Communicating Science 13w212

Red wine – is it good or bad for you?

Posted on March 24, 2014 by qianhuis | Leave a comment

Red wine sounds romantic and tastes good, but it can easily get you drunk and seriously harm you, both physically and mentally. However, some researchers found that red wine can help people look younger and reduce the risks of suffering heart diseases. People are excited to hear that, but is it really the case?

Figure 1. Red Wine. (Image by Alex Brown via flickr)

Resveratrol, melatonin and flavonoids are polyphenols found in red wine, which are related to the benefits of red wine. Polyphenols are found in the skin of red grapes, and scientists believe that they are cardio protective. In particular, a polyphenol called resveratrol, which is produced during the fermentation process, reduces bad cholesterol and prevents blood clots. A high level of low-density lipoprotein (‘bad’ cholesterol) builds up in the arteries and blocks the blood flow. With a reduction of bad cholesterol, people will become thinner and healthier. In addition, melatonin delays the oxidative damage and makes people look younger. Flavonoids, compounds that modulate cell signaling, can reduce cardiovascular diseases. They may also be able to reduce the risk of getting neurodegenerative diseases.

Obviously, there are some beneficial compounds in the red wine, and by drinking red wine we can intake a lot of them. However, while there are some benefits, it is still important to be aware of the significant negative effects of alcohol. Alcohol increases the risk of getting cancers, such as liver, mouth, and breast cancer. It also irritates the stomach, and causes ulcers. Also, alcohol abusing is a serious problem. Many people drink excessive amounts once they start, which will outweigh the benefits of red wine. Large quantities of alcohol will increase the workload of liver and damage our brain cells.

The following video further explains the effects of drinking red wine.

We can’t say that red wine is only bad for our health; however, the risk of drinking red wine is much higher than the benefits. First of all, most of the studies were done on mice and not verified on humans, and these mice were fed on pure resveratrol. Therefore, if one wants to experience the same result as the mice, you need to drink at least 80 servings per day, which is obviously impossible. Secondly, one serving of wine is only five ounces. Men should have less then ten ounces per day, and for women, only five ounces. It is easily to drink too much if the glass at your home is too big. Therefore, as suggested in the video, we should not start drinking only because we wish to protect our hearts or stay away from getting wrinkles. There are beneficial components in red wine, but not very significant. Compared to red wine, eating grapes or drinking pomegranate juice can provide a higher level of anti-aging and anti-oxidant compounds to make people look younger. Nonetheless, if you already drink a lot, just make sure to keep “everything in moderation”. Be careful how much you drink; even though you think you are not drunk, your body cannot digest that amount of alcohol.

-Qianhui Sun

References:

http://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2012/10/31/debating_red_wines_health_benefits_food_fight.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/red-red-wine-health-pros-and-cons-1.736394

http://www.readersdigest.com.au/red-wine-pros-and-cons

A New Contraceptive That Can Prevent Both HIV and Pregnancy?

Posted on March 24, 2014 by mariabui | Leave a comment

For years, condoms were the only known contraceptive that protected against both HIV and pregnancy. However, condoms have a failure rate of 14-15% and their use places greater responsibility on males. Other popular contraceptives, such as oral contraceptives and patches, are effective at preventing pregnancy but not HIV transmission. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a contraceptive that protects against both HIV and pregnancy? Well, there is! Introducing the new intravaginal ring!

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Biomedical engineer Patrick Kiser from Northwestern University has constructed a one-of-a-kind vaginal ring that prevents HIV transmission, herpes, and pregnancy by discharging an antiretroviral drug and contraceptive. The ring is used like any other vaginal ring, but instead of releasing the hormones progestin and estrogen, it releases tenofovir (an antiretroviral drug) and levonorgestrel (a contraceptive). Also, unlike other intravaginal rings, this new ring requires a replacement only every three months rather than every three weeks, which is much more convenient for women.

This vaginal ring is the same size as other rings on the market, but its design is more intricate. It took Kiser and his colleagues five meticulous years to design the ring. One of the most difficult parts of the process was producing the materials that make up the ring. The portions of the ring that contain the antiretroviral drug and contraceptive are formed from two different types of polyurethanes. A third type of polyurethane is placed between the two sections to separate the drugs. Each of the polyurethanes had to be built with the right diffusion rates to ensure that the drugs would be secreted at a suitable rate. Five years worth of effort paid off, however, since the specific design of the polyurethanes allows the ring to be sturdy. The ring is also designed to swell when in contact with bodily fluids, allowing it to carry 100 times more drugs than other vaginal rings.

