Medical

TikTok Is Crazy for Methylene Blue, but Not for the Right Reasons

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 16:45:51 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

A short video of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. squirting a blue liquid into a glass of water would hardly have raised an eyebrow were he not the U.S. secretary of health and human services. But given that he now sits atop the U.S. health pyramid, as incredible as that is, his actions reap interest.

Inbreeding: Behind the Stigma

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 13:44:38 +0000

It just didn’t make sense.

I was working in a genetics laboratory, and we were trying to find the mutated gene that caused a particular disease that was common in a few families my supervisor had seen in the clinic. But in one family, it looked like the oldest child had an entire stretch of chromosome that neither the mother nor the father had. We were only looking at that stretch, but it was quite possible that half of that child’s genetic material came from someone who was not, on the paper I was looking at, their father or mother. I had found my first case of non-paternity.

You’ve Been Lied to About Rats and the Black Death

�ٲ��ʴǱ貹 — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 16:02:20 +0000

Rats have long been associated with and blamed for the spread of plague, a disease that has killed over 200 million people throughout the past two millennia. The Black Death, a bubonic plague pandemic, is estimated to have resulted in the death of nearly 50% of Europe’s 14th century population, making it one of the deadliest disease outbreaks in human history. However, emerging research suggests that rats may not have played a central role in the outbreak and transmission of plague.

Toxin on the Backs of Some Frogs Is Lethal to Humans

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 15:44:44 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

The blades descend as they have done many times before, threatening to impale the magician’s assistant lying inside the box. But this time the outcome is different. The illusion has been tampered with so that one of the blades does not retract fully as designed and slightly pierces her skin.

Measles, Vitamin A, and RFK Jr.’s About-Face

Christopher Labos MD, MSc — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 15:12:53 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

There is a measles outbreak in Texas. The response by the United States government was to send extra doses of vitamin A even though the Texas public health department didn’t want them. It wasn’t a benign public relations stunt. A small group of children is now in hospital being treated for vitamin A toxicity. The dangers of misrepresenting the science are not abstract. Real children are getting sick and dying.

The Unscientific Crusade Against Seed Oils

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 16:22:38 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) gang led by Robert Kennedy Jr. is not going to be happy with the results of a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That makes me happy even though I have some questions about the study.

The American Plan to Eliminate Vaccines

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 14:54:40 +0000

We don’t defend the things we take for granted. Vaccines have long been victims of their own success, but only insofar as too many people were hesitant to get them. But what if vaccines were eliminated altogether?

Skeletons in the Alcohol Cabinet Should Make Everyone Think Twice About Drinking

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 23:52:37 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette

“Moderation in everything” is a popular slogan. It seems to go hand in hand with the cornerstone of toxicology, namely Paracelsus’s famous dictum that “only the dose makes the poison.”

We use it justify eating just a few potato chips instead of the whole bag, a spoonful of ice cream instead of the whole container, and a glass of wine instead of half a bottle.

A Sticky Story

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 15:59:24 +0000

The 1995 season of Seinfeld ended with the death of George’s fiancée. Poor Susan was poisoned. And it was all George’s fault. It seems the prospective groom had purchased the cheapest envelopes for wedding invitations and Susan was done in by licking hundreds of envelopes. The implication was that the glue was toxic and furthermore that the tragedy could have been avoided had George not been so tight. Apparently, more expensive envelopes would have been less toxic. Could this episode have been based on some real life event? Hardly.

There Are More Bacterial Cells in Your Body Than You Think

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 18:20:56 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette

Does a Previous Overdose Make It Harder to Be "Put Under"?

Maya McKeown, B.Sc. — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 17:47:47 +0000

Anesthesia was my first clinical rotation in medical school and my introduction to pharmacology. One of my initial tasks was to administer a small dose of remifentanil, a fast-acting type of fentanyl, through a patient’s IV. As my mind raced with first-day nerves, one thought stood out: Isn’t fentanyl the same drug responsible for so many overdose deaths across Canada?

Voodoo Magic and the Mind-Body Connection

�ٲ��ʴǱ貹 — Fri, 14 Mar 2025 20:43:51 +0000

Is it possible to be literally scared to death? Today, it’s commonly understood that mental stress and negative emotion can contribute to physical health problems including high blood pressure, heart disease, weight gain and more. However, this wasn’t always the case—our understanding of how physiological responses are tied to emotion remained poor until the 20th century. In fact, you may be surprised to hear that investigating the seemingly inexplicable phenomenon of “voodoo” death helped lay the foundation for the study of the mind-body connection.

Should You Get a Full-Body MRI to Check for Cancer?

Paige Boklaschuk BSc — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 17:19:56 +0000

Cancer screening guidelines can be confusing on their own, with different recommendations for different groups. Add on a contentious political climate around healthcare and emerging private services, and the whole process can feel overwhelming. In the United States, controversy surrounding healthcare coverage includes preventive screenings. According to an article in CBS, Medicare is adding restrictions to coverage of breast ultrasound screening.

I’ve Been Wearing Sunscreen Wrong

Ada McVean M.Sc. — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 03:54:38 +0000

This article was first published in The Skeptical Inquirer.

Why the U.S. Assault on Science Is Making Me 'Sick to My Stomach'

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:59:02 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

“It makes me sick to my stomach.”

That’s the line I blurted out when asked by a reporter about the U.S. government’s assault on science. I hadn’t thought about the expression, it just came out automatically. Why? I hadn’t actually been sick to my stomach. Surely, I thought, there must be some foundation for this common utterance that links the mind and the gut. That needed delving into.