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Cannabis in the Spotlight

What is Cannabis?

The Cannabis Act has been issued for quite a while now, but not many of us are fully aware of what Cannabis is and why it is so important to enforce a law for it. The cannabis we speak of today often includes but are not limited to pot, weed, marijuana, Ganja, dope, or 420.  After more than 90-years of cannabis prohibition in Canada, these “underground” names are now brought together by a common word now known as cannabis. Cannabis is derived from dried plant phenotype species — Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, or Cannabis Ruderalis, where all contains mind altering chemical compounds.

Photo by Cannapedia

It grows wild in many of the tropical and temperate areas of the world. However, it can now be grown in almost any climate, and is increasingly cultivated by means of indoor hydroponic technology.

Photo by National Institute on Drug Abuse

Chemical Substances in Cannabis

Cannabis contains hundreds of chemical substances and over 100 of these are known as cannabinoids. Cannabinoids are made and stored in the plant’s trichomes, a tiny, clear hairs that stick out from the surfaces of flowers and leaves of the Cannabis plant. Cannabinoids can change how cell receptors in the brain and body behave and communicate with each other.

The main active Cannabinoid is called delta-9 tetrahydro-cannabinol or referred to as THC. This is the part of the plant that is responsible for giving people the “high” and often times intoxication. THC has some therapeutic effects but also has harmful effects. These harmful effects may be greater when the concentration or THC potency is higher.

Cannabidiol or CBD is another cannabinoid, but does not produce intoxication in the body or make people “high”. There is some evidence that CBD may hinder effects of THC on the mind. This occurs when the amount of CBD in the cannabis is the same or higher than the amount of THC. CBD is being further studied for its possible therapeutic applications.

Effects of Cannabis Usage

Although there are several types of Cannabis and many are consumed or used very differently, the extent of its effect is determined by the potency of THC content inside each dosage.

Photo by Health Canada

In the short run, smoking cannabis will allow THC to travel quickly from the lungs into the bloodstream, where the blood carries the chemical to the brain and other organs throughout the body. Hence, the THC chemical compound will over-activate the receptors in you brain, which gives people the “high” due to heightened senses. The body absorbs THC more slowly when a person eats or drink it, where the effect usually comes in after 30 minutes.

Short term effects include:

  • Altered senses (taste, sights, smell, sound, and even time)
  • Impaired brain functions (memory, attention, and learning)
  • Change in mood
  • Hallucination, delusion, and psychosis (when consumed at high doses)

The long term effects of cannabis consumption are still being studied across the world, but through several longitudinal studies, it is shown that there is a significant decline in general knowledge and verbal abilities between preteen ages and early adulthood. However, in studies where people started cannabis consumption as adults, the results did not show a notable decrease in mental abilities but increased risks of addiction after long term consumptions.

Long term effects include:

  • Lose of memory, concentration, intelligence (effects are greater when started at adolescence)
  • Lung diseases (chronic cough, respiratory diseases like bronchitis or even cancer, lung infection)
  • Addiction

I hope after reading this blog all of you will be more aware and considerate about Cannabis and its consumption effects.

By: Robin Yuyang Wei

2 Comments

Posted on November 18, 2018 by in Biological Sciences

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Could this be the reason why your hands are always cold?

Posted on November 11, 2018 by | 3 comments

I’m sure you’ve noticed that winter is fast approaching, the air is getting colder and the temperatures are dropping! Does the cold weather ever cause your fingers or toes to become blue and numb? If so, Raynaud’s phenomenon may be the reason why!

What is Raynaud’s phenomenon?

Raynaud’s phenomenon, also known as Raynaud’s disease occurs when blood cells in your finger tips or toes overreact to the cold, causing your fingers to turn white, blue, and finally red.  This disease is typically diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 30; however it is quite rare, affecting less than 10% of individuals in the United States. Furthermore, females and individuals who live in colder regions are more likely to be afflicted by this disease.

Fil:Raynaud phenomenon.jpg

Image: Tcal at English Wikipedia

Types of Raynaud’s Disease

Raynaud’s disease can be classified as either primary or secondary. Anyone can develop primary Raynaud’s; however, chances are heightened for those with a family history. On the contrary, secondary Raynaud’s is uncommon. In fact, only individuals with an underlying medical condition that makes them more prone to the disease (e.g. nerve damage) are at risk for developing secondary Raynaud’s.

0:30-2:30 A more detailed explanation of the major differences between primary and secondary Raynaud’s disease

Video: Johns Hopkins Rheumatology

Symptoms and Causes

The most common symptoms include: numbness, tingling, and sometimes even pain in the fingers and toes. In most cases, symptoms will subside after about 15 minutes when your body warms up and blood flow returns to its normal rate. Additionally, Raynaud’s is triggered primarily by the cold, but other potential triggers include: emotional stress, smoking, caffeine, and certain medications.