Another challenge Kiser and his colleagues had to deal with was the development of the mechanism to release the drugs accurately and efficiently. Tenofovir and levonorgestrel are very different from one another; tenofovir is a water soluble drug while levonorgestrel is water insoluble. The ring also has to deliver different dosages of the two drugs, with 10 milligrams and 10 micrograms of tenofovir and levonorgestrel released every day, respectively.

Tenofovir can be taken orally but the existing methods for delivering the drug in pill form aren’t as effective as using an intravaginal ring.

Thanks to the development of this new ring, women will be able to not only prevent unplanned pregnancy but sexually transmitted diseases as well. Women living in developing countries, in particular, will greatly benefit from this intravaginal ring. One-third of all pregnancies in developing countries are unintended, and these pregnancies can have serious health, financial, and cultural consequences. In addition, 95% of those living with HIV reside in developing countries. If condoms and this vaginal ring are used together, sex will become safer for everyone.

– Maria Bui

References:

Clark, J.T., Kiser, P.F., Clark, M.R., Shelke, N.B., Johnson, T.J., Smith, E.M., Andreasen, A.K., Nebeker, J.S., Fabian, J., and Friend, D.R. 2014. Engineering a Segmented Dual-Reservoir Polyurethane Intravaginal Ring for Simultaneous Prevention of HIV Transmission and Unwanted Pregnancy. PloS one. 9(3): e88509.

Arctic Unicorns

Posted on March 23, 2014 by hibarajpar | 1 comment

One of the most prominent species in the Arctic is a medium sized toothed whale known as the narwhal. Narwhal’s male have a long straight tusk, a canine tooth, projecting from the left side of the upper jaw and reaches till about 3m in length. Since the beginning of their discovery, scientists have been hard at work to figure out the use of these “horns”.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Some researchers have suggested that the tusks in male narwhals merely plays a role to attract the females. We’ve seen this kind of phenomenon in other animals as well, such as male peacocks displaying their tail as a hint of availability to the peahens.

While others have proposed that the 9ft. tusk acts like an antenna containing sensory neurons that can sense the salt concentrations of the water, helping the whales navigate food or location.
The elongated tooth is connected to a base layer inside the mouth known as dentin. This layer contains small pores that run to the innermost part and contain blood vessels and nerves. These nerves run from the tusk all the way to the brain, thus, maintaining a direct connection from the outside to the inside stimuli of the whale. Some researchers speculated that these nerves help the whales distinguish the different salinities of the water, which correlated with the changes in heartbeat of the narwhals. But due to the lack of evidence, this theory hasn’t yet been fully supported yet.

These tusks might have multiple functions associated with it, but biologists and scientists are still hard at work to determine one major role of it.

– Hiba Rajpar

References:

http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/environment/what-is-the-point-of-the-narwhal-tusk/article/377721
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140318-narwhal-tusk-tooth-anatomy-ocean-animal-science/

1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

The (literal) Birds and the Bees

Posted on March 17, 2014 by sammackinnon | 6 comments

Ok, I’ll give your parents the benefit of the doubt and assume that at one point in your life they sat you down and told you the ins and outs of “the birds and the bees”. But just in case they failed to raise you properly, here is everything you need to know.

That’s right – The DEFINITIVE guide to bird and bee sex. You’re welcome.

Let’s BEEgin with the bees.

Bee sex happens in mid-air, usually around 10 feet off the ground. In a spectacular display of desperation, agility, and death (I’ll get to that part in a second), hundreds of male drone bees compete for the opportunity to mate with a virgin queen during her once-in-a-lifetime “nuptial flight”.

Drone bees are all male, and are evolved to be good at one thing: Sex. They have better eyesight then other bees, no stingers, and large endophalluses (penises). During the nuptial flight, a dozen drones, on average, will successfully fertilize the queen.

And then things get weird.

Upon ejaculation, the drone’s penis essentially EXPLODES.

