/oss/taxonomy/term/6296/all en /oss/article/covid-19-medical-critical-thinking/how-we-know-vaccines-are-safe <p>“Senator, I support vaccines. I support the childhood schedule. The only thing I want is good science, and that’s it.” These words were spoken by Robert F.</p> Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:34:58 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10331 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/are-sex-and-pickleball-keys-longevity <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/article745632.html">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>Want to lead a long life? Play pickleball and have sex. Who says so? Dan Buettner, a guy who knows something about longevity. After all, he is responsible for popularizing the concept of “blue zones,” regions of the world where people apparently have exceptionally long lives. And therein lies an interesting and somewhat controversial story.</p> Fri, 14 Feb 2025 22:44:36 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10262 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/mitochondrial-dysfunction-bit-fad <p>There is a shell game at the heart of Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s <u><a href="/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/kennedys-coalition-quacks-wants-feed-america-diet-lies" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/kennedys-coalition-quacks-wants-feed-america-diet-lies">Make America Healthy Again campaign</a></u>, and it has to do with the mitochondrion.</p> Fri, 14 Feb 2025 22:06:49 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10260 at /oss /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition/confronting-bulimia <p>Bulimia nervosa, or more commonly known as bulimia, is an eating and psychiatric disorder characterized by binge eating followed by intentional purging. The latter is usually done in order to compensate for the excessive intake of food and to prevent weight gain. Purging can take the form of vomiting, inappropriate use of laxatives, enemas, diuretics or other medication; or excessive physical exercise. This disease was first described by Dr. Gerald Russel in 1977 when he was working at the Royal Free Hospital in London.</p> Wed, 29 Jan 2025 19:02:54 +0000 Melody Ko MD 10240 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-student-contributors/oil-pulling-just-clutching-straws <p>Maintaining good oral hygiene is critical in order to maintain overall health. Many people only realize the impact that dental health has on the rest of the body when they are reading the posters in the dentist’s waiting room. Typically, we are all very concerned with the whiteness of our smile and the smell of our breath and will strive to achieve oral perfection.</p> Fri, 24 Jan 2025 21:50:41 +0000 Angelina Lapalme 10237 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/case-drug-mule-who-went-undetected-abdominal-x-ray <p>Human drug couriers, colloquially known as “drug mules,” are people who smuggle drugs across a national border by hiding the drugs in the lining of their luggage, in clothes, by strapping the goods onto their bodies, or even by using their bodies as containers. The latter category of drug mules have been the focus of much media attention, and have been the subjects of numerous movies and television shows.</p> Thu, 16 Jan 2025 19:47:29 +0000 Melody Ko MD 10231 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/can-glass-milk-day-reduce-risk-colon-cancer <p>The dairy industry is smiling because a study published in the prestigious journal, Nature, concluded that “dairy products help protect against colorectal cancer, and that this is driven largely or wholly by the calcium they contain.” The study triggered headlines about how drinking a glass of milk a day can reduce the risk of colon cancer by 17%. That isn’t quite correct. It may be true for women who consume less than the recommended 1000 mg of calcium a day, but may not apply to those who already consume the recommended amount.</p> Wed, 15 Jan 2025 17:08:49 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10230 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/we-can-survive-without-food-about-70-days-only-5-days-without-water <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/article657433.html">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> Fri, 10 Jan 2025 20:26:58 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10227 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-pseudoscience/quantum-university-misuses-physics-train-fake-doctors <p>The current member of the Legislative Assembly for the British Columbia electoral district of Langley-Willowbrook is Ms. Jody Toor. I’m not veering off into political punditry; I’m writing this to clarify Toor’s courtesy title. “Ms.” Toor, or “Mrs.” if she’s married. But certainly not “Dr.” Toor.</p> Fri, 03 Jan 2025 01:35:38 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10217 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/why-its-been-so-difficult-address-inflammations-role-heart-disease <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/article618459.html">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> Fri, 20 Dec 2024 18:45:57 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 10208 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-technology/dental-x-rays-may-be-overused-they-are-safe <p>X-rays of our teeth are routinely prescribed by dentists, but you know what else follows a certain periodicity? Media coverage of the alleged danger and overuse of these dental radiographs.</p> Fri, 06 Dec 2024 18:22:15 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10191 at /oss /oss/article/medical-history-did-you-know/murder-most-foul <p>One of my favorite detective stories is Agatha Christie's "The Crooked House." The plot revolves around an elderly tycoon who requires daily insulin shots. He also suffers from glaucoma for which he has been prescribed eyedrops. Everything is fine until someone in the "Crooked House" switches the eyedrops with the insulin. Murder most foul!</p> Thu, 05 Dec 2024 18:25:23 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10189 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/reincarnation-dr-oz-show-and-other-miracles <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-the-reincarnation-of-the-dr-oz-show-and-other-miracles">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>“Eat broccoli and exercise.”</p> <p>Those were the words that first acquainted me with Dr. Mehmet Oz sometime in 2004 when I caught a segment of the Oprah Winfrey Show.</p> Fri, 29 Nov 2024 22:27:28 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10184 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-pseudoscience/bhattacharya-decide-fate-medical-research <p>An economist turned pandemic celebrity, who loudly and repeatedly advocated for mass infections with the coronavirus, has been nominated by Donald Trump as the new director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).</p> Fri, 29 Nov 2024 15:49:51 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10183 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-history/fluoride-controversy <p>The nomination of Robert Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services is a travesty. His ideas about vaccination, raw milk, hyperbaric oxygen, HIV, Wi-Fi and COVID fly in the face of evidence-based science. But once in a while, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn, so not all of Kennedy’s ideas are outrageous. The American diet with its plethora of highly processed foods needs change, the pricing of drugs and some of the advertising antics of pharmaceutical companies need to be addressed.</p> Wed, 27 Nov 2024 19:31:34 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10180 at /oss