How does this happen?

When temperatures drop, your body conserves heat by reducing the rate of blood flow to your hands and feet (i.e. the network of arteries that carry blood to these parts of your body narrow). If you have Raynaud’s disease, however, these arteries narrow more than necessary, causing your fingers and toes to feel numb and turn blue.

Image result for raynaud's phenomenon

An image showing regular blood flow to the fingers (A) versus constricted blood flow to the fingers (B & C)

Image: National Heart,Lung, and Blood Institute: Heart & Vascular Diseases: Raynaud’s: What Is Raynaud’s?

How dangerous is this disease?

Raynaud’s is not dangerous; however, individuals with this condition are more prone to frost bites and spasms in the fingers and toes. Furthermore, in extreme cases, blood flow to the fingers and toes may be completely blocked resulting in potential deformities and tissue damage.

Is there a cure?

There are no known cures for Raynaud’s; however, symptoms typically improve over time. Simple measures, such as covering exposed skin can be taken to prevent any symptoms. However, if you do happen to experience any symptoms, soaking the area in warm water can help relieve them.

Sami Ko

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences

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Fecal Transplants- A Possible Autism Treatment?

Posted on November 5, 2018 by | 1 comment

We’ve all heard of heart transplants, or kidney or liver transplants, but feces transplants? While it may sound gross, recent research has found promising results in the benefits of fecal transplants on children with autism.

The Reasoning

Autism is a brain disorder typically characterized by certain behaviours, such as hyperactivity, repetitive actions, and irritability. Children with autism also suffer from multiple stomach problems as they tend to have fewer types of microbes, which are microorganisms like bacteria, living in their intestines. In fecal transplants, the children with autism receive new microbes from other peoples’ feces, and recent studies have seen improvements in their stomach distress as well as in behaviours linked with autism.

Millions of microbes are present in the intestines, creating the gut’s microbiome. Source: https://medium.com/

The Evidence

Rose Krajmalnik-Brown, an environmental engineer at Arizona State University, and her research team found a large difference in the microbes of children with autism, in fact they completely lack one bacteria called Prevotella. These results prompted the team to do further research into microbes and their potential affects on autism.

The research team conducted a clinical trial with 18 children with autism to investigate if having more diverse microbes might improve any stomach or behavioural symptoms. The first step was to give the patients antibiotics to kill all of the bacteria currently in their intestines. Then, the researchers isolated the microbes from healthy peoples’ feces and each patient was treated with these fecal bacteria for 8 weeks. It was delivered either as a liquid injected in the patient’s rear or orally mixed in with chocolate milk.

After two months of the treatment ending, they found that most children reported less stomach problems. Even after two years, their gut symptoms were 60 percent better than before treatment started and their microbes were even more diverse. Furthermore, the feces transplant didn’t just affect the gut; they also found significant improvements on behaviours associated with autism. The childrens’ levels of hyperactivity and repetitive actions tended to be lower two years later than before the treatment started.

The following video provides more information on how the gut microbes affects autism.

Source: Nutrition Facts

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What Does This Mean?

While these results are promising and exciting, researchers don’t want to get too hopeful yet. This study was quite small and might not work for everyone, so future research is definitely on the horizon. As of now, scientists only know confidently that a correlation between receiving new fecal microbes and improving autistic behaviours exists; they do not know that fecal transplants themselves cause the changes in behaviour. Neuroscientist Michael Hylin states that these findings “are a long way from saying there’s a cure for autism. I think it’s a promising approach. It’s one that’s worthwhile.” Although this is just one small study, the results are exciting and have sparked a lot of optimism and interest in the field of autism research. Stay tuned- fecal transplants may very well be the next big thing!

By: Olivia Campbell

1 Comment

Posted in Biological Sciences

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5 ways to eat eggs bad for your health

Posted on October 21, 2018 by | 2 comments

Why people need to eat eggs

Eggs are one of the healthiest and the most commonly consumed food in the world. 

They have a high nutritional value because they contain various trace elements and kinds of essential vitamins needed by the human body, such as protein, vitamin D, B vitamins, minerals, and so on. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recent news about eating eggs

With the improvement of living conditions, people’s requirements on diet have been gradually improved. In today’s society, people are more and more about their health. As part of a balanced diet, people like to eat eggs to supplement nutrition. However, recent news on newspapers shows eats eggs can cause heart disease because of the high protein. Therefore, whether eating eggs bad or good to human health has caused concern.

  High protein in eggs

The protein required for people is 0.8g per kilogram of body weight. According to the dietary reference intake for protein, we can find:

  1. 56g protein required by the average sedentary man per day
  2. 46g protein required by the average sedentary woman per day

One large egg can provide about 6g protein, which makes up over 10% of the average sedentary man required per day and 12.5% of the average sedentary woman required per day.