It violently ruptures, and is ripped from the drone’s body, remaining inside the queen’s. The drone falls to the ground, and dies soon after. The next drone to mount the queen removes the previous drone’s penis, and then proceeds to insert his own.

This kind of expendable-male mating ritual is not unusual in the insect world – female praying mantises, for example, are famous for biting the heads of of males during or following mating.

But that’s enough about insects. On to the birds!

* * *

Our avian friends have evolved some very unique solutions to bringing sperm and eggs together – some of then just as strange as the bees.

Most male birds don’t actually have penises – chickens for example have no protruding sexual appendages. Instead, they have a hole called a cloaca. Both male and female chickens have one. In order to mate, chickens have to press these holes together for a brief time in a behavior described as the “cloacal kiss”.

The cloaca of a bird is multi-puporsed – it is the exit point of a bird’s urinary, digestive, and reproductive tracts. Yes, that means that urine, feces, and eggs all come out THE SAME HOLE.

You can think of it like a water slide with different starts, but the same ending.

Not all birds engage in the cloacal kiss method of copulation; some DO have penis – and not just any penis, ENORMOUS penises.

There are species of duck with some of the largest penises, relative to body size, of any animal alive. The Argentine Lake Duck for example, has a 16-inch corkscrew-shaped member that exceeds the duck’s own body length when fully extended.

So there you have it! Everything you need to know (and maybe a few things you didn’t).

* * *

My personal take-away from researching this topic is two-fold. Firstly, my google search-history has gotten significantly more disturbing, as it now includes the search terms “chicken butt hole” and “duck penis”.

Secondly, I’m left with a much greater appreciation for the strange and inventive reproductive strategies found in nature. One thing is certain – mammals don’t have the final say on what defines sex. Take it from the birds and the bees – there’s more then one way to do it.

Text and graphics by Sam MacKinnon, 2014

Like this blog? Want to see more things like this? Check out my new website! www.kingdomofscience.com

REFERENCES

http://insects.about.com/od/antsbeeswasps/qt/Honey-Bee-Mating.htm

http://www.livescience.com/38379-animal-sex-bird-sex.html

http://birding.about.com/od/Reproduction/a/How-Birds-Mate.htm

6 Comments

Posted in Biological sciences, Uncategorized

Tagged bees, biology, birds, eggs, natural selection, reproduction, sex

Barbie dolls: the real message they send through

Posted on March 17, 2014 by kellyliu | 2 comments

Figure 1. Study showed that girls who played with Barbie dolls saw fewer career options. (Courtesy Flickr)

Even though the new marketing slogan for Barbie dolls is “Be Anything. Do Anything,” the real message Barbie dolls send through is shown to have the opposite effect. A study from Oregon State University found that playing Barbie dolls could limit girls’ perceptions about future career options and affect their positions in the world.

Researchers Aurora Sherman and Eileen Zurbriggen studied thirty-seven girls ages between four to seven from U.S. Pacific Northwest. Three types of dolls were randomly distributed to the girls: a Barbie doll wearing a dress and high-heeled shoes, a Barbie doll wearing a doctor’s coat and stethoscope, and Mrs. Potato Head with purse and shoes. Mrs. Potato Head was the controlled variable in the study because it did not have apparent sexual characters. After the girls played with her toy for five minutes, they were shown photographs of ten different occupations; five of the careers were traditionally male-dominated, and the other five were traditionally female-dominated. The girls were then asked how many of the occupations they themselves or the boys could do in the future.

Figure 2. Mrs. Potato Head (left) is considered to be neutral, without sexual characters. (Courtesy Flickr)

The result showed that girls who played with Barbie dolls, regardless of whether the doll was wearing a dress or a doctor’s coat, saw themselves being capable of doing fewer occupations than boys. In contrast, girls that played with Mrs. Potato Head reported that they themselves could do the same number of occupations as the boys. Researchers believed that the emphasis on clothes and appearance for Barbie dolls communicated sexualization and objectification to girls. “[It] is not a massive effect, but [it] is measurable and [is] statistically significant,” said Sherman. The study also agreed with objectification theory. Even though the effect was subtle, Barbie dolls were considered to be harmful to girls due to their sexually matured bodies. This image may give girls impressions that females should be attractive, and this has become an alarming problem in many adult women.

