/oss/taxonomy/term/145/all en /oss/article/medical-history/can-we-get-smarter-popping-pill <p>We live in a world where people attempt to settle differences with insane wars and acts of terror. We foul our nest with an array of pollutants. We succumb to preventable diseases. We struggle to feed a growing global population. We clearly need to be smarter! If only there were a pill to boost our brainpower! A pill to allow us to learn things more quickly and actually remember what we learned. A pill to allow us to focus on whatever task is at hand without permitting our mind to drift. A pill for a better functioning brain. A “smart drug.” A “nootropic.”</p> Wed, 27 Mar 2024 17:19:34 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9882 at /oss /oss/article/medical-history/jungle-operating-room <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in the <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-from-the-jungle-to-the-operating-room">Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>The history of surgery is often divided into an era described as “before Griffith” and one as “after Griffith” based on Dr. Harold Griffith’s introduction of curare in 1942 as a muscle relaxant in surgery. This solved a problem that had plagued surgeons since the discovery of anesthesia 100 years earlier.</p> Fri, 09 Feb 2024 20:28:58 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9830 at /oss /oss/article/medical-student-contributors/physician-only-natures-assistant <p>Although warm foods are not likely to cause the production of yellow bile and hot winds are unlikely to be the cause of your digestive issues, Greek physician Galen of Pergamum contributed significantly to our understanding of the human body and left a lasting mark on the practice of medicine. He played a strong role in establishing the experimental method in the medical field.</p> Fri, 26 Jan 2024 18:20:02 +0000 Daniela Padres 9817 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-general-science/power-belief <p>Scientifically speaking, it’s not very pleasing.<br /> A jolly old man with reindeer flying high, criss-crossing the night sky?<br /> It makes for a charming story, but surely it must be phony!<br /> How can he be here and there, delighting children everywhere,<br /> Giving little girls splendid toys, even remembering naughty boys?<br /> Surely, the old gent must be a fake; who would do all this just for goodness sake?<br /> But stop! The children’s laughter and smiles are as real as can be,<br /> And consequently, so is he!<br /> From life’s little trials he spells relief,<br /></p> Wed, 20 Dec 2023 11:30:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9765 at /oss /oss/article/medical-history/not-laughing-matter <p>When I was growing up, “looning” meant one thing. You would fill a balloon with water and throw it at a target that usually did not welcome such activity. Today, “looning” has taken on another meaning. At music festivals and at raves, those eardrum-blasting, strobe-lighted parties frequented by the under-thirty crowd, it is not unusual to see dancers raise a balloon to their lips. But they are not blowing into it. They are inhaling the gas it contains. It makes them all giddy, justifying the name by which the gas is known. Laughing gas!</p> Wed, 25 Oct 2023 16:03:58 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9700 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/rooting-out-curcumin-problems <p>Divide some laboratory rabbits into three groups. Feed one group normal rabbit chow, the second group a high cholesterol diet, and the third group a high cholesterol diet supplemented with 0.2% curcumin. After eight weeks take blood samples, sacrifice the bunnies, and examine their aortas for atherosclerotic deposits. That’s a typical animal experiment to test the potential of curcumin, the compound responsible for the yellow colour of turmeric, as being possibly beneficial in reducing the risk of heart disease.</p> Wed, 11 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9687 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-medical-general-science/nobel-prize-committee-sends-message-messenger-rna-research-merits-sciences-highest-honour <p>The wall above that photocopier located at the University of Pennsylvania may eventually feature a plaque that reads something like “it was here that Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman met in 1998 and forged a partnership that would lead to millions of lives being saved by modified RNA Covid-19 vaccines and result in the duo being awarded that 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology.” </p> Wed, 04 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9671 at /oss /oss/article/medical-history/first-canadian-nobel-prize <p>As we approach the week during which the 2023 Nobel Prizes will be announced (October 2-9, 2023), it is perhaps timely to consider the events that surrounded the first Nobel Prize awarded to a Canadian. Exactly 100 years ago, Frederik G. Banting and John R.R. Macleod, were awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for the discovery of insulin” at the University of Toronto.