/oss/taxonomy/term/381/all en /oss/article/medical/size-matters-blood-pressure-cuffs <hr /> <p><em>This article was originally posted in the</em> <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-size-matters-with-blood-pressure-cuffs"><em>Montreal Gazette.</em></a></p> Fri, 15 Sep 2023 10:00:00 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 9644 at /oss /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition/when-take-your-blood-pressure-meds <hr /> <p><em>This article was originally posted in the <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-when-to-take-your-blood-pressure-meds">Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> Mon, 12 Sep 2022 19:11:00 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 9232 at /oss /oss/article/health-videos/right-chemistry-snakes-and-medicine <p><div class="media-youtube-video media-element file-default media-youtube-1"> <iframe class="media-youtube-player" id="media-youtube-edhe6yrvdh8" width="640" height="390" title="Dr. Joe Schwarcz: Snakes and medicine" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/edhe6YRvdH8?wmode=opaque&controls=&enablejsapi=1&modestbranding=1&playerapiid=media-youtube-edhe6yrvdh8&origin=https%3A//www.mcgill.ca&rel=0" name="Dr. Joe Schwarcz: Snakes and medicine" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>Video of Dr. Joe Schwarcz: Snakes and medicine</iframe> </div> </p> Mon, 30 Nov 2020 16:36:12 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8498 at /oss /oss/article/health/blood-pressure-medication-ibuprofen-and-covid-19 <p> </p> <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in</em><span>聽</span><a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-blood-pressure-medication-ibuprofen-and-covid-19/">The Montreal Gazette<span>.</span></a></p> Wed, 25 Mar 2020 16:37:54 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 8194 at /oss /oss/article/health-nutrition/are-there-benefits-tart-cherry-juice <hr /> <p><em>Shira Cohen is studying Nutrition at the School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition at 平特五不中, specializing聽in聽Global Nutrition.聽</em></p> <hr /> <p>If you are suffering from headaches, muscle pain or inflammation, you may be interested to hear that<a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf0718300"> tart cherries may function in a fashion similar to drugs like Aspirin and Ibuprofen</a>. It seems that the anthocyanins they contain prevent the formation of certain prostaglandins that are linked to pain and inflammation, much like aspirin.</p> Thu, 01 Aug 2019 16:00:00 +0000 Shira Cohen, Student Contributor 7842 at /oss /oss/article/nutrition/bananas-potassium-superfood <p>Bananas, like most fruits and vegetables, are high in potassium and low in sodium. We humans get much of our dietary sodium from sodium chloride, otherwise known as salt. While now common and almost ubiquitous, sodium was once rare in our diets and our kidneys have evolved a very efficient mechanism for conserving sodium and preventing its loss in our urine. The kidney will re-absorb about 99% of the sodium filtered through it, and consequently re-absorb a great deal of water as well, since water follows sodium through cell membranes.</p> Fri, 29 Mar 2019 16:00:00 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 7655 at /oss /oss/article/health/can-arginine-supplements-help-control-blood-pressure <p>Arginine is an amino acid, a type of molecule used in the synthesis of proteins. Most of us get our amino acids from our diet, breaking down the protein in our food into its constituent parts and then reusing those amino acids to build new different proteins. Some amino acids must be consumed in our diet because our bodies cannot build them from scratch. But arginine is one of those amino acids that can in fact be synthesized from other amino acids and so it is actually not necessary to get it from food.</p> Thu, 02 Aug 2018 18:00:00 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 7178 at /oss /oss/article/general-science/current-hypertension-controversy-there-none <hr /> <p>Si tu veux lire cet article en fran莽ais,聽<a href="https://www.sciencepresse.qc.ca/actualite/detecteur-rumeurs/2018/07/10/seuil-hypertension-incertain-vrai">cliquez ici!</a></p> Mon, 05 Feb 2018 17:11:05 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 6912 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-quackery/how-make-healthiest-cup-tea <p>I grew up with British grandparents who probably averaged 5-7 cups of tea a day- a routine I picked up sometime around the age of 10. I never considered though that tea could be good for me! <a href="/oss/search/local/tea">We鈥檝e written quite extensively on tea and it鈥檚 many proposed benefits</a>, but despite all the pseudoscience about tea curing cancer or keeping you young, it is worth it to note the compounds that are found in teas, that are truly helpful to humans.</p> Mon, 28 Aug 2017 14:52:26 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 2607 at /oss /oss/article/food-health/pistachios-reputed-have-some-uplifting-health-benefits <div> <p style="text-align:justify">Remember when it wasn鈥檛 hard to determine if someone had been into the pistachio bowl? They鈥檇 be caught red-handed! That鈥檚 because until artificially coloured foods became a pariah, pistachio nuts, which are actually not nuts but the seeds of a fruit, often used to be coloured red. Exactly why that was the case is a matter of some controversy.</p> <p style="text-align:justify">Some suggest that when pistachios were first imported into North America back in the 1930s, mostly from Iran, the shells tended to be blemished as a result of hand-picking. Since Americans didn鈥檛 care for blemished food, the pistachios were dyed red.</p> <p style="text-align:justify">Others suggest that the red colour was added to distinguish the newly introduced nuts from other varieties to attract attention. Another possibility is that in Iran, traditionally, the nuts were soaked in brine and then roasted in the sun which resulted in a pinkish coloured shell 鈥� and importers added red dye to achieve a uniform product.