Medical
/oss/taxonomy/term/6296/all
enUltrasound During Pregnancy: Sound Advice or Sound the Alarm?
/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-student-contributors/ultrasound-during-pregnancy-sound-advice-or-sound-alarm
<p>Let鈥檚 be honest鈥攑regnancy is basically a nine-month exercise in overthinking. Is that sushi safe? Should I be sleeping on my left side? And what, exactly, is in prenatal vitamins anyway? Somewhere on that ever-expanding list sits the ultrasound: a routine, widely used tool that some corners of the internet have started side-eyeing with suspicion.</p>Fri, 25 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000Sophie Tseng Pellar BSc11353 at /ossShedding a light on shedding: The Science of Telogen Effluvium
/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-student-contributors/shedding-light-shedding-science-telogen-effluvium
<p>It started with a few extra hairs: in my brush, on my bathroom floor, strewn across my pillow. Odd, but nothing too alarming, women shed hair all the time. But then there were more. They were dispersed across my computer at work and would fall into my hands at the slightest tug. I began to spiral: could others see them too? I swore I could feel each strand of hair popping off my scalp and drifting down my back.</p>Fri, 25 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000Ana Sophia Rashid-Cocker BSc11354 at /ossOzempic-Induced Blindness? A Measured Response
/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/ozempic-induced-blindness-measured-response
<p>In certain corners of the Internet, the discourse over Ozempic is terrifying. 鈥淏ut the FDA says that [<i>sic</i>] inject Gila Monster venom weekly into yourself is healthy,鈥� one commentator sarcastically declares. 鈥淎re they lying?鈥�</p>Fri, 25 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000Jonathan Jarry M.Sc.11352 at /ossNext Time it Rains, You May Want to Pack More Than Just Your Umbrella
/oss/article/medical-environment-did-you-know/next-time-it-rains-you-may-want-pack-more-just-your-umbrella
<p>Have you ever felt sluggish or achy on a rainy day? You鈥檙e not alone. While you could see a rainy day as an excuse to cozy up with freshly brewed tea and a movie, your rain-induced back pain may be out of your control.</p>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000Eva Kellner B.A.Sc.11345 at /ossWhat Wild Animals Can Teach Us About Cancer
/oss/article/medical-technology-general-science/what-wild-animals-can-teach-us-about-cancer
<p>In a lab in Rochester, New York, a group of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12234#change-history">scientists</a> were trying to grow cells taken from a naked mole rat. Instead, they ended up with a petri dish full of goo. The cells had secreted a thick, viscous substance, unlike anything typically seen in standard lab cultures. The scientists discovered that the goo contained hyaluronan, a molecule that helps keep the mole rat鈥檚 skin elastic as it navigates its cramped underground tunnels. But it may also do something far more remarkable: prevent tumours from forming.</p>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000Lysanne Desharnais PhD11346 at /ossShedding Light on UV Blood Irradiation
/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-technology/shedding-light-uv-blood-irradiation
<p>Would you allow someone to draw your blood out, expose it to ultraviolet light, and pump it back into your body, even if I told you it wouldn鈥檛 turn you into the Incredible Hulk?</p>Fri, 18 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000Jonathan Jarry M.Sc.11347 at /ossSleep Can Often Be Elusive
/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/sleep-can-often-be-elusive
<p>Sleep that knits up the ravell鈥檇 sleave of care,<br />
The death of each day鈥檚 life, sore labour鈥檚 bath,<br />
Balm of hurt minds, great nature鈥檚 second course,<br />
Chief nourisher in life鈥檚 feast.</p>Wed, 09 Jul 2025 21:37:20 +0000Joe Schwarcz PhD11314 at /ossDr. John Mervin Nooth and His Scientific Connections to Quebec
/oss/article/medical-history/dr-john-mervin-nooth-and-his-scientific-connections-quebec
<p><b>John Mervin NOOTH</b>聽(1737-1828) was an obscure British-born medical man and inventor with a Quebec connection.聽 A distinguished physician, Nooth entered the Royal Society via Benjamin Franklin and anatomist William Hunter in 1774. He published a Royal Society paper on a method of carbonizing water. By 1775 this process revolutionized the preparation of soft drinks. His famous Nooth鈥檚 apparatus was used until the mid- 19th century, and by the mid 1840鈥檚 its inner workings of the device assisted ether and anesthetics.聽 In addition,聽Dr.</p>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 18:00:00 +0000Denis Robillard11307 at /ossFunctional Medicine Is a Pipeline to Alt Med
