Category Archives: Biological Sciences

Say Goodbye to Artificial Trans-Fat: The “Great Move”

Posted on October 1, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Image Cedhttp://shqip.republika.mk/?p=194461

Have you ever considered why a tub of margarine lasts for 4-5 months while a stick of butter only lasts for 1-2 months? In simple terms, margarine contains trans-fat while butter doesn’t.

As of September 17th, 2018, Health Canada has banned artificial trans-fat from all food supplies. A specific industry produced trans-fat called Partially Hydrogenated Oils (PHOs) is a health hazard and therefore, removed from all industry manufactured foods to imported goods to meals served in restaurants across Canada, taking a step forward in the “Great Move.”

The ban of artificial trans-fat in Canada will take 2 years to phase out all of the pre-existing foods containing PHOs. Through this movement, World Health Organization (WHO) is one step closer to globally eradicating artificial trans-fat. So why is WHO so determined to eliminate trans-fat?

Small amounts of natural trans-fat are found in meat and milk, but the most consumed trans-fat is the one manufactured by the food industry. Artificial trans-fat is produced from a process where liquid oil is solidified, referred to as Hydrogenation. It’s typically found in packaged snacks, baked goods, and fried foods. PHOs is the very reason why your margarine can last for 4-5 months. It provides stability that increases shelf life, while maintaining the spreadable texture and savoury taste that everyone enjoys. But at what cost?

According to numerous research papers, high intake of trans-fat has proven to increases “bad” cholesterol, and decreases “good” cholesterol. This accumulates bundles of fat in blood vessels that result in heart diseases. Excess trans-fat is associated with diabetes and heart risks.

Why is this move so crucial?

Image Credit: Krenosky, S., L’Abbé, M.R., Lee, N., Underhill, L., Vigneault, M., Godefroy, S., & Ratnayake, N. (2013). Risk Assessment of Exposure to Trans Fat in Canada.

The image above displays the average trans-fat intake (g/day) of Canadians in the years 1995, 2004, and 2008 vs. WHOs recommended limit. As the graph indicates, the consumption of trans-fat in Canada has exceeded the recommended amount. Though the intake of trans-fat has reduced over time, it is still a major health issue in Canada. The image below shows that 25% of deaths in 2016 were due to cardiovascular diseases (28% if you include diabetes). By banning PHOs in the food industry, Heath Canada is eliminating a main cause of cardiovascular diseases, along with other health concerns.

Image Credit: WHO Canada – Proportional Mortality in 2016. *NCDs stands for Non-Communicable Diseases, which includes cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes.

Until artificial trans-fat is completely phased out of our diet, here are some helpful tips on avoiding artificial trans-fat.

  1. Read the nutrition labels carefully – Health Canada has enforced labelling on all packaged foods. Watch out for PHOs in the ingredient section!

    Image Credit: American Medical Association

  2. Opt-out for healthier alternatives – Natural vegetable oils such as olive or avocado oils have more benefits than harm to your body. Or you could always switch back to butter!

Jinny Jang

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Paralyzed man makes history: Implants allow him to walk again!

Posted on September 30, 2018 by | Leave a comment

To many, the concept of paralysis is terrifying. The simple thought of being conscious and aware, yet unable to move is enough to make even the bravest people uncomfortable. Unfortunately, for many people, this is their reality. An article by Cleveland Clinic  estimates that roughly one in fifty Americans suffer from some form of paralysis. Added up, this is almost six million people!

Paralysis is caused by nerve damage rather than physical damage. For example, your legs could be paralyzed without actually having any noticeable injury. The two main causes of paralysis are currently stroke (33.7%), and spinal cord injuries (27.3%). Jerred Chinnock, a 29 year old man from Wisconsin, was a victim of the latter. After a snowmobile accident in, he suffered a spinal cord injury, and was paralyzed from the waist down. There are many types of spinal cord injuries and based on the image below, it’s likely that Jerred suffered from an “L1 Injury”. An injury to his lower spine, that would result in waist down paralysis.

Image credit: Profusion Rehab

However, determined to not lose hope, Jerred visited doctors in Minnesota, where they were able to accomplish something never done before- allow Jerred to move again. Although technology helping paralyzed people regain movement is not something thats unheard of, this case was very unique. Up to this point, reacquiring movement had to be done with technology such as braces that were electrically powered. While it allows for movement, the actual “moving”  is done by the braces and not the human. It’s similar to using a remote to control your own legs! The doctors were able to overcome this by implanting electrodes into Jerred’s back. Since paralysis is mainly due to nerve damage, these electrodes are able to stimulate the existing nerves and allow control of legs similar to what was possible before the injury. Rather than relying on technology to walk for you, this method is much more similar to actually walking.

