st Centuary: A Clinical Super-Challenge, Dr. Anthony Brennan: Sharklet Founder

Emotional Eating: Is It More Than Just Psychological?

Posted on September 23, 2013 by angelicareyes | 1 comment

Image source: Blogspot

The beginning of October is fast approaching and with that we welcome the first round of midterms and an increase in our stress levels. As a self-diagnosed emotional eater, I always find myself craving unhealthy foods at this time. Which makes me wonder, is it all psychological or is there a more scientific reason behind this?

It is known that taste and pleasant memories associated with junk food play a role in our tendency to gravitate towards fatty or sugary food in times of stress. But a new study suggests that there is more to it than that. According to the study by Lukas Van Oudenhove and his colleagues, our stomach may be influencing our brain through the release of hormones. This occurs independently of any feelings we have toward a particular food. Suggesting that emotional eating not only operates on a psychological level, but a biological level as well.

M&M’s
Image source: Stuffpoint

In this study, Van Oudenhove and his team infused one of two meals through unmarked feeding tubes into the stomach of twelve healthy, normal weight volunteers. They were either fed a saline control solution or a solution of saturated fatty acids. By tube feeding them, the researchers eliminated the subjective and overall experience of eating, such as: tastes, smells, and textures.

After the volunteers were fed, the researchers tried to invoke a feeling of sadness in them. They had them listen to gloomy classical music and were shown pictures of people with depressed facial expressions. The volunteers were then administered a mood survey. The results revealed that those who were fed the fatty acid solution were more upbeat and happy after being exposed to the depressing environment, compared to those who were fed the saline solution.

MRI Machine
Image source: Wikipedia

In addition, functional MRI brains scan were taken during the study to further exemplify these results. The researchers compared the scans of those who were fed the saline solution to those who were fed the fatty acid solution. Surprisingly, they found that the fatty acid solution had actually dampened activity in parts of the brain that are involved in sadness.

This study successfully demonstrates that food can have a comforting effect on a biological level. Unfortunately, this makes it even harder to resist the urge to emotionally eat in times of stress. Although there is nothing wrong with occasionally eating unhealthy comfort food, we must still find ways to comfort ourselves without the extra calories. This is crucial in the long run if we want to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Below is a video explaining the chemical effect on stress on our eating habits, the consequences, and a possible solution.

Reference:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/07/25/study.clues.emotional.eating/index.html

-Angelica Reyes

1 Comment

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

Tagged emotional eating, health, stress

Aging Is Evitable?

Posted on September 22, 2013 by connie17 | 1 comment

Dramatic amount of aging. Credit to Mary Jo Fohey (http://www.godsebook.org/political_leaders.html)

What popped into your mind when you first saw the picture to the left? Besides the amusement, I’m sure many of you thought about the horrors aging can do to people. But why exactly in terms of molecular cell biology are we all in the process of developing those depressing lines on our foreheads?

Normally, when a unicellular organism undergoes cell division, it divides in such a way that one of its two daughter cells receives mostly the old and damaged cellular material such as DNA, while the other daughter cell gets the majority of the newly synthesized cellular content.

Because of this uneven distribution of old and new cellular material, one of the daughter cells is always older than the other. According to previous studies, the cells that acquire the majority of old cellular material become slower in proliferating and carrying out metabolic activities, resulting in the phenomena of aging seen in research models such as E. coli bacteria. Because essentially all of the cells for most organisms divide in such way, aging is inevitable in our lives despite all the “anti-aging” products that we use!

Cell division of a single cell with replicated cell material. Credit to Roberto Piras from Shutterstock. (http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-141329944/stock-photo-two-cells-divide-by-osmosis-in-the-background-other-cells.html?src=tofjyodeYvtJcAapke2fzA-1-0)

However, one microbe seems to have managed to evade this depressing fate of aging. A recent study of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Germany has identified a simple unicellular microbe, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, a yeast species, to be able to avoid aging. The researchers discovered that when growing under favorable conditions, S. pombe divides in a different way from other organisms. When S. pombe divides, both of its two daughter cells receive equal amount of the old and new cellular content. Thanks to this even distribution of damaged and newly synthesized cellular material, both of the two daughter cells are “younger than before,” as Iva Tolic-Norrelykke, one of the researchers of the new study said. In the study, the researchers found that since the daughter cells were younger than before cell division, S. pombe cells did not slow down in its proliferation and metabolic activities after dividing.