To prevent side effects of eating eggs, people should pay attention to the following ways of eating eggs.

1. Eating raw eggs

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some people think that if food is cooked, it would lose its nutritional value. Therefore, many people like to eat raw vegetables and seafood, and they think that raw eggs have a higher nutritional value than cooked eggs.

However, eating raw eggs are more likely to carry bacteria, such as coli into the stomach, which can cause gastrointestinal discomfort and Diarrhea. In addition, the raw egg white contains Avidin, which only can be destroyed by high temperature. The Avidin can affect the absorption of the biotin in food, and cause many unpleasant symptoms, such as inappetence, muscle ache, skin inflammation, eyebrow fell off, and so on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Cooking eggs for a long time

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some people think that more time used to cook eggs, it is better for human health. However, it is also wrong because if the egg is cooked for a long time, the ferrous ions in the yolk would combine with the sulfur ions in the egg white to form the insoluble ferrous sulfide, which is difficult to be absorbed. 

Also, fried eggs would be too old and the edges would be scorched when they are cooked for a long time. The polymer-protein in the egg white can form low molecular amino acid, which could form harmful chemicals to human health under high temperature.

 

3. Eating too many eggs in a day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If people eat too many eggs, the metabolites and the burden on the kidneys would increase, which can cause kidney failure symptoms. 

Here are a few effective tips:

For the elderly people, they can eat 1~2 eggs per day.

For the young and middle-aged people who engage in mental work or light manual labor, they can eat 2 eggs per day.

For people who engage in heavy manual labor, they need to consume more nutrition. So they can eat 2~3 eggs per day.

For young children, they can eat 2~3 eggs per day because of their fast metabolism.

For Pregnant women, lying-in women, breastfeeding women, individuals with weak immune systems and the patient that undertakes postoperative convalescence, they can eat 3 ~ 4 eggs per day because they need to get enough protein.

4. Eating eggs with sugar or soy milk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many people like to cook eggs with sugar, but eggs can react with sugar under high temperature, and produce a substance called Glycolysis, which can destroy the amino acids in eggs. It is important to note that glycolysis has side effects on blood coagulation, which can harm human health. Therefore, people should leave eggs cool down before adding sugar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition, many people like to have an egg, a bread, and a cup of soy milk for breakfast. In fact, the Trypsin in soy can combine with the egg pine protein in the egg white, which can cause nutrient loss and reduce their nutritional value.

5. Eating excess eggs on an empty stomach

If people consume excessive food with high protein, such as milk, soy milk, eggs and meat, the protein would be conversed forcedly into energy consumption, which cannot provide nutrition to people.

What’s more, when human body accumulates excess protein in a short period, the protein decomposition process can produce a variety of harmful substances that can bad for human health, such as urea, ammonia compounds, and so on.

In brief, if people pay attention to ways to eat eggs, eating eggs can help people meet their demand for protein, and it can bring many advantages to human health.

Information Attribute from

Denise Hill(n.d): https://www.lifehack.org/488728/10-foods-to-eat-and-avoid-on-an-empty-stomach-for-better-digestive-health

Estherjane13(Feb23,2017): http://www.thewholesomefork.com/2017/02/23/how-many-eggs-is-it-safe-to-eat-per-day/

Haley Hernandez(Sep 13,2018): https://www.click2houston.com/health/is-eating-eggs-good-or-bad-for-you-

Healthline(July23,2016): https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/eating-raw-eggs#section3

Healthline(Aug26,2016): https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/eating-healthy-eggs

GirlsTalkinSmack(n.d.): http://women.girlstalkinsmack.com/Food/foods-you-should-not-eat-with-eggs.aspx

JayneLeonard(Oct3,2018): https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323251.php    

Zhou LU

2 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Statistics

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The Importance of Sleep

Posted on October 8, 2018 by | 4 comments

Why Do We Need to Sleep?

While not many may know why we need to sleep, most of us do know at some level that sleeping makes us recover the weariness from the previous day or days. Researchers have now shown that sleeping helps us retain information processed in the day time, restore and grow muscles, repair tissues, and even synthesize hormones. However, we still do not know the mechanisms behind much of these known effects of sleep.

A Question Unanswered?

For the past decades, scientist have explored this topic over several aspects. Despite this, it has been difficult to answer this question thoroughly with just one single theory. Instead, sleep patterns can be explained through several sleep theories.

Theories of Sleep

Inactivity theory

One of the earliest theories for sleep, which bases its idea from animal evolution theory.  The theory suggests that inactivity at night serves as a survival function that would keep them out of harms’ way. This is especially the case of animals who would rely heavily on their day time visions. These animals would avoid accidents from happening during night times, for example, trespassing into predatory zones. However, this does not explain why some vision-based animals or humans sleep during the day time.