/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-pseudoscience/functional-medicine-pipeline-alt-med
<p>A 56-year-old university professor with psoriatic arthritis goes to see a doctor because his condition is worsening. Psoriatic arthritis is a disease where your immune system rebels against you, creating patches of abnormal skin and aching joints. Does the man leave the doctor鈥檚 office with a prescription for a better medication than what he was on? No.</p>Fri, 13 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000Jonathan Jarry M.Sc.11168 at /ossMisinformation Piggybacks on Joe Biden鈥檚 Cancer Diagnosis
/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/misinformation-piggybacks-joe-bidens-cancer-diagnosis
<p><em>This article was first published in聽<a href="https://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/article953617.html">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p>
<p>鈥淛ust the facts, ma鈥檃m鈥� is a catchphrase attributed to detective Joe Friday in the classic television police drama Dragnet. If all science communicators took that message to heart, we would not be exposed to the diarrhea of misinformation that plagues our lives today.</p>
<p>That, though, brings up the question of what is meant by 鈥渇act.鈥�</p>Fri, 30 May 2025 16:59:22 +0000Joe Schwarcz PhD11112 at /ossThe MAHA Report Is Mostly 鈥楧ata Vibes鈥�
/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/maha-report-mostly-data-vibes
<p>Who would be so callous as to not want our children to be healthy?</p>
<p>The Make America Healthy Again movement, now firmly ensconced in the White House under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, released <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/maha/">a 73-page assessment</a> 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.</p>Fri, 30 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000Jonathan Jarry M.Sc.11108 at /ossThere is Much Pep in Peptide Research
/oss/article/medical-did-you-know/there-much-pep-peptide-research
<p>Peptides are hot! Check the label of a skin care product and you are likely to come across a peptide. Read one of the numerous articles about Ozempic and you will discover that the active ingredient, semaglutide, is a peptide. Have a flagging libido? Kisspentin may be of help. It鈥檚 a peptide.</p>Wed, 28 May 2025 20:47:04 +0000Joe Schwarcz PhD11107 at /ossYour Blood Predicts Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease
/oss/article/medical-technology/your-blood-predicts-alzheimers-disease
<p>My first laboratory job was right after earning my Master鈥檚 degree, and it was on a research project on Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. I had to test DNA samples from participants for a particular form of the gene <i>APOE. </i>We get one copy of the gene from our mother and another from our father, and this gene like all others comes in different flavours. People who had a very specific form of the <i>APOE </i>gene, I learned, were predisposed to Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.</p>Fri, 23 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000Jonathan Jarry M.Sc.11101 at /ossThe Ups and Downs of Choline Supplements
/oss/article/medical-student-contributors/ups-and-downs-choline-supplements
<b>The Buzz Around Choline</b>
<p>Do you want to optimize your liver function? Improve your memory? Give your metabolism a little pep talk? If you find yourself typing any of these questions into your search engine of choice, chances are you'll find no shortage of glowing endorsements for choline supplements. According to the internet, choline can boost brain power, prevent Alzheimer鈥檚, detox your liver after a night out, and maybe even help you live forever. Or at least long enough to regret that tequila shot from last night.</p>Fri, 16 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000Sophie Tseng Pellar BSc11053 at /ossDoctor Who Compared Pandemic Restrictions to Nazi Germany Gains Keys to the Vaccine Vault
/oss/article/critical-thinking/doctor-who-compared-pandemic-restrictions-nazi-germany-gains-keys-vaccine-vault
<p>In the media鈥檚 rush to cover the nomination of Casey Means to the position of Surgeon General, one important name was neglected.</p>Fri, 16 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000Jonathan Jarry M.Sc.11052 at /oss