The exact mechanism of why this was observed is still under investigation. So far researchers could only confirm that early exposure to sexualized images may impose limitations on future career options to girls. Currently, the suggested solution to minimize this problem is for children, particularly girls, to have a variety of toys to play with. By playing with toys that are “gender neutral,” it is believed that girls would be more confident and have equal chance in competing for jobs in fields that are traditionally dominated by males.

By Kelly Liu

2 Comments

Posted in Science communication, Science in the news

Tagged childhood development, health and wellbeing, psychology

Afraid of math? It may not be your fault…

Posted on March 17, 2014 by inderbir | 1 comment

Source: google images

I am sure through our many years of schooling most people can agree that one of their most feared or hated subject is math. Most people link this hatred or fear with bad experiences when they’ve sat there for hours trying to figure out a math problem with no result. But what if I told you it wasn’t your fault that you do not understand these problems and it has something to do with your genes.

Researchers have found that some people are more likely to have a fear towards math due to genetic factors and not just previous bad experiences.¹ Although this study explains how genetics may have something to do with math anxiety it states that genetics can’t be solely blamed for problems people have with math.¹ Instead this study states that genetic factors explain about 40% of the differences in math anxiety and the rest is explained by difference in learning environments.¹

The study examined both identical and fraternal twins who participated in the Western Reserve Reading and Math Projects where they completed a variety of assignments to test for math anxiety and comprehension skills.¹ To study the effect of genetics the researchers used statistical methods to see how anxiety and comprehension differed among identical and fraternal twins. From this study the researchers found that “Math anxiety is related to both the cognitive side and the affective side of general anxiety.”¹

Even though some of a person’s anxiety towards math may be due to genetics it is also a good idea to learn how to deal with anxiety as a whole. Anxiety can be due to many things and even making the most subtle change to your lifestyle can help get rid of your anxiety. Some simple steps about how to deal with anxiety can range from changing your diet to using new approaches to solve a problem.

A video by Dr. Sandra Parker explaining ways to deal with anxiety.

In conclusion, the researchers from Ohio State University are still working on determining a concrete link between math anxiety and genetics and will further add to their findings in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

– Inderbir Bhullar

References

[1] Ohio State University. (2014, March 17). Who’s afraid of math? Study finds some genetic factors. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 17, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140317095843.htm

1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Pluto; The Ex Planet

Posted on March 17, 2014 by nitishk | 1 comment

As far as one can remember there were 9 planets in our solar system. In 2006 it was decided by the International Astronomical Union that Pluto was no longer a planet. Pluto was given the term “Dwarf Planet”. Pluto was initially discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaug. In the 1930s, Pluto was termed as a planet because it was believed to be the same size of Earth. But by the late 20^th century, the calculations were refined and it was found that Pluto was much smaller than Earth in terms of mass. Furthermore it was found to be slightly smaller than Earth’s Moon.

Pluto is located at the very end of our solar system near the Kuiper Belt. Over time as its size decreased, and it was relatable to previously discovered Kuiper Belt objects which in a similar manner to Pluto also orbit the Sun. This led Scientists to reconsider the definition of planets.

Initially Planets were classified using a prototype system, in which objects are classified by comparing them with something they are most similar to. Which was the case for Pluto as it was compared with Earth and declared a planet due toits similarity in size. In 2006 new rules were established by the IAU (International Astronomical Union). These rules suggested that a planet is “a celestial body that: (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. “

Pluto was termed a dwarf planet. A dwarf planet according to IAU is “(2) A ‘dwarf planet’ is a celestial body that: (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape,2 (c) has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite. ”

Dwarf Planet Sizes relative to the Earth

Pluto did not qualify “C” for the definition of a planet due it its proximity to other Kuiper Belt objects. Which is why it lost its status as a planet.

Lisa R. Messeri. The Problem with Pluto: Conflicting Cosmologies and the Classification of Planets. : Social Studies of Science, Vol. 40, No. 2 (April 2010), pp. 187-214

1 Comment

Posted in Public engagement

Tagged Dwarf Planet, Earth, Planet, Pluto, Solar System

Lose Weight By Eating CHOCOLATE!

