/oss/taxonomy/term/1012/all en /oss/article/health-and-nutrition/can-energy-drinks-or-taurine-supplements-give-you-wings <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-can-energy-drinks-or-taurine-supplements-give-you-wings">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>I came across Bryan Johnson, self-described “professional rejuvenation athlete,” thanks to Red Bull, the world’s most popular “energy drink.”</p> <p>I was looking into which ingredients, if any, may justify the slogan that “Red Bull gives you wings.”</p> Fri, 31 May 2024 18:13:58 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9966 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-history-general-science/we-used-look-older <p>It apparently started with a tweet.</p> Fri, 20 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9698 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/if-youre-getting-old-you-can-blame-klotho <p>There is no shortage of stories professing the existence of a Fountain of Youth somewhere in the world, always just out of reach. Bathing in its water was claimed to undo the damage of old age. Nowadays, if we are to listen to the hype emanating from the scientific literature, it seems the Fountain of Youth was inside of us all along.</p> Fri, 29 Sep 2023 13:58:22 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9668 at /oss /oss/article/health-pseudoscience/pill-promises-delay-grey <p>The website has a subtle grey background. The banner image shows an elated young woman with dark hair streaked with reddish-brown, basking in the sunlight. The company’s proposition is bold: “delay the grey.” Why put up with grey hair when we could pop a new pill to “replenish [our] body with the vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants” it needs to hold onto our natural hair colour?</p> Sat, 04 Sep 2021 08:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8835 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-general-science/trying-slow-down-clock <p>Perhaps the oldest formula for trying to beat the aging process can be found in an Egyptian papyrus dating back to circa 1500 B.C. The “Edwin Smith Papyrus” features a “Recipe for Transforming an Old Man into a Youth” that involves rubbing the body with a dried “hemayet” fruit to remove “all weaknesses which are in the flesh.” Unfortunately, nobody has been able to identify what the hemayet fruit is.</p> Wed, 03 Feb 2021 16:22:38 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8601 at /oss /oss/article/health-videos/right-chemistry-how-live-longer <p><div class="media-youtube-video media-element file-default media-youtube-1"> <iframe class="media-youtube-player" id="media-youtube-tdpzy00wis4" width="640" height="390" title="Dr. Joe Schwarcz: How to live longer" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TdpzY00wis4?wmode=opaque&controls=&enablejsapi=1&modestbranding=1&playerapiid=media-youtube-tdpzy00wis4&origin=https%3A//www.mcgill.ca&rel=0" name="Dr. Joe Schwarcz: How to live longer" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>Video of Dr. Joe Schwarcz: How to live longer</iframe> </div> </p> Fri, 08 Nov 2019 20:04:59 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7994 at /oss /oss/article/health-nutrition/should-i-be-adding-collagen-my-diet <p>I was slightly taken aback the other day when a friend looked over and casually remarked that perhaps I should start adding collagen to my morning smoothie. Immediately my antennae went up. I work for Joe Schwarcz and this sounded hoaxy. So I decided to do some research and found out why people may think there is some benefit in adding collagen to beverages and foods. Also found out that my “friend” may have been trying to tell me something. #subtlenotsosubtle</p> Tue, 12 Mar 2019 21:02:46 +0000 Emily Shore, B.A, Dipl. PR Management 7646 at /oss /oss/article/young-blood-hype <p> </p> <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in</em><span> </span><a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-hype-about-plasma-transfusions-isnt-warranted">The Montreal Gazette<span>.</span></a></p> Wed, 06 Mar 2019 15:43:14 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 7629 at /oss /oss/article/health/sleepy-science-there-best-position-sleep <p>One thing is very clear. If you are a baby, you should be <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/childhood-adolescence/stages-childhood/infancy-birth-two-years/safe-sleep/safe-sleep-your-baby-brochure.html#back-to-sleep">sleeping on your back</a>. Infants who sleep on their back, as opposed to their stomachs, have a reduced risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).</p> Wed, 27 Feb 2019 17:06:37 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 7613 at /oss /oss/article/health-general-science/many-men-prescribed-testosterone-dont-need-it <p> </p> <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in</em><span> </span><a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/christopher-labos-many-men-prescribed-testosterone-dont-need-it">The Montreal Gazette<span>.</span></a></p> Fri, 22 Feb 2019 19:16:09 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 7604 at /oss /oss/article/health-general-science/chicken-wearing-shoes <div>Imagine being an elderly woman, sipping her tea in an empty house, and suddenly seeing a girl entering through a closed door and vanishing. The apparition is crisp and well defined. Would you, as the woman did, wonder if your house was haunted?</div> <div> </div> <div>If you are as scientifically minded as I am, you may reject such a supernatural explanation and gravitate toward one of the many medical causes of visual hallucinations. Maybe the woman was psychiatrically ill. Maybe she was having a seizure. Maybe her tea contained the remnants of her wild days at Woodstock.</div> Wed, 06 Sep 2017 13:17:50 +0000 Jonathan Jarry, MSc 2620 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’ve written quite extensively on tea and it’s 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/general-science/poor-sense-smell-indicator-early-alzheimers <p>If you had to, would you rather become blind or loose your sense of smell? A classic question in the child’s game “would you rather?” The popular answer seems obvious: smell. Often the most overlooked sense, our ability to detect scent, or olfaction, is actually more important than you might think. Researchers have found that loosing your sense of smell is a powerful indicator of cognitive dysfunction and actually can predict neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.</p> Sun, 25 Jun 2017 21:40:40 +0000 Cassandra Lee – OSS Intern 2557 at /oss /oss/article/aging-cosmetics-health/face-creams-and-skin-aging <p>Let’s face it. Face creams will not “reset the skin’s aging clock.” Nor will they “restructure complexion from within,” “provide repair action to the core of each wrinkle” or “reeducate the skin to look like young skin.” But is the sort of hype we have become accustomed to seeing from cosmetics manufacturers who compete for the close to 300 billion dollars that consumers around the world shell out every year for over-the-counter beauty products. Some fork out more than a thousand dollars for a month’s supply of the latest cream that claims to reverse aging.</p> Wed, 05 Mar 2014 11:12:45 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2109 at /oss /oss/article/aging-health-news/90-study <p style="text-align:justify">When medical students do their first rotation in paediatrics, they are told that children are not small adults. They are a different species! Children respond differently to diet and drugs than adults. Now we are learning that the same situation may prevail for those over the age of 90. They too are a different species. And they are the fastest growing segment of the North American population. Thanks to the ongoing 90+ Study headed by Dr. Claudia Kawas of the University of California, these nonagenarians are set to teach us about aging in a healthy fashion.</p> Wed, 14 May 2014 14:14:49 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2145 at /oss