Restorative Theories

A long held believe is that sleep in some way restores what is lost in the body while we were awake. Sleep provides an opportunity for our body to repair and rejuvenate itself. It is shown that for animals that are completely deprived of sleep loses all immune functions and die within a couple of weeks. This result further supports that some of the major restorative functions like the repair of muscles, protein synthesis, and growth hormone release only occur during sleep.

On its brain and cognitive aspect, the neurons in our brain produces a type of by-product in our brain called adenosine. The build up of these adenosine is thought to be one contributing factor for why we get tired and drowsy. This reaction in our brain is thought to promote the drowsiness while we are awake. When we sleep, our brain has a chance to clear the adenosine from our neuro-system; and when we have enough sleep and wake up, we would feel more alerted with low level of adenosine in the brain.

 Environmental-Cue Theory

This theory involves the internal clock of your body, where the body is in sync with certain cues in the environment. The different light intensities that you receive during day and night are the cues that makes you feel awake or drowsy.For example, light signals received through your eyes transmit a neuro signal to a special area of your brain that it is daytime. This area of the brain helps align your body clock with periods of the day and night. Your body releases chemicals in a daily rhythm, which your body clock controls. When it gets dark, your body releases a hormone called melatonin, which signals your body that it’s time to prepare for sleep, and it helps you feel drowsy. Exposure to bright artificial light (TV screen, computer screen, cell phone etc.) in the late evening can disrupt this process, making it hard to fall asleep. As the sun rises, your body releases a hormone called the cortisol, which naturally prepares your body to wake up.

source: Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School

Recommended hours of sleep for each age group:

The amount of sleep you need each day will change over the course of your life, but irregular sleep habits and long-term sleep loss will affect your health in the long run. Certain medical conditions are associated with sleep disorder or deficiency . For example:

  • high blood pressure
  • attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
  • heart failure
  • obesity

Hence, it is necessary to maintain a healthy sleep pattern.  Although sleep needs vary from person to person, the chart below shows general recommendations for different age groups:

source: National Sleep Foundation

The goal of learning sleep patterns is to better understand the importance of sleeps and enjoy its health benefits. Hope everyone can get enough sleep, because it is vital for us in the future. If you have any sleep theories that you would like to share or anything you just want to share, please comment below!

By: Robin Yuyang Wei

4 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Uncategorized

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Does Not Wearing Glasses Mean Contact Lenses for Life?

Posted on October 8, 2018 by | 5 comments

“Why don’t you try contact lenses,” my optometrist offered when I told him I hated my glasses. This is a more common situation than not. I hated spending $200 on glasses each time I wanted to change my style, which is already on the lower end of the price range. Similarly, getting contacts would mean spending up to $1200 a year! Thus, are contact lenses the only solution to glasses?

NO!

A pair of stylish glasses.                                        Credit: Max Pixel

I am sure you have heard of the term myopia and presbyopia or even astigmatism. These are all different types of refractive errors; a condition where the shape of your eye does not bend light properly. With the introduction of refractive surgery, the eye care scene grew drastically with new methods to correct refractive errors through changing the eye’s structures.

Where to Start?

Like any medical procedure, you will arrive for your initial consultation. Your visit will likely begin with the careful investigation of your medical history and countless tests to assess your eye. Then your doctor will discuss the different procedures you are a candidate for. Two of these are LASIK and PRK.

What is LASIK?

Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis or more commonly known as LASIK, is the most well-known refractive surgery technique.  By using a laser, ophthalmologists form a thin flap in the cornea – a transparent dome covering the outermost layer of the eye – making the removal of a specific amount of corneal tissue possible, before refolding the flap into its original position. This alters the eye’s ability to focus light.

The basic steps on the LASIK procedure.   Credit: Andrearchy LASIK

 

What is PRK?

Do you enjoy sports or just have a very active lifestyle in general? If so, another type of refractive surgery called photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) is perfect for you. In contrast to LASIK, where instead of creating a corneal flap that can become dislodged with intense movement, the doctor will remove the corneal epithelial, which will allow a laser to reshape the deeper cornea.

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Am I Free From Corrective Lenses Now?

It would be pointless if your surgery does not improve your eyesight at all. That’s money down the drain! With any of the procedures, most people end up with 20/40 vision or better. Thus, you can leave your fashionable glasses at home!

Snellen chart to help determine visual acuity.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Laser Correction Sounds Exciting, but Scary!

Unfortunately, there are inherent risks and potential side effects. Over time your eyesight will deteriorate and you might one day need glasses again to see properly. As for the immediate side effects of surgery, there is the rare chance of going blind, but in the hands of an expert surgeon the probability is 1 in 5 million. Instead, the possibility of chronic dry eyes is more worrisome. Thus, as you begin your journey remember to save up some money in advance for artificial tears!

By: Jodie Xie

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Science Communication, Uncategorized

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