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Kia | 4 comments

Image from: http://healthmeup.com/

It would be a dream come true for anyone in the western world to eat what they want and look good doing it. We are constantly reminded of this dream of a diet-free life that guarantees our good looks on a regular basis by internet advertisements, infomercials, and magazines. Some recent discoveries, however, have ensured that the chocolate lovers of our world can live the dream.

Eat chocolate and you’ll lose weight! Incredible, right? Dark chocolate, despite being seen more as an indulgence than a weight-loss strategy, is full of many natural benefits. Primarily, it is full of antioxidants, which boost cellular metabolism, thus burning more energy while at rest. A 2012 study done at the University of California highlights this effect in the following CNN report.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVTeHwOWksA

In addition to its metabolic benefits, dark chocolate also helps the body manage sugar spikes by significantly reducing insulin sensitivity. Increases in insulin sensitivity means that the hormone insulin no longer functions as well as it should. As a result, muscle and fat cells will be less effective at using sugar, resulting in weight gain, and eventually Type 2 diabetes. A 2005 study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition goes into greater depth with regards to chocolate’s effects on insulin resistance.

Image from: http://www.womenshealthmag.com/

So next time you feel the urge to have a sweet snack or a bit of dessert after a meal, don’t feel the need to resist. You may be doing yourself worlds of good by satisfying your chocolate crave! Despite its benefits however, the benefits only exist in moderation. Chocolate is not a miracle weight-loss drug, but its addition into a healthy diet and a bit of exercise can greatly improve your chances of fitting into those new skinny jeans for the summer!

By: Kia Sanjabi

References

Fetters, A. (2014). Can eating chocolate help you lose weight? Retrieved 03/17, 2014, from http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/chocolate-weight-loss#.
Grassi, D., Lippi, C., Necozione, S., Desideri, G., & Ferri, C. (2005). Short-term administration of dark chocolate is followed by a significant increase in insulin sensitivity and a decrease in blood pressure in healthy persons. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 81(3), 611-614.

4 Comments

Posted in Biological sciences

Tagged chocolate benefits, food, health, nutrition, weight-loss

Diet Beverages, Are They Truly the Solution to Improve Our Weight-Loss Diet?

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Samuel Choi | 3 comments

An internationally purchased diet beverage, Diet Coke
Image: Flickr

I am sure everyone has ran into at least one person that has this notion if they replace the consumption of a regular sugar-sweetened beverage with a diet version of it, it will assist with their weight loss or weight control.

On the contrary, researchers have discovered that there was higher solid-food calorie consumption of overweight and obese adults who drank diet beverages opposed to overweight and obese adults who drank regular soda or other sugar-sweetened beverages.¹ Although both heavy adult groups consumed a similar amount of total calories, the diet beverage consumer group consumed significantly more solid-food calories from meals and snacks.¹ The study examined patterns in adult diet beverage consumption and caloric intake by body-weight status, and this data was collected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHNES).¹

There has been an increase in consumption of diet beverages from 3% in 1965 to 20% today; this considerable increase of diet beverage consumption could be associated to the increase of obesity. A correlation is also present between individuals who drink diet soda and a higher Body Mass Index (BMI), and this is due to the increased consumption of snack foods by diet soda consumers compared to those who drink regular soda. The reason for a higher BMI in diet soda consumers could be due to the high dosage of artificial sweeteners present in diet beverages.¹ The artificial sweeteners are associated with a greater activation of reward centers in the brain, consequently altering the reward one might experience from sweet-flavored foods.^1,2 In other words, the artificial sweetener disrupts appetite control due to the brain sweet sensors’ inability to provide a reliable measurement of energy consumption. Therefore, increased food intake overall may be a result of diet beverage consumption.

The reward center in the brain where dopamine is increased with artificial flavours. This figure depicts the same dopamine increase that could occur from artificial flavours but using cocaine as an example.
Image: Wikipedia

Nevertheless, the act of only replacing caloric beverages with diet beverages may result in weight loss,³ but without carefully looking at other components of the solid-food consumed during diet beverage consumption may result in weight gain, not the other way around.

In conclusion, monitoring the macronutrients and other allowed daily nutrients are more important to weight loss and health than simply switching over to diet beverages.

