Tag Archives: health

Should we end Daylight Saving Time?

Posted on November 11, 2019 by | 6 comments

Who hasn’t looked at their clock early in the morning and wished for an extra hour in bed? Well, as of last week, daylight saving time has finally come to an end, which means an extra hour of sweet sleep. Many clocks around the world have officially been pushed back an hour, and some researchers want to keep it that way permanently.

Daylight saving time was first introduced during World War I to save energy, and since then it has been continued to be practised in many countries. Yet, the health effects linked with daylight saving have been unclear, until now. Recently, Beth Marlow and her team have reported that daylight saving may be doing us more harm than simply making us lose an hour of sleep.

The team analyzed multiple studies that looked at brain activity and the effects of daylight saving. They concluded that a person’s circadian rhythms are thrown off by the simple time change. The circadian rhythms are responsible for behavioural, physical, and mental changes in a person, which can be affected by both light and darkness. The disruption to the circadian rhythms can cause serious and deadly health effects. For instance, Marlow found that there was an increased number of strokes and heart attacks reported during the start of daylight saving time. In addition, the lack of sleep caused by daylight saving time has led to increase in fatal car crashes.

So, why do many nations still practise daylight saving time? Well, as mentioned before, daylight saving does save energy. As the US Department of Energy found, the energy saved is equivalent to more than 100,000 households energy use in a year. Therefore, the economics behind daylight saving is a major factor for keeping it.

As Marlow and her team have reported, daylight saving time has major impacts on the health of many individuals, and like many other researchers, they advocate the end of daylight saving time altogether. However, the energy saved during this time has outweighed decisions of ending it.

-Anum Khan

6 Comments

Posted in Science in the News

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Fatal Familial Insomnia: Dying without sleep

Posted on November 11, 2019 by | 3 comments

Sleeping. Source: Flickr

What if one day you woke up and didn’t have the ability to fall back to sleep again? Unfortunately, this is the devastating reality for almost 50 families around the world today.

Fatal Familial insomnia (FFI) is a rare neurodegenerative disease caused by prions, which are abnormal forms of normally harmless proteins found in the brain. Since this mutation is dominant, in that one copy of this mutated gene can automatically lead to its expression, this disease affects both males and females equally. Furthermore, individuals with FFI normally present symptoms of this disease between the ages of 20 to 61 years old. These symptoms include an onset of dementia, speech problems, and coordination problems.

Dementia. Source: Flickr

 

The tragic family curse

Generation. Source: Flickr

FFI is a genetic disease, thus it is able to be passed on through generations. Fortunately, however, if one parent has this genetic mutation, there is only a 50% chance that it would be passed on to their offspring. Nonetheless, the following generations that receive this mutation eventually succumb to this disease without escape.

This inevitable disease causes death of neurons in the brain and the first symptoms are apparent at around the age of 50 and are followed by four symptomatic stages.

There are four stages that individuals with FFI encounter. The first stage is insomnia, which is followed by the second stage of hallucinations and severe panic attacks. The third stage is defined by weight loss and the total loss of the ability to sleep and lastly, the fourth stage is marked by dementia. Each of these stages are short as the rapid progression of FFI causes death within 12 to 18 months.

The main cause of death from this disease is due to progressive physical and mental deterioration, which is the consequence of one of the fatal symptoms of FFI, the inability to sleep.

 

Searching for a cure

FFI is a subtype of prion diseases which itself has no cure. Additionally, since FFI is a rare disease, it is still incurable as there has been limited research done on this disease. However, there are some potential treatments that are being examined today.

Currently, there is an ongoing 10-year trial being conducted on individuals that carry this genetic mutation. In this study they observe the effects of the antibiotic doxyclycline on pre-symptomatic patients, as researchers believe the use of this antibiotic may be an effective way to prevent FFI in individuals who carry this disease.

Sadly, effective long-term treatments for FFI are non-existent. Therefore, presently, short-term treatments are being used. One of these treatments include the used of sedatives, such as sleeping pills, which can temporarily help manage the symptoms of insomnia. However, its effectiveness varies from person to person.

Although FFI is a rare disease, it still affects families around the world today. Therefore, without a cure, this leaves families hopeless for their future ahead. However, with research currently being conducted, hopefully this can provide individuals with FFI a fighting chance to overcome this disease.

– Karina To

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News

Tagged , , ,

A “Fad” Diet That Actually Works

Posted on October 6, 2019 by | 1 comment

In the past couple of days, I’ve been reading up on fasting with much interest. Being a girl in her 20s, I’m all about the latest diet trends. Ever since high school, I’ve had a poor body image and one of the few diets I tried at the time was intermittent fasting. Obviously, back then I took it to the extreme and would go days without eating. Now, living a healthier lifestyle, I was surprised to learn about the health benefits of fasting, when you don’t take it to the extreme.

