insulin

The MAHA Report Is Mostly 鈥楧ata Vibes鈥�

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Fri, 30 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Who would be so callous as to not want our children to be healthy?

The Make America Healthy Again movement, now firmly ensconced in the White House under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, released a 73-page assessment last week called 鈥淭he MAHA Report.鈥� It鈥檚 meant to give a bird鈥檚-eye view of the problem with American children鈥檚 health, paving the way for a multipronged strategy due next August.

A Taste of Bitter Melon

Hosna Akhgary — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 01:41:06 +0000

Bitter melon, also known as Momordica charantia, is a peculiar-looking vegetable that has piqued the interest of many for its potential health benefits, particularly in managing diabetes. Native to Asia, East Africa, India, and South America, this plant has various other names such as bitter gourd, balsam pear, and karela, depending on the region. The name Momordica, derived from the Latin word meaning "to bite," refers to the jagged edges of its leaves, which look as though they've been nibbled.

Type 2 Diabetes 鈥� What, Why and How

Patricia Brubaker, Ph.D., F.R.S.C. — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 15:22:11 +0000

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. It therefore timely to consider what diabetes actually is, why we should care, and how it can be treated. Diabetes, or more technically, diabetes mellitus, now affects 10% of Canadians, with the numbers increasing annually, not only in Canada but worldwide.

The First Canadian Nobel Prize

Patricia Brubaker, Ph.D., F.R.S.C. — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 12:40:37 +0000

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 鈥渇or the discovery of insulin鈥� at the University of Toronto.

Learning From The Movies

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 18:14:03 +0000

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.