“The reason why this is important is because the patient’s own mind, thought, was able to drive movement in his legs. Just as important is that we were able to get him to stand independently and take his own steps.” – neurosurgeon Dr Kendall Lee

Video of Jerred and his treatment.

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Experts help paralyzed man walk again, with assistance, by reactivating spinal cord

 

Belowis an image of Jerred practicing walking with the implants. While he still require’s a front-wheeled walker, he has been able to reach a few milestones such as walking sixteen minutes without stopping, as well as a hundred meters.

Jerred being trained to walk again.
Image credit: Independent UK

 

Although this method of treatment is in its very early states of testing, the current results are promising. With further improvements these implants could solve one of medicines greatest roadblocks, and in America alone, save millions of lives.

Elvis Kuan

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The Development of Alzheimer’s Disease: Linked to the Air We Breathe?

Posted on September 26, 2018 by | 1 comment

Credit: iStockphoto/Michael Valdez
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071108135522.htm

Have you ever noticed the colour of the sky when the sun starts to set? That beautiful orange-pink colour is actually caused by the air particles of pollution, which researchers now found it to be closely correlated to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

Research Study

Our air contains hundreds of millions of small particles, some harmless, others not so much. A new study obtained data from over 130,000 adults aged 50-79 years old (all registered to a family doctor on Jan 1st, 2005) and measured their exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels from their homes in London. NO2 was used to measure this correlation because it is found from the emissions of burning fuels, like a coal burning stove, the cars we drive on a daily basis, power plant systems, and anything to do with fossil fuels being processed found worldwide. The results show that there was a positive correlation between high concentrations of air pollution and an increase in risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

The study couldn’t explain the effects of the variables that were hard to control but in this video narrated by Caleb Finch, professor at the University of Southern California’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, explains the biological aspect of how air pollution affects the brain:

Video Created by: USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology

In summary of the video, the fine particles from fossil fuels first enter our nose, which then easily reaches the brain as well as the lungs. These particles create an effect on the brain cells, causing inflammation and swelling of the cells which accelerates the progression of Alzheimer’s. Experiments were conducted on rats that carried the Alzheimer’s gene in its DNA, called APOE e4, exhibiting a larger increase in brain amyloid (proteins in the brain that build up along the walls, causing dementia) than those without the gene.

Credit: Martin Basinger https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-cd611d7893ad257d1ee98e8d6d97732a

With dementia being one of the biggest health problems in the world, if the link between air pollution and Alzheimer’s disease is fully proven, preventing it through improving our air quality might be the only solution to at least reduce the numbers. Knowing that pollution easily comes from the cars and buses used on a daily basis, should we start wearing face masks to reduce our own risk of Alzheimer’s disease?

 

Loretta Huang

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Foreign Accent Syndrome: Waking Up With A Different Tongue

Posted on September 24, 2018 by | 3 comments

Imagine one day waking up with a Russian accent, having neither been to Russia nor heard a Russian accent before. This is the reported case of an American woman whose fall in a stairwell gave her Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) that stayed with her for years.

FAS is a speech disorder that causes a person to speak in their native language with speech changes, such as excess stress, consonant substitution, and vowel distortion. This causes the speaker’s accent to sound non-native. As speech is a key part of a person’s identity, and this syndrome can cause a person to feel like an outsider in their own hometown.

Source: Flickr Commons By: studio tdes https://flic.kr/p/raukoq

The first described case of FAS was in 1907 by French neurologist Pierre Marie, where a French man began to speak in an Alsatian accent after a stroke. The syndrome is rare, with only about 60 cases reported in literature. Due to this, FAS is not well studied or understood and can appear as a joke to others.

“Speech is one of the most complicated things we do, and there are a lot of brain centers involved in coordinating a lot of moving parts. If one or more of them are damaged, that can affect the timing, melody and tension of their speech.” – Dr. Karen Croot, cognitive neuropsychologist,  University of Sydney

The sound of the “foreign accent” is actually a motor impairment arising from neurological damage, including brain trauma and multiple sclerosis. The areas of the brain affected by FAS are scattered, with no clear damaged area that can explain the syndrome consistently. It is also associated with psychological issues, in cases where the structural damage found through CT or MRI images was not proportional to the speech problems. In this typified FAS, the patient has identifiable psychological issues such as depression.