The new study did not, however, argue that S. pombe cells are immortal. Instead, it stated that if a S. pombe cell is followed for a long enough time, the cell will ultimately die, although “the probability of this death will [remain] constant” rather than increasing over time. The study also stated that if being put under stressful conditions, S. pombe cells tend to divide faster and consequently distribute old cellular material unevenly. And the daughter cells with more old material will ultimately die in the same way other types of cells age.

Aging is certainly an issue that is constantly on our mind. But instead of stressing about aging and perhaps therefore making our cells divide the old material even more unevenly, it is best that we be content with the way of life.

-By Connie (Kang Chi) Lee

References:

Why one microbe seemingly doesn’t age at all.

1 Comment

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

Tagged aging, cell division, molecular cell biology, S.pombe

FDA-Approved Artificial Sweeteners: Negative Effects and Health Benefits

Posted on September 21, 2013 by zphil | 1 comment

image source: farm4.staticflickr.com/

Human consumption of artificial sweeteners has increased over the years. This is apparent in the increased emergence of “sugar- free” or “diet” food and beverages at grocery stores. Furthermore, sugar substitutes come in packets, liquid form, and/or incorporated into our favourite food and drinks. Their abundance and easy accessibility increases our exposure, and consequently, our consumption of the said products. In turn, we need to assess the potential negative effects of artificial sweeteners on the health, as well as the health benefits.

Artificial sweeteners are consumed mainly for weight control and for prevention of diabetes. Diabetic people, however, use artificial sweeteners because they generally do not raise blood sugar levels, as they are not made of carbohydrates – according to a health-oriented website article. In addition, the same source stated that artificial sweeteners practically do not have calories and hence they’re dubbed “non-nutritive sugars”. These are the factors that drive for the consumption of artificial sweeteners. In contrast, what are the possible side effects?

A recent post made by a former editor of Harvard Health exclaims that artificial sugars are much sweeter than their natural counterparts; therefore, consumption of these sugars can overstimulate the taste receptors which could result in less tolerance for more complex taste – characteristic of fruits and vegetables. More importantly, I found this article to be alarming. It only talks about a couple of artificial sweeteners – sucralose and aspartame; however it suggests that they are carcinogens and can potentially promote the development of certain diseases.

In my opinion the negative effects outweigh the health benefits of these artificial sweeteners. Weight gain and the onset of diabetes can be prevented by consuming healthy alternatives, exercise, and adequate rest. On the contrary, sometimes we can’t control what is contained within the processed food and beverages we purchase at the store.

I stumbled upon a report of the toxicity effects of Aspartame published by the US Food and Drug Administration. Despite all of this, why are artificial sweeteners FDA-approved? I believe that the governments around the world should fund more intensive safety studies for the safety and well-being of the consumers.

References:

Sweeteners, Artificial sweeteners and other sugar substitutes, Artificial sweeteners: sugar-free, but at what cost?, The health dangers of artificial sweetners, Reported asparatame toxicity effects

by: Ziharrphil Magnaye

1 Comment

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science

Tagged artificial sweeteners, aspartame, diabetes, non-nutritive sugars, obesity, sucralose

Savant Syndrome: differently abled, not disabled

Posted on September 20, 2013 by sungbin93 | Leave a comment

image source: from Flickr www.123rf.co

Have you ever heard of savant syndrome before? Savant syndrome is a condition wherein a person with mental disabilities such as autistic disorder has immense gifts of intelligence or talents in a specific area. According to Gale Encyclopedia of Public Health, about 10% of autistic children have savant syndrome. Perhaps, savant syndrome is one of the most unbelievable phenomena in the study of human cognitive system.

“He has a remarkable musical ear and an uncanny ability to hear pretty much every detail in a piece of music”

image source: from Flickr http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/5398303/Human-iPod-Derek-Paravicini-to-give-first-full-concert.html

The exact cause of savant syndrome is still unknown, however, there are some hypothesis that explain how an autistic people can become savants. For example, some researchers think that the savant skills are entirely based on the ability to memorize; they memorize every single piece of what they need to perform their skills. Meanwhile, there is another hypothesis, which states that the intelligence is separated from mental ability and they are not related to each other.With this hypothesis, it is possible to explain how an autistic person can have such gifted abilities.

Their talents can appear in many areas including arts, music, and mathematics. There are many people who became popular with their gifted skills. An English autistic savant writer, Daniel Tammet is a representative example of autistic savant. He was diagnosed with asperger syndrome at his age of twenty-five, but he has incredible abilities of calculating numbers and learning languages. Actually, Daniel is the holder European record for reciting pi from memory to 22,514 digits. He has also written a book called, Thinking in Numbers, which has been selected as BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week in the United Kingdom, and he now works as writer and educator.