</p> <p style="text-align:justify">The fact is that nobody really knows how the tradition started, or indeed what dye was used, although some accounts make reference to a 鈥渧egetable dye,鈥� probably beet juice. With concerns being raised about food additives, red pistachios have mostly disappeared, although a few companies still produce them for consumers mired in nostalgia. The vast majority of pistachios sold in North America now come from California, and instead of attracting consumers with colour, producers hope to attract them with science. The hook is a possible benefit in the prevention of heart disease 鈥� and believe it or not, help with erectile dysfunction.</p> <p style="text-align:justify">Nuts are low in saturated fats, high in monounsaturates and are rich in antioxidants, so it comes as no great surprise that epidemiological studies have demonstrated a link between increased nut consumption and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Pistachios have a chemical profile similar to nuts and have therefore been studied in terms of reducing cardiovascular risk. In one small study, subjects were asked to consume either 40 grams, 80 grams or no pistachios daily. The pistachio consumers lowered their LDL cholesterol (the 鈥渂ad guy鈥�), but interestingly, there was no difference between the 40 or 80 gram consumers. So one pistachio snack seems to be enough; more is not better.</p> <p style="text-align:justify">But does this extra consumption not lead to weight gain? Apparently not. A study in China examined the pistachio effect in some 90 subjects diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of disorders that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Although there are some variations in the definition of metabolic syndrome, it basically means a high waist circumference combined with any two of elevated triglycerides, reduced HDL cholesterol (the 鈥済ood guy鈥�), raised blood pressure, raised fasting glucose, or previously diagnosed Type 2 diabetes. In the Chinese study, subjects consumed either no pistachios, or 42 grams or 70 grams for 12 weeks. There were no changes in body-mass index or waist-to-hip ratio. Curiously, there was also a slight improvement in triglyceride levels in the 42-gram group but not the others.</p> </div> <div>Pistachios have also been the subject of a study by Dr. James Painter of Eastern Illinois University who coined the term 鈥減istachio principle,鈥� referring to an effect by which the body is fooled into eating less by using visual cues.</div> <p><a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2013/11/09/pistachios-reputed-to-have-some-uplifting-health-benefits">Read more</a></p> Sun, 10 Nov 2013 00:11:22 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2031 at /oss /oss/article/controversial-science-history-quirky-science-toxicity/birth-amphetamine <p>First synthesized by Lazar Edeleanu in Germany in 1887, amphetamine remained quietly under the radar until it came to the attention of chemist Gordon Alles in 1929.聽 Alles was looking for an asthma medication that was better than the drugs available at the time.聽 To test its safety, he took amphetamine himself, noting only a 鈥渇eeling of well being鈥� as a side effect.</p> Fri, 28 Feb 2014 03:20:59 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2105 at /oss /oss/article/nutrition-you-asked/how-much-salt-too-much <p>Reducing sodium intake has been a nutritional mantra for decades. We have repeatedly been told that cutting back on salt lowers blood pressure which in turn lowers the risk of heart attacks and strokes. But these days it seems to be in vogue to question almost every type of dietary advice that has been dispensed by health authorities, including salt intake. Questioning current dogma of course isn鈥檛 a bad thing, after all, that is how science progresses.</p> Wed, 08 Apr 2015 12:14:17 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2249 at /oss /oss/article/controversial-science-environment-health-news-toxicity/phthalates-and-microwave-ovens <p>It always pays to read the study! It really does, because popular accounts often misinterpret what researchers actually found and end up raising undue alarm. Of course it is raising the red flag of alarm that gets attention, and these days, with all sorts of bloggers scooting around to popularize their websites hoping to recruit advertisers, getting attention is what it is all about.</p> Sun, 20 Sep 2015 11:48:18 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2284 at /oss /oss/article/science-science-everywhere/chocolates-lower-blood-pressure-and-dont-melt <p>In the future people with high blood pressure may be reaching into their pocket for a couple of squares of, get this, chocolate! And furthermore, they may be able to carry the chocolate in their pocket without worrying about it melting. Food marketing is highly competitive and companies are always looking for an edge. How do you distinguish your product from the myriad others that clamor for the consumer鈥檚 attention? The current trend is to convert the food into a nutraceutical, or a quasi drug.</p> Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:34:35 +0000 Joe Schwarcz 1594 at /oss /oss/article/health-you-asked/it-true-single-espresso-can-damage-your-heart <p style="text-align:justify">鈥淎 single espresso a day can damage heart.鈥� 鈥淛ust one espresso can put your heart at risk.鈥� 鈥淥ne caffeine-packed cup can slow blood flow to the heart by 22%.鈥� Whoa! Those are headlines that can make your heart skip a beat. They come from British newspapers reporting on an Italian study about the effects of a cup of espresso on blood flow and blood pressure. As is so often the case, the headlines don鈥檛 reflect what the study actually found, and anyone reading only the headlines may end up unnecessarily depriving themselves of the delights of an espresso.</p> Sun, 18 Nov 2012 00:27:25 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1793 at /oss