MRI of brain damage of FAS patient (Source: https://www.utdallas.edu/research/FAS/diagnosis.html)

According to the University of Texas, Dallas, the effectiveness of speech-language treatment for FAS patients is under research. The complete reversal of FAS is rare. In this case presentation, a 55-year-old American male showed a day history of FAS. Following a seizure, there was a sudden reversal of the syndrome. This is the first reported case of a transient FAS reversed by seizure.

With no standardized diagnosis or treatment of Foreign Accent Syndrome available for patients, there is still much to be researched about the cause and range of effects from FAS.

Anna Han

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The Impact of Stress on Mental and Physical Health

Posted on September 24, 2018 by | Leave a comment

“Life stressful events” – such as the death of a close friend or family member, going to a new school, or taking on a mortgage can increase the chances of getting sick. In this study, written by Cohen and colleagues a correlation between stressful life events and how it can increase the risk of developing a disease/illness like cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases, cancer, and depression. Many different psychologists argue as to what events specifically are “stressful events” because everyone can interpret stress differently.

Some examples of different events that people consider stressful. The impact of all these events varies between different people. (Credit: American Institute of Stress/Knowable Magazine)

Will you ALWAYS get sick or depressed because of stress?

Different kinds of stressful life events can lead to negative health effects varying from a cold to major depression to a heart attack. One study looked at how stress influenced an individual’s ability to fight off the common cold called the rhinovirus. Those that were exposed to more stress events were more likely to get sick, however, half of them did not get sick. Yes, just being stressed does not necessarily mean that you will always get sick or depressed. Cohen, Murphy, and Prather explained that”most people who experience stressful events do not get sick” because some are resilient than others.

Results of fighting off a cold with and without stress. (Credit: S. Cohen et al./Health Psychology 1998/Knowable Magazine)

Having a Negative Attitude

Having a negative attitude, in general, tends to result in depression. Studies show that striking a person’s “core identity”  such as losing a job or conflict with close friends can raise the risk of depression. “Depression and heart disease are frequently associated with stressful events,”  said Tom Siegfried. Stress can discourage exercising and eating healthy. Stress can also lead to bad habits such as drinking and smoking.

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This video highlights the negative impacts of mental health in general. (Credit: Healthwatch Peterborough)

University Stress

University can be very stressful, so take care of yourself and remember to take study breaks in between long study periods! According to a 2008 mental health study by the Associated Press and mtvU, eight in 10 college students say they have experienced stress in their daily lives over the past three months in August 2018. “This was an increase of 20% from a survey five years ago.” from the website of The American Institute of Stress. Self-care is really important for your mental health and physical health.

A few things you can do when taking a break from studying. (Credit: Flickr)

Written by: Chelsey Chow

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The Ketogenic Diet: The Key to Superior Athletic Performance?

Posted on September 24, 2018 by | 1 comment

Athletes are constantly looking for any kind of edge over their opponents. Could switching to the “keto diet” be the key to superior athletic performance?

The ketogenic diet or “keto” for short, is a diet that consists of low amounts of carbs and high amounts of fats. This drastic reduction in carbohydrates is meant to put your body into a metabolic state called “ketosis”. Ketosis sets in when your body does not have enough carbs to burn for energy, so it switches to burning fat instead.

Image result for keto diet

Image by: Anna Shepulova via Shutterstock

Celebrities and professional athletes alike have turned to the keto diet in the hopes of losing fat while maintaining muscle mass. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kim Kardashian are just a few of the names that have turned to the new diet.

The keto diet is also becoming more popular for the “everyday man” and not just professional athletes.  This is due to the fact that ketosis is a popular weight loss strategy. In addition to the fat burning benefits of the diet, it also makes you feel less hungry and helps you maintain muscle.

Researchers from the University of Saint Louis conducted a study on the anaerobic performance of 16 subjects that followed either a low-carb ketogenic diet or a high carb diet for 4 days. The study found that: “subjects following the low carb “keto” diet performed 4-15% worse than those adopting the high carb diet, depending on the task.”

The study author Edward Weiss, PhD, says that the keto diet could have a negative effect athletes involved in sports that require short burst anaerobic activities such as basketball and soccer.

Image result for aerobic vs anaerobic

Image: Bevko Vitamins

However, the opposite may be true for endurance athletes who rely more heavily on aerobic fitness. Jeff Volek, PhD, found that long-term use of the keto diet may not only lead to a boost in performance for endurance athletes but it can also help with overall health. This is only true however, if there has been a “long-term adaption period to the ketogenic diet.”

As it turns out, “recreational athletes tend to see more consistent benefits from adopting a ketogenic diet,” says Volek. “In part because, on average, they have a greater emphasis on weight loss, metabolic and health benefits.”

Written by: Kevin Fabian

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