</p> Fri, 29 Sep 2023 12:40:37 +0000 Patricia Brubaker, Ph.D., F.R.S.C. 9667 at /oss /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition/when-it-comes-taking-medicine-its-not-only-matter-what-also-how <p>Serendipitous discoveries are legendary in science. Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, Perkin’s of mauve, Silver’s of post-it notes, Roentgen’s of x-rays, Fahlberg’s of saccharin, Plunkett’s of Teflon, Spencer’s of microwave cooking, Becquerel’s of radioactivity, Goodyear’s of vulcanized rubber, de Mestral’s of Velcro, Benedictus’ of safety glass, and Pfizer’s discovery of Viagra all were accidental findings in the sense that they were not the result of a search for a particular goal. To their credit, all these scientists were able to capitalize on their chance observation. Dr.</p> Wed, 27 Sep 2023 10:00:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9655 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/fake-drugs-real-problems <p>We are drowning in fraud. Simply defined, fraud is intentional deception, usually for monetary gain. We have become used to robo-calls telling us that we have been subjected to a tax audit and had better call the given number to clear things up. We have learned to dismiss messages from some unfortunate soul supposedly stuck in a foreign country who is in in need of funds to get home. Such scams are annoying, but at least not life threatening. The same cannot be said for counterfeit medications, an immense problem with an estimated global annual worth in excess of $100 billion!</p><p> </p> Wed, 31 May 2023 20:00:08 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9527 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/world-health-organization-has-pseudoscience-problem <p>The World Health Organization has a definition of the soul.</p> <p>It is not technically theirs, but it appears in the glossary of one of their many official documents. The soul, according to the WHO, is derived from the astral organization, which is another term they have had to define. The astral organization, you see, is distinct from the etheric organization. That same document, coming out of the world’s foremost authority on global health, mentions such esoteric concepts as rhythmical embrocation, a type of energy healing that involves rhythmic strokes on the body.</p> Fri, 28 Apr 2023 14:00:51 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9496 at /oss /oss/article/medical-history/hole-head <p>Harvard University’s Warren Anatomical Museum is a must-visit for anyone interested in the history of medicine. Displays include an ether inhaler as used by dentist William Morton that allowed surgeon John Collins Warren to carry out the surgery in 1846 that introduced ether anesthesia along with the famous painting by Robert Hinckley depicting the first operation under ether. Also exhibited are historical herbals, amputation saws, early stethoscopes, and the skull of Johann Gaspar Spurzheim, a chief proponent of phrenology in the early 19<sup>th</sup> century.</p> Wed, 18 Jan 2023 17:10:40 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9362 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/why-gospel-wellness-sells <p>Running on a treadmill is an appealing analogy for both the search for wellness and the investigation of its claims. A lot of effort goes into it, yet we never seem to get anywhere. At least with running, there are clear health benefits.</p> Fri, 30 Dec 2022 16:23:08 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9345 at /oss /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition/osteopathy-needs-science-lend-hand <p>Every year, I’m an invited lecturer at the University of Ottawa to talk to future science communicators about pseudoscience. I use a number of increasingly muddied examples to show these students that there is no clear demarcation between science and pseudoscience; rather, it’s a spectrum, and figuring out where something lies can be tricky.</p> Fri, 14 Oct 2022 10:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9262 at /oss /oss/article/history/learning-movies <p>Both groups struggled with the same problem. How to extract and purify a chemical that is part of a complex mixture? For researchers led by Dr. Frederick Banting at the University of Toronto in 1921 that chemical was insulin, while in the late 1930s at Oxford University for Drs. Howard Florey and Ernst Chain the target was penicillin. Both teams eventually solved the problem, but the paths leading to success were anything but smooth, as can be seen by anyone willing to delve into the extensive popular and scientific literature describing the discoveries.</p> Fri, 18 Mar 2022 18:14:03 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9053 at /oss