– Samuel Choi

References

Bleich, S. N., Wolfson, J. A., Vine, S., & Wang, Y. C. (2014). Diet-beverage consumption and caloric intake among US adults, overall and by body weight. American Journal of Public Health, 104(3), e72-e78. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301556
Schur, E. A., Kleinhans, N. M., Goldberg, J., Buchwald, D., Schwartz, M. W., & Maravilla, K. (2009). Activation in brain energy regulation and reward centers by food cues varies with choice of visual stimulus. International Journal of Obesity (2005), 33(6), 653-661. doi:10.1038/ijo.2009.56
Tate, D. F., Turner-McGrievy, G., Lyons, E., Stevens, J., Erickson, K., Polzien, K., Popkin, B. (2012). Replacing caloric beverages with water or diet beverages for weight loss in adults: Main results of the Choose Healthy Options Consciously Everyday (CHOICE) randomized clinical trial. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 95(3), 555-563. doi:10.3945/ajcn.111.026278

3 Comments

Posted in Biological sciences, Issues in science, Public engagement, Science in the news

Tagged diet, diet beverages, healthy lifestyle, weight-loss

Bad Breath Blues

Posted on March 13, 2014 by komalvirk | 5 comments

How many of you have had the struggle of continuing a conversation with someone with appalling breath when all you want to do is shove a breath mint in their mouth? Bad breath, also called halitosis, can arise from poor dental habits, types of food you eat, and other unhealthy lifestyle choices. Bad breath can be a sign for bigger issues such as gum disease and tooth decay. Halitosis mostly originates at the mouth, but in severe circumstances, 10% of halitosis can start at the nasal cavity, throat, lungs, esophagus, or stomach.

No One Likes Bad Breath via http://www.flickr.com/photos/fiverlocker/6851011676/

Most people suffer from morning breath; having bad breath right after waking up. The mouth has about 10 billion bacterias, these bacteria consume any left over food particles in the mouth and excrete waste, which can be in the form of gas. The gas does not smell very pleasant, so when you add all the bacterial excretions of 10 billion organisms the end result is morning breath. Most people do not suffer from bad breath during the day unless their mouth is dry. What keeps the mouth moist is saliva, which contains antibacterial compounds and removes food that can be stuck in between your teeth and on your tongue. When we sleep saliva is not being produced, this is when bacteria are able to multiply causing an increase in waste, resulting in morning breath.

via http://seafoodpunch.deviantart.com/art/Brush-your-damn-teeth-113434552

Ways to avoid having bad breath:

brush your teeth after you eat and before bed
floss once a day
brush your tongue
avoid having a dry mouth- drink plenty of water
chew sugar free gum
get a new tooth brush every 3-4 months
avoid sticky/sugary foods
use mouthwash and toothpaste that contain fluoride

During the day, chewing sugar free gum is beneficial because it increases saliva flow, so there will be less bacteria and less food particles in your mouth. It is important to brush your teeth and tongue before bed to remove hidden food particles otherwise the bacteria will have a lot of excretions. The tongue is usually under-looked when it comes to oral hygiene, but because of the many folds on the tongue, it is considered an ideal place for both bacteria and food to hide.

What can cause people to have constant bad breath throughout the whole day is plaque– a pale yellow residue, which is bacteria that colonize and attach to your teeth. It is important to prevent plaque build up since this can lead to issues more than bad breath, such as gum disease.

via http://pixabay.com/en/brush-cartoon-toothbrush-free-hair-41753/

The compounds primarily responsible for bad breath include methyl mercaptan and hydrogen sulfide. Skatole and indole also cause bad breath, they are responsible for the smell of feces – EW!

Since bad breath is considered to be a social “taboo” it is important to keep ones oral hygiene a high priority because it can potentially cause social anxiety and depression.

Blog By Komal Virk

5 Comments

Posted in Biological sciences, Public engagement

Tagged bacteria, bad breath, breath, chemicals, gums, halitosis, mouth, oral hygiene, plaque, smelly

Red wine – is it good or bad for you?

A New Contraceptive That Can Prevent Both HIV and Pregnancy?

Arctic Unicorns

The (literal) Birds and the Bees

Barbie dolls: the real message they send through

Afraid of math? It may not be your fault…

Pluto; The Ex Planet

Lose Weight By Eating CHOCOLATE!

Diet Beverages, Are They Truly the Solution to Improve Our Weight-Loss Diet?

Bad Breath Blues

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