Fasting may be the latest diet trend, but it has been a practice within various religions for a long time. It goes back as far as ancient Greeks, who were amazed by the impact it had on the body and mind.

The first experiments on feeding lab animals on alternate days began in the 1940s, says Michelle Harvie, a research dietitian in Manchester, England. Finally, in 1946, the first study on fasting was posted by The Journal of Nutrition. The study demonstrated an increase in life-span and a decreased likelihood of tumour development in rats deprived of food every third day compared to other control animals.

By the 2000s, the idea of fasting was growing in popularity, including a documentary airing on BBC in 2012 and a book followed the next year. In 2003, another study by Mark Mattson found that putting mice on alternate feeding days were healthier than putting mice on a calorie-restricted diet.

There are different methods of practice. On my healthier days, I practiced time-restricted feeding, such as eating for only 8 hours of the day. However, others have pushed to 20:4 or 23:1 regiment. Other approaches include fasting for 2 days of the week.

A study shows that fasting switches up the body’s metabolism. When fasting goes on for more than 12 hours, glycogen levels drop and the body looks to fatty acids for fuel instead of glucose. As a result, the production of ketones is triggered and this is what is thought to be the key factor in the increased in health benefits.

A visual demonstrating the metabolic switch from using glucose to fatty acids

Alison Mackey/Discover

Beta-hydroxybutyrate, better known as BHB is one type of ketone that floods the brain when a person is fasting. A study found that BHB in mice stimulates memory, learning and other processes at the cellular level. BHB also triggers the release of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which is important for learning, memory and improved mood.

Many believe fasting is just another fad diet. But Harvie believes it might be here to stay because the fasting lifestyle is flexible and people can choose a plan that best fits them. “But at the end of the day, a diet is only as good as the person who follows it,” says Harvie.

– Cindy Liu

1 Comment

Posted in Biological Sciences

Tagged , , ,

Alkaline Water: Water with Benefits?

Posted on September 30, 2019 by | Leave a comment

Pouring water Source: Flickr

Water contains an abundance of life. It comprises 75% of your body weight and is essential to maintain homeostasis in your body. However, would the addition of alkalinity in your water create a greater benefit for your health? Multiple celebrities, such as Beyoncé and Miranda Kerr, have jumped on the bandwagon, promoting companies that sell alkaline water, however, is it really all it’s hyped up to be?

On a pH scale of 0 being acidic to 14 being alkaline, Alkaline water is found to have a pH above 7, more specifically it has a pH between 8-10, thus making it less acidic than pure drinking water which has a pH of 7. Alkaline water is found to contain alkaline minerals, such as magnesium and calcium, which provides it with its electrolytic properties that allows it to maintain the pH balance and homeostasis in your body that may be altered from diet or exercise.

The pH scale. Source: Flickr

 

Benefits of alkaline water

Companies that promote and sell alkaline water have suggested that drinking alkaline water can help with rehydration during exercise. A study was done on male athletes that tested the effects of consuming alkaline water vs. regular water during combat sports training. When comparing the 2 groups it found that the athletes who ingested alkaline water had a better hydration status, and overall performance.

Another study suggested that the consumption of alkaline water has therapeutic benefits for people suffering from reflux disease, which is a disease that leads to acid reflux causing heartburn and other symptoms. The primary cause of this disease is the damage generated by pepsin 3b, a digestive enzyme produced in the stomach. Upon its activation, it causes esophageal and laryngeal damage which ultimately leads to reflux disease. Researchers found that the pH of alkaline water permanently inactivates this human pepsin 3b through denaturation and as a result decrease its damaging properties.

Some other benefits include flushing out acidic waste and toxins and balancing pH levels in the body.

 

Risks of alkaline water

There haven’t been specific studies conducted by researchers that reflect on the health risks caused by drinking alkaline water. However, companies that sell alkaline water/ionizers such as DYLN suggests not to drink too much alkaline water too quickly. This is due to the potential negative side effects it can cause such as nausea and vomiting. These side effects are symptoms of metabolic alkalosis, which results from the sudden and severe increase of the pH in your body caused by drinking an excess amount of alkaline water.

There is also the risk of simply wasting your money on more expensive water. Watch below to see why:

YouTube Preview Image

 

There haven’t been many studies conducted that can make us certain that there are health benefits or negative side effects of drinking alkaline water long term. So if you plan to make that switch to alkaline water, make sure to follow the suggestions provided by companies in order to maximize its potential benefits and minimize its negative effects.

-Karina To

Leave a comment

Posted in Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,