People with savant syndrome are accurate as computers, fast as calculators, and they also pictures like cameras. Should we call them disabled? or are they genius who are differently abled than us?

References:

Daniel Tammet, Autistic Genius, Savant – Causes of Savant Syndrome

by Sungbin Choi

Drinking milk during pregnancy will promote growth in children?

Posted on September 16, 2013 by cherrylo | 1 comment

A pregnant woman. By Swangerschaft (Swangerschaft on Flickr.com) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

In a recent study published around two weeks ago, researchers proposed that the amount of milk consumption of pregnant women may affect the height of their children when they become adults.

The researchers selected 809 pregnant Danish women for the study in 1988. The pregnant mothers were asked to document their daily dairy portion size and consumption frequency. After birth, the weight and length of the newborns were measured and kept on file until twenty years later. In 2008, the researchers contacted the offspring and asked them to participate in a web-based questionnaire regarding their current weight and height. The researchers gathered all the data and reported that the mean adult height of the offspring of mothers who drank more than 150 milliliters of milk during their pregnancy was 1.2 centimeters greater than the offspring of mothers who drank less than 150 milliliters during their pregnancy.

Being a little vertically challenged myself and having a lactose intolerant mother, the article intrigued me as I scanned the page. I personally think that 1.2 centimeters, approximately half an inch, isn’t significant enough to create a correlation between mothers drinking milk during pregnancy and their children’s adult height.

We may think that ‘oh, maybe the children’s growth is dependent on their own intake of milk.’ However, in another study a few years back in 2005, it may not be the case. Researchers found that milk consumption of children ages 5-11 had little effect on the children’s adult height. They found milk consumption during the adolescent years to contribute to a 0.3 to 0.7 centimeter increase in adult height. Again, a 0.3 to 0.7 centimeter increase is not a significant enough of an effect on adult height; it is even less than the effect of the milk consumption of pregnant women.

In the media, milk consumption is advertised as the factor that promotes growth. I agree that it is true in a sense that the studies do show an increase in height of children after milk consumption. Though, I do not believe that it should be considered the greatest factor as there are many other factors that may have been overlooked, such as genes, sex, and ethnicity.

References:

by Cherry Lo

1 Comment

Posted in Biological Sciences

Tagged children, growth, health, milk, pregnancy

Green Tea: What are the health benefits?

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Amna Awan | Leave a comment

Green tea. Image Courtesy of Auto Connect Green Tea.

You will never look at a cup of green tea the same way again!

As we know, there are various studies which suggest that green tea is healthy and can halt the progression of diseases, such as cancer, arthritis, cardiovascular diseases and blood pressure.

To our surprise, however, there have been recent studies which show that green tea has a compound which blocks the production of inflammatory molecules.

” Researchers in Cincinnati, USA, have carried out experiments in human lung cells, treated with a compound – tumour necrosis factor – the triggers inflammation. When they exposed the cells to a component of green tea – epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EPCG) – production of a key molecule in the inflammatory process was blocked.”

Furthermore, Dr. Linda Johnson, a writer for the Alamogordo Daily News, explains how green tea has many positive health and mental benefits. She uses many examples, such as lowering cholesterol to illustrate her point. Moreover, some of the health benefits of green tea include increasing metabolism, controlling blood sugar levels, and reducing inflammation. Green tea also has calming effects on the nervous system. Furthermore, it can also help with preventing depression and stress.

Dr. Linda Johnson, Image Courtesy of Balanced Health.

Polyphenols, which have antioxidants properties, are found in green tea. Antioxidants prevent damage to cells and DNA caused by free radicals. According to Johnson (2011), “The aging process and many diseases have shown to be impacted by free radicals”

Oh, and remember– green tea makes the best smoothies.

References:

Balancing your health: Green tea has many benefits, How green tea reduces inflammation

by Amna Awan

Category Archives: Biological Sciences

The Healthy Side to Coffee

Peanut Butter Sniff Test

Are chicken nuggets chicken?

Sharks are taking a bite out of antibiotic resistance

Emotional Eating: Is It More Than Just Psychological?

Aging Is Evitable?

FDA-Approved Artificial Sweeteners: Negative Effects and Health Benefits

Savant Syndrome: differently abled, not disabled

Drinking milk during pregnancy will promote growth in children?

Green Tea: